YouTube claims it became Nigeria’s main entertainment destination in 2025

Following Google’s Year in Search 2025, YouTube’s Nigeria Recap 2025 landed this week—and for once, the numbers mostly live up to the hype, with a grain of context. Metrics like annual earnings, TV screen watch time, and international views show real growth: channels earning over ₦1 million rose 35%, TV watch time climbed 40%, and 70% of views now come from outside Nigeria.

Still, as with any platform-led recap, these figures reflect algorithmic choices and engagement signals, not independent verification. What matters more is how creators are leveraging that attention—building side hustles, running media businesses that out-earn traditional broadcasters, and reclaiming the living room once dominated by DSTV.

Follow the money

In 2025, 35% more Nigerian channels surpassed ₦1 million in annual revenue. This isn’t counting brand deals or sponsorships—just platform earnings from ads, memberships, and premium content. These creators are now running real, self-sustaining businesses.

The bigger story is where the money comes from. Seventy percent of watch time on Nigerian content now comes from audiences abroad. That means a Nollywood series shot in Lagos for ₦5 million can pull in dollars from London, Toronto, and Houston, where advertisers pay substantially more per view than in Nigeria. 

Traditional media never had that leverage, they were bound by local ad rates, local distribution, and capped audiences. On YouTube, a local production suddenly earns on a global stage.

Nigerians are tuning in again 

Watch time on YouTube via televisions rose 40% in 2025, marking a quiet shift from solo scrolling to shared viewing, and from short bursts of attention to longer, deliberate watching. Nigerians are gathering around smart TVs again, not for cable dramas but for Omoni Oboli’s latest upload. That shift has blurred the boundaries between platforms; what matters now isn’t where the story lives but how quickly it finds its audience. And right now, YouTube delivers faster, fresher, and on demand.

For creators, that change translates directly into earnings. Longer sessions keep ads running and communities engaged, turning consistent storytelling into steady income. It’s also reshaping how local filmmakers think about release cycles—weekly uploads instead of cinema premieres, episodic storytelling instead of full-length films. For advertisers, it’s proof that digital storytelling has entered prime-time territory, competing for couch time.

Five of YouTube’s top 10 Nigerian creators are Nollywood channels: 

• Omoni Oboli TV 
• Itelediconstudio 
• Uchenna Mbunabo TV 
• RuthKadiri247
• APATATV+

Brain Jotter is the only comedy outlier. 

What traditional media missed

Years of quiet groundwork through masterclasses, monetization training, and partnerships are paying off. While broadcasters debated whether YouTube was a threat or a dumping ground for old shows, creators treated it like home. 

The numbers tell the story: channels earning over ₦1 million jumped 35%, 70% of views come from outside Nigeria, and TV watch time grew 40%. This isn’t hype—it’s infrastructure. 

The new Recap feature, YouTube’s version of Spotify Wrapped, will flood timelines every December, but more importantly, it gives the platform sharper data to shape what we watch next.