• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, September 30, 2026

The battle for "attention" between video independent creators and traditional studio-based content has one study that shows both claiming victories.

For example, on YouTube, 63% of all YouTube channel sessions from viewers are those from "creators" such as MrBeast, Dude Perfect and Dash Roblox, according to TVision, which calculates results from respondents on a panel, two years of age and up, from July-December 2025.

This compares with 38% coming from “studio” channels (Apple TV, Daily Show and WWE).

But “attention’’ scores tip with studio channels -- 35% versus 26% for creator content.

TVision calculates "attention" with its "eyes on the screen" technology.

"Ad attention" is the percentage of all ad impressions where a viewer has their eyes on the screen for two or more seconds.

Digging down into more granular results, bigger channels on YouTube -- those in the top 20% of viewing sessions -- capture slightly less attention scores (41%) than niche channels (48%).

Niche channels are defined as those with sessions that pull in 1,000 to 13,000 average viewers. Bigger creator channels have between 2.5 million and six billion average views.

Larger YouTube channels benefit from more co-viewing than niche creators, at 71% to 53%. Many brand executives believe co-viewing of content can have higher value.

Looking at the broader view of attention, traditional pay TV platforms (cable, satellite, virtual) post slightly higher attention scores -- at 57% -- compared to other platforms including subscription/ad-supported streamers (53%), sports program apps (51%) and FAST (free ad-supported/streaming television), at 49%.