As YouTube viewership keeps expanding on TV devices, it makes sense that the content mimics traditional TV formats – especially serialized episodes that drive regular, repeated tune-ins.
The strategy has shown up all across YouTube. And while there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to launching a successful serialized format, these creators offer useful lessons for anyone trying something similar.
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50 States in 50 Days
Creator Ryan Trahan hit his own highs for YouTube watch-time in mid-2025, thanks to his take on a classic content concept: road tripping. But this wasn’t just any road trip. Trahan’s series became a daily endeavor that saw him visiting all 50 states in 50 days.
The idea is a departure from his usual content, shifting toward longer-form videos, state highlights, and an earnest desire to document and share the journey with his audiences. While his kickoff video (from Texas) has the most views at 11 million, the daily release schedule created an interesting study in playlist functionality and retaining viewers throughout series like this.
The longer runtime (most videos are 20–25 minutes) creates a TV-like experience – something you might see on the Travel Channel, but told from the lens of a creator who feels more like a peer. Trahan’s dedication to keeping the series on track has also kept engagement high as his U.S. watch-time grew by 120% month-over-month in June, to 569.8 million (No. 24 among all U.S. accounts, ahead of various TV networks and mainstream news organizations).
Like a Good Gamer…
State Farm launched Gamerhood in 2022, and four seasons in, the gaming-themed competition show is bigger than ever. The season four premiere on August 1 drew 152K viewers on YouTube.
For a brand, creating a YouTube entertainment show that speaks directly to a niche customer profile – while also emphasizing insurance tropes – is the ideal situation. State Farm utilizes a reality competition format audiences are familiar with, and delivers endemic content in a way that has those viewers willingly engaging with the brand for extended stretches.
It’s hard enough to drive tune-in for any brand videos given how crowded the space can be. But State Farm manages to get viewers locked in for two hours or more of Gamerhood. The brand had 4.7 million minutes watched on YouTube in July, and regularly hits over 5 million (partly on the back of Gamerhood videos).
Vice’s Naked Truths Revival
Vice Media’s serialized content approach actually mines a previous one. Along with its many YouTube-based shows, the company recently dove back into Naked Truths – the one-time Refinery29 hit that had successful women sharing thoughts on self-confidence while removing their own makeup.
The new version takes a different approach as a higher production docuseries that takes a raw, unfiltered look into hidden corners of U.K. life with longer-form videos (like findom streamers).
While the previous Naked Truths series saw video durations in the 1-5 minute length, the current version’s episodes run 15 minutes or longer, more resembling traditional television formats – in part to play into the increased use of YouTube as a substitute for TV. And the longer episode lengths create opportunities for ad breaks, allowing the show to have a viable monetization strategy without needing larger linear/streaming TV pickup.
In its first two episodes, the new series generated more than 65K views per upload, with modest engagement.
What Creators and Publishers Can Learn
Serialized content formats aren’t just a throwback to traditional TV, but also a powerful way to drive loyalty on social platforms, especially YouTube.
The three examples above show that:
- Consistency builds momentum. Daily or weekly cadences help create habit, and habit builds an audience.
- Long-form content works on YouTube. Viewers are willing to invest time, especially when the narrative pulls them in.
- Smart packaging pays off. From playlists to episodic branding, making it easy to “watch the next one” increases total engagement.
As YouTube content continues to attract viewership on big screens, the creators and brands who think in series, not just single hits, will be the ones that stand out.