YouTube has announced a new feature that lets creators react live to other people’s videos, and the person doing the reacting gets to keep the money those reactions pull in. The feature is called Watch With, and it builds on the platform’s own broadcasts to let creators react to other creators’ livestreams.
Here’s how it works: a creator taps “React live” on a video they want to watch, and their stream shows their reaction alongside the original content. The reactor keeps the live ad revenue and fan funding they earn during the stream. The original creator gets attribution, view credit in YouTube Studio, and full control over which videos can be reacted to.
What Watch With Actually Does
Watch With started as a way for creators to react to YouTube’s own broadcasts, like major events and shows. It then moved into tests between creators’ livestreams, where the audience could see both the original stream and the person reacting to it. Now the feature is being expanded so that any eligible video or livestream can become the target of a live reaction.
The announcement comes from YouTube itself, which unveiled the change at Made on YouTube. The company promised that creators will tap “React live” on any eligible long-form video or livestream to stream their own reaction alongside it once the rollout begins later this year.
In YouTube’s demo, the original video sat above the reactor’s camera feed. That framing shows the core of the feature: the reactor is commenting on the original content, while the audience watches both at once.
Who Gets Paid, and Who Doesn’t
The revenue split is the whole story. The reactor keeps the live ad revenue and fan funding they earn during the stream. The original creator gets attribution, view credit in YouTube Studio, and full control over which videos can be reacted to.
That view credit is a bit murky. YouTube did not say whether it turns into revenue for the original creator, which leaves the reactor as the only confirmed earner. Tubefilter also asked whether a reaction view would count as a full one or a fraction. The announcement never spelled out what makes a video eligible either.
So the original creator gets credit for the attention but none of the cash. The reactor gets both.
How Big the Live Audience Is
The scale of this is worth noting. YouTube said more than 600 million logged-in viewers watched live content each day on average in August 2026. That is a massive audience, and it means there is a lot of potential demand for live reactions.
The platform only began testing reactions between creators’ livestreams earlier this year. This expansion stretches that young experiment across swathes of YouTube.
The Risk YouTube Warned About
There is a catch. In July 2025, YouTube warned that reaction content with little original insight could lose monetization. A built-in react button that pays the reactor makes for an intriguing sequel, but it also raises the question of what counts as original insight when the reactor is simply reacting to someone else’s video.
The announcement did not address that warning directly. It simply rolled out the feature without saying whether it changes the rules around what kinds of reactions get paid.
What This Means for Creators
For the reactor, this is a straightforward win. They get a new way to generate revenue by building reactions around existing content. For the original creator, the picture is murkier. They get credit for the attention but no share of the income.
The view credit is a consolation, but it is not cash. And the question of whether a reaction view counts as a full one or a fraction remains open.
A Feature That Rewards Engagement
The announcement is framed as a new way to react to videos, but the actual substance of the feature is that the reactor gets paid while the original creator does not. The reactor keeps the live ad revenue and fan funding they earn during the stream, while the original creator gets attribution, view credit in YouTube Studio, and full control over which videos can be reacted to.
That is the whole story. The reactor gets the money, the original creator gets the credit. It is a move that rewards engagement for the reactors.
The rollout begins later this year. When it does, the live reaction economy will look very different.
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Watch With demo shown | Unspecified |
| Reactions between creator livestreams tested | Earlier this year |
| YouTube’s warning about reaction monetization | July 2025 |
| Average daily live viewers in August 2026 | More than 600 million |
| Watch With rollout begins | Later this year |
The announcement is a reminder that YouTube’s live ecosystem keeps expanding, and the company keeps finding ways to reward the people who engage with it. Whether the original creators find that fair is a question the company has not answered yet.
See the video the story is built around at Dexerto.
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