A look at the live streaming market by numbers

Live streaming has exploded over the past few years, with millions of new users watching and creating streams on a variety of platforms. As the medium continues to integrate itself into mainstream social media, live streaming is beginning to see some impressive numbers in terms of views, revenue, and its impact on customer engagement.

.LIVE registry Rightside recently released an infographic that shows just how much the platform has grown already. These are a few of the highlights.

1.71 billion monthly active users on Facebook who are being exposed to Facebook Live

Facebook only debuted live streaming on their platform earlier this year, but their built-in user base and lineup of celebrity advocates have set them up for early success. Comedian Kevin Hart has received an estimated $600,000 from Facebook for using and promoting their live streaming service, and the company reportedly has 17 live streaming contracts worth over $1 million. But sponsored users are not the only ones drawing a crowd—the now viral “Chewbacca Mom” broke records with around 160 million views (including replays) of her Facebook live stream.

Almost $1 billion dollars paid by Amazon to acquire Twitch in 2014

Twitch has gained an enormous following over the past few years, as gamers flock to the platform to see their favorite games being played in real time by streamers from around the world. Amazon reportedly paid $970 million in cash to acquire it in August 2014. That number may seem massive, but it seems that Amazon will get its money’s worth out of the deal—Twitch is projected to reach a top value of $20 billion by 2020.

800 million potential viewers for live streamed NFL games on Twitter

Twitter paid an estimated $10 million this year for the right to live stream 10 Thursday Night Football games during the 2016 season. Fans who watch the games on Twitter are treated to a more immersive experience with game highlights, interviews, and more broadcasted before and after the games. With around 800 million Twitter users, all of whom have access to the streams, the social media platform could be well on its way to revolutionizing how people watch sports.

3,000 new Periscope followers for BMW after the live streamed reveal of the M2

In a bold move, BMW reveled their M2 model in October 2015 exclusively through a live stream broadcast via Periscope—and their efforts paid off. Around 5,000 viewers watched the 10 minute stream, and the auto company gained around 3,000 new Periscope followers as a result.

Live streaming is still a fairly new trend in the social media sphere, so it’ll be interesting to see how it evolves in the future. If the past few years are any indication, live streaming will continue to grow in popularity as users continue to integrate it with their daily social media practices.

See Rightside’s full infographic about life streaming here.