YouTube Official Blog

The latest Animation Trends Report, "Animation’s New Wave: How independent, online animators are reshaping the entertainment industry," is officially live! We’re diving into how indie creators are expanding the horizons of what’s possible in animation.

Check out these standout stats from the report:

• 61% of 14- to 24-year-old animation fans agree that they like watching animated series created by independent animators for YouTube as much as or more than series created by a major studio.¹
• 63% of 14- to 24-year-old animation fans watch animated series created for YouTube weekly or more.¹
• 50% of animation fans (online 14- to 49-year-olds) agree that they watch animated series in languages other than their own.²

The animation universe is growing faster than ever, fueled by a new generation of creators and a global community of fans.

Visit the YouTube Culture & Trends site to read the full report.

1. _{Google/SmithGeiger, YouTube Trends Survey, U.S. April 2025, N=358 online Gen Z animation fans age 14-24.}
2. _{Google/SmithGeiger, YouTube Trends Survey, U.S. April 2025, N=671 online animation fans age 14-49.}

Coachella 2026 officially kicks off tomorrow, Friday, April 10th @ 4 PM PT / 7 PM ET on Coachella’s YouTube Channel – set your reminders now! Here’s what to expect:

• Livestream seven stages.
• Watch up to four stages at once using multiview.
• Grab limited-edition merch via YouTube Shopping all without leaving the livestream.

What to do next?

• Set your notifications on Coachella's YouTube channel.
• Subscribe and enable notifications to the artist channels you're excited to catch live!
• Download the Coachella Livestream app on Android or iOS to plan your livestream schedule, synced to your timezone and discover new artists to add to your lineup with the help of Google Gemini.
• Watch this video to learn more about all the livestream features!

Get the vibes going early

• Turn on Coachella’s YouTube Station “Coachella TV,” a 24/7 stream featuring hits from artists on this year's lineup and 2026 festival highlights. Performance highlights will be updated following each weekend, so keep checking back.
• Listen to Coachella playlists like Desert Dance, Coachella 2026: Sonora, and Coachella 2026: The Lineup on YouTube Music.
• Catch what’s trending with our new Coachella 2026: Daily Top 100 Songs Chart, tracking the top songs from artists across the lineup.
• Explore the Shorts effect picker starting April 10th for a KATSEYE claw machine with prize filters, a festival fruit sticker effect, and a vlog thumbnail generator.

To the moon and across your screens — here’s how you can celebrate NASA’s 10-day Artemis II journey on YouTube:

• Watch the entire journey live on NASA’s YouTube Channel.
• Search “America 250” for a curated playlist of this historic moment and explore the vast galaxy with creators who make sense of far-off sights and discoveries, including some coverage of Artemis as well as other elements of space exploration.
• On the YouTube Kids app, check out our learning playlists to inspire the next generation of astronauts. Plus explore a special Sesame Street curated playlist designed to engage young explorers.
• Go behind the scenes at the launch site with creators like Scott Manley, SmarterEveryDay, and PBS Space Time.
• Look out for our astronomy-themed YouTube logo (known as the Yoodle).

This weekend, MrBeast will host a high-stakes competition show bringing together 50 of your favorite streamers for a chance to win one million dollars, on the MrBeast YouTube channel. This epic showdown features your favorite creators like IShowSpeed, Cinna, DDG, Marlon Garcia, Maya Higa, Rayasianboy, Yonna Jay and more, straight to your living room and beyond.

"We brought 50 of the biggest streamers on the planet together for some of our most epic challenges yet," says Donaldson. "The live finale is going to be pure chaos. Anything can happen."

A legendary two-day competition

Tune in this Saturday, April 4 at 12 p.m. ET to see MrBeast bring together the world’s top streamers for stage one of the competition, which will end with only four remaining players left in the running for the million dollar prize. The competition continues on Sunday, April 5 with a live finale, where the finalists will battle it out in a last-man-standing competition.

Watch With on YouTube

In addition to the main live broadcast, more than 10 creators will host their own companion “Watch With” streams, offering personal takes and reactions as the action unfolds. This event marks YouTube’s largest “Watch With” activation to date.

Get ready for a wild weekend

• Part 1: Saturday, April 4, 2026 12:00 PM ET / 9:00 AM PT
• LIVE Finale: Sunday, April 5, 2026 12:00 PM ET / 9:00 AM PT

Set your reminders HERE now!

Starting today, your smart TV is getting smarter, because our conversational AI tool is now available on your home’s biggest screen.

While watching a video, you can select the “Ask” button to open the tool. Using your remote’s microphone button, you’ll be able to make conversational queries, such as “What are other popular videos from this creator?” Several default prompts will help you get started if you don’t know what to ask.

The conversational AI tool launched last year on mobile and web to help viewers engage more deeply with the content they were watching. We’ve seen users break down specific moments while watching podcasts, learn about a city’s landmarks in travel vlogs, and more — all without having to hit pause on their video.

By bringing this feature to the TV, we’re making the living room experience more interactive than ever.