Q3 2026 Global Livestreaming Landscape: Industry hits record 31.7B Hours Watched as TikTok LIVE and Kick gain ground

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Livestreaming reached a record 31.7 billion Hours Watched across the platforms tracked by Streams Charts in Q3 2026. Overall growth remained modest, but the distribution of viewership changed considerably. YouTube retained its lead despite a decline in watch time, while TikTok LIVE and Kick reached new quarterly highs and expanded their market shares.

The FIFA World Cup final pushed YouTube to an all-time high of more than 36 million concurrent viewers, but the platform's watch time fell sharply in the following months. Meanwhile, gaming and esports helped Twitch record its strongest quarter since Q2 2025, while CHZZK overtook SOOP in a closely contested South Korean streaming market.

This Streams Charts report examines how the leading livestreaming platforms performed and which events and creators shaped the industry in Q3 2026.

Major takeaways

• TikTok LIVE narrowed YouTube's market lead as livestreaming reached another quarterly record. Total Hours Watched grew 0.8% to 31.7 billion. YouTube's market share fell from 49.5% to 43%, while TikTok LIVE expanded its share to a record 33.5%, reducing the gap between the two platforms to fewer than ten percentage points.

• Kick grew faster than any other major platform, narrowing the gap with Twitch. Its Hours Watched increased 30.7% to a record 2.04 billion, while Twitch grew 4% to 4.51 billion. Twitch now generates roughly 2.2 times Kick's watch time, compared with approximately 2.8 times in Q2.

• Gaming strengthened its position within the livestreaming market. Twitch recorded its strongest quarter since Q2 2025, while YouTube Gaming increased its share of YouTube's total watch time from 11.3% to 14.5%. In South Korea, CHZZK reached a new quarterly record and surpassed SOOP in Hours Watched for the first time.

Livestreaming content consumption in Q3 2026: Platform breakdown

The platforms covered in this report generated 31.698 billion Hours Watched in Q3 2026, approximately 0.8% more than in the previous quarter. This marked the highest quarterly total recorded across the livestreaming services tracked by Streams Charts.

YouTube's share of total livestreaming watch time fell from 49.5% in Q2 to 43% in Q3. Gaming broadcasts, however, showed a different trend. YouTube Gaming generated approximately 1.98 billion Hours Watched, increasing its share of the tracked livestreaming market from 5.6% to 6.2%.

TikTok LIVE strengthened its position as the second-largest platform by Hours Watched, reaching a record 33.5% share of the tracked market. Its total watch time grew 19% to 10.6 billion Hours Watched, with non-gaming content accounting for an increasing share of the platform's audience.

Kick continued to close the gap with Twitch, growing 30.7% quarter over quarter compared with Twitch's 4% increase. Kick's share of total watch time reached a record 6.4%, while Twitch's share edged up from 13.8% to 14.2%. Gaming and esports remained central to Twitch's performance, while Kick drew substantial audiences from both gaming and non-gaming broadcasts.

YouTube generated 13.62 billion Hours Watched in Q3 2026, down 13.7% from the previous quarter. July delivered the strongest results thanks in part to the final stages of the FIFA World Cup, but viewership declined substantially in August and September as the tournament ended. Gaming broadcasts helped offset some of the decline, gaining audience share within YouTube's livestreaming ecosystem.

Entertainment and News & Politics remained YouTube's leading categories by Hours Watched, although both declined compared with Q2. Sports continued to attract the largest peak audiences, exceeding 24 million concurrent viewers during the FIFA World Cup. Brazilian broadcaster CazéTV played a major role in the platform's World Cup coverage, setting several audience records of its own.

YouTube Gaming increased its share of the platform's total Hours Watched from 11.3% to 14.5%, generating nearly 1.98 billion hours of live content consumption. Major esports events, including Esports World Cup and The International, contributed to gaming viewership, while TheBurntPeanut led the platform's individual streamer rankings with more than 30 million Hours Watched.

TikTok LIVE generated 10.6 billion Hours Watched in Q3 2026, up 19% quarter over quarter and setting a new platform record. Non-gaming content increased its share of watch time, while gaming still accounted for 16.2% of the platform's total. Chats remained the leading content category, with Roblox among the most-watched games.

Twitch generated 4.51 billion Hours Watched in Q3 2026, its strongest quarterly result since Q2 2025. Gaming accounted for 76.9% of the platform's watch time, with League of Legends broadcasts attracting substantial attention throughout the quarter. Marc "Caedrel" Lamont led the streamer rankings by Hours Watched, ahead of TheBurntPeanut.

Kick recorded 2.04 billion Hours Watched in Q3 2026, up 30.7% from the previous quarter and marking its third consecutive quarter of growth. Just Chatting and Grand Theft Auto V (GTA) remained central to its audience, helping the platform narrow its gap with Twitch. Hani "absi" Al-Qablan led Kick's streamer rankings with more than 50 million recorded Hours Watched, although earlier Streams Charts research identified unusual audience patterns on his channel that warrant caution when interpreting the figures.

Four of the six smaller platforms in this comparison lost viewership in Q3 2026. Bigo LIVE and Rumble recorded the steepest declines, each losing nearly half of their quarterly Hours Watched.

South Korea's two leading livestreaming platforms were the only smaller services in this comparison to record growth. CHZZK increased its Hours Watched by 2.1% to 335.2 million, narrowly overtaking SOOP at 333 million. The result marked CHZZK's sixth consecutive quarter of growth and its first lead over SOOP by quarterly watch time.