YOUTUBE is still printing money from ads, with its ad sales rising 13% to $11 billion in the second quarter.

The growth keeps YouTube’s advertising engine firmly in “healthy clip” territory — a notable boost at a time when the wider entertainment industry is obsessed with where audiences are actually spending their time.

There’s also a streaming sweetener on the horizon: Peacock is set to be included in a YouTube Premium subscription bundle starting in 2027.

That move plants YouTube Premium more squarely in the bundle wars, where platforms keep stacking add-ons in a bid to hang on to subscribers and make paid tiers feel less like an optional extra.

For viewers, it means YouTube Premium will come with a recognisable TV service attached — but they’ll have to wait until 2027 to see how the package is priced and positioned.