Livestream
A YouTube livestream is video broadcast in real time. Viewers join an ongoing stream, see what the creator is showing live, and interact via the chat. Livestreams can run from a few minutes to several hours and are automatically archived as long-form videos when the stream ends. Streams support Super Chat, Super Stickers, channel memberships chat, and standard ads.
A YouTube livestream is real-time video broadcast where viewers can chat and tip the creator during the stream — versus uploaded videos that play on demand.
Why Livestream matters for YouTube creators
Livestreams are the highest-engagement format on YouTube. Viewers who chat, tip via Super Chat, and stay on a stream for an hour are the channel's most active audience. For talk-show, gaming, reaction, and educational creators, a weekly livestream schedule builds the parasocial bond that drives memberships and brand-deal pricing. Livestream archives also become long-form Watch Time — a 90-minute live stream watched live and then on-demand can produce more total Watch Time than a polished edited video on the same topic.
Livestream in practice
A coding-tutorial creator runs a 2-hour live coding session every Saturday; the live audience is small (~400 concurrent) but the VOD averages 40,000 views in the following week.
A reaction creator runs a 3-hour album-listen-along on release day; Super Chat alone produces $1,800 and the archived VOD earns $600 in ad revenue over the next month.
See Livestream on real channels
FameLifter pulls public livestream data for 500K+ YouTube channels — refreshed hourly via the official YouTube Data API v3.