YouTube Premium and Music Subscribers Pass 150 Million as Quarterly Ad Sales Top $11 Billion

YouTube has passed 150 million subscribers across its YouTube Premium and YouTube Music services, a milestone that strengthens its standing in subscriptions as well as video advertising. Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai announced the figure on Wednesday in connection with the company's third-quarter earnings report.

The company said last year that the two services had topped 125 million subscribers, a count that included trials. YouTube does not break out how many subscribers each of the two offerings has.

Advertising remained a major driver of the platform's results. YouTube ad sales climbed to more than $11.2 billion in the quarter, up from $10.3 billion in the same period a year earlier. The total was on par with the second quarter.

During the earnings call, Google chief business officer Philipp Schindler said more than 20 million videos are uploaded to YouTube every day. He used the call to explain how Alphabet sees the business more broadly. "We view YouTube as a flywheel of creators, viewers, and advertisers," Schindler said, adding that the company is working to reduce friction in each of those three areas.

On the creator side, he pointed to new generative AI tools in YouTube Studio and a conversational editing assistant in Shorts and YouTube Create. For viewers, he said YouTube introduced short series at Made on YouTube, which lets creators organize their shorts into seasons and episodes. According to Schindler, sequential playback makes it easier for viewers to discover new shorts and keep watching.

Monetization was the third part of that framework, beginning with advertising. Schindler said the company's focus remains on delivering value across the entire funnel. In the third quarter, Living Room viewing accounted for more than one third of total YouTube ad revenue. He also said small and medium advertisers continue to adopt demand gen, which drives direct response.

Turning to subscriptions, Schindler said that with Premium and Premium Light, viewers have choice. "As more people opt into premium experiences, it's a win for viewers, creators, and our business," he said. "Subscriptions help fund the creator ecosystem and drive the platform forward."