The shift in who holds the power at Cannes Lions, the annual creativity and advertising fest, is palpable. I’m here for the first time (a commentary on the growing importance of the event), and the talk of the town is the rise of the creator — they are everywhere here on the Croisette, speed dating with the biggest brands in the world, matchmaking as advertisers try to find a toehold into Gen Z (or at least the culture they now drive) and creators try to capture new revenue.
At the center of the conversation, of course, is YouTube, which, having brought more than a dozen top creator names here, arrived in France to capture its share of the $185 billion in ad money pouring into creator-led programming this year, an amount of spend that will surpass traditional media in 2025. (For a business masterclass in the creator economy, subscribe to Natalie Jarvey’s excellent Like & Subscribe.)
It was with that backdrop that I interviewed YouTube CEO Neal Mohan in a one-on-one at ADWEEK House Cannes Lions yesterday on June 17.
In our wide-ranging conversation, I opened by asking Mohan about Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos’ recent comments about YouTube. Netflix has recently started calling YouTube its real competition (YouTube has a greater share of TV watching than Netflix), and Sarandos has said YouTube is for “killing time,” while his streamer is for “spending time.” Mohan’s fiery response: “Who am I to say what’s spending time, engaging time, quality time, killing time? It’s all of us as consumers — the 2 billion people that come to YouTube every single day — we get to decide how to spend our time.” He adds, “I think that’s frankly just the industry kind of talking to itself.”
Other highlights from our wide-ranging and fast-moving conversation: Mohan answers whether YouTube’s reported $2 billion per year NFL Sunday Ticket deal is paying off; teases plans for global sports rights expansion; and breaks down how the company has quietly captured massive podcast market share from Apple and Spotify. And stick around until the end — for Mohan’s final swipe back at Netflix. He also has sharp and insightful words about the Minecraft movie, the power of fandom and communities, and what you need to know if you are a marketer today.
Below is a text version of our conversation, edited for structure and length for paid subscribers; you can listen to the whole conversation on The Ankler podcast, and you can watch the video, naturally, on YouTube.
Janice Min: I want to start with the cultural change you’re well aware of. YouTube now accounts for 11 percent of all watch time on TVs. That may not sound like a huge number — that is a massive number. It’s the first streaming platform to surpass that milestone.
Second place is Netflix at around 8.5 percent. I’m going to read some things Ted Sarandos, the co-CEO of Netflix, has recently said about YouTube, and then I want you to react. Okay, so here are some sick burns coming.
Neal Mohan: Let’s see what you got.
