Published , by Asif Khan
Published , by Asif Khan
StreamElements, the fastest growing cloud-based solution for live stream production, has issued their State of the Stream Q2 2019 report. The company has their fingers on the pulse of what is going on in the world of live streaming, and this report is very enlightening. One big takeaway from the report is that Ninja has been dethroned by Tfue. Viewers spent more time in the second quarter of 2019 watching Tfue than any other streamer. Kneel before your new Twitch King.
Another interesting datapoint in the StreamElements report is that the top 5,000 channels make up almost 75% of the hours watched on Twitch. Twitch also remains strongly in the lead of rival YouTube. Live stream hours watched at Twitch were four times the same metric on YouTube Live. Twitch also dominates overall live stream hours watched with 72.2% market share in Q2 2019.
Another very noticeable statistic is the precipitous fall from grace for Apex Legends. The battle royale game from developer Respawn was the number three game on Twitch in the first quarter, but it didn't even crack the Top 10 in Q2 2019. Perhaps Season 2 will be the shot in the arm the game needs, but the scoreboard doesn't lie. Still at the number four spot for the second straight quarter is Just Chatting, as ASMR and talkshows continue to gain popularity on Twitch. Only Fortnite, League of Legends, and GTA V were more watched than Just Chatting during the second quarter. Obviously this is due to our awesome Twitch talk show, The Wide World of Electronic Sports. Right?
StreamElements highlighted some interesting stats about esports in their Q2 2019 report. The biggest esports channels (OWL, Riot, ESL, etc) made up less than one fourth of the hours watched when looking at the top 200 channels on Twitch. While some events are setting records for concurrent viewership, it seems that some games are succeeding in a more casual streaming format.
This StreamElements Q2 2019 report showcases a lot of interesting crosscurrents in the live streaming space. While Tfue was the most watched streamer of Q2, it has been very hard for any one streamer to dominate in 2019. There are so many choices for viewers, and content creation is at all-time highs. It will be interesting to see what Q3 2019 will show us later this year. Surely Ninja won't take this lying down. Perhaps a new hair color is in order?