Sia, Big Bird woo advertisers for YouTube

NEW YORK — Big audiences, big name performers and even Big Bird starred in YouTube's annual presentation to advertisers Thursday night. More than 2,700 people attended the event, dubbed Brandcast, featuring performances from singers Silentó and Sia.

"I'm happy to announce that on mobile alone YouTube reaches more 18-to-49-year-olds than any network – broadcast or cable," boasted CEO Susan Wojcicki, referencing a Nielsen study, commissioned by parent Google, of 2015 viewing data that offers an apples-to-oranges comparison with network TV. "In fact, we reach more 18-to-49-year-olds during primetime than the top 10 TV shows combined."

Wojcicki pointed towards gains in the key demographic for advertisers, where TV numbers have slipped. She hopes to convince advertisers to shift spending from TV to YouTube.

"At a time when TV networks are losing audiences, YouTube is growing in every region and across every screen," Wojcicki added.

There was no mention of YouTube's rumored plans to begin streaming live TV through a paid service called Unplugged, follows news of similar plans by Hulu. Bloomberg first reported the news on Wednesday, citing anonymous sources.

After the statistics were presented, the performances and special guests started to pour in.

Big Bird unveiled the new YouTube channel Sesame Studios. But Big Birdand his puppet friends won't be featured on the new channel. Instead, Sesame Studios will include one- to five-minute videos, including nursery rhymes and animal films, with new characters. YouTube star Todrick Hall wrote the theme song for the new channel, which will be featured on YouTube Kids.

To close out the presentation, Silentó performed his hit song Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae). The music video has grown into a YouTube phenomenon with over 830 million views on the site. Big Bird joined the performance to show off his dance moves.The Sesame Street YouTube channel, which features content from the original show that now airs on HBO, will remain active.

At a post-presentation party, Sia performed a few songs from her 2016 Coachella set, including Chandelier, Diamonds and Elastic Heart,  joined on stage by Dance Moms' Maddie Ziegler.