If you play video games or are active on the internet, chances are that at some point you’ve thought about playing games or creating some other content online. These thoughts likely involved either YouTube or the premier livestreaming platform Twitch.
For those that actually made the leap to begin streaming, they often find that the beginning steps of getting their Twitch channel rolling can be difficult, especially if you’re entering without any form of prior fanbase built from anywhere else.
When there’s so many games being played by so many other streamers and channels across the platform, you can often find yourself wondering: how do I get more viewers to come and watch my streams?
One important factor to consider is what times and days you’re going live with your streams (although saving your streams can allow to view a stream they may not have been able to catch live). Streaming at a bad time can give yourself unnecessary obstacles to overcome when it comes to building up viewer base for your Twitch streams.
So when is the best time to stream on Twitch? Find out below in today’s article.
Determining your Ideal Target Demographic
An important factor when determining what times and days are the best for you to take your Twitch streams live is what demographic your targeting to build up your viewer base.
This decision can be heavily influenced by what games it is you’re going to be playing on your streams. For example: games like Minecraft, Fortnite, or Among Us may be more likely to draw in a viewer base of children, so it’d be smart to stream at times where children would be able to tune in.
On the other hand, playing mainly horror games may be more likely to draw an adult viewer base, so you may want to set up your streaming around the schedule of an adult instead.
Of course, there will be exceptions to these examples. Playing games like Minecraft or Fortnite will also draw in some adult viewers, while playing horror or other M rated games will also occasionally draw in children viewers to the streams. But by focusing on what your viewer demographic would be overall, you can more effectively target a wider portion of your audience with your streaming schedule.
Some possible examples of demographics and corresponding streaming times below:
- Children: Any time on weekends; after school hours (8 am – 3 pm) on weekdays
- Young Adults/College Aged: More late night (10 pm – 2 pm) and weekend streams
- Adults: Weekends, after typical work hours (9 am – 5 pm)
Best Streaming Times for Max Potential Viewership
Ignoring the demographic your channel or chosen games may be the most appealing to, there’s a couple strategies you can use when determining the best times to go live on Twitch.
One strategy is to target the times when the most viewers are collectively on the platform, as that;s more potential eyes and people that could happen to see your stream up and decide to stop and and see what it’s all about.
Statistics show that Twitch’s max viewership is around 11 am to 2 pm PST (Pacific Standard Time). This means that streaming during this window of time will have your stream live during Twitch’s peak activity. Just from a pure numbers and probability standpoint, that’s more potential viewers and even possible fans that can find your Twitch stream live.
Best Streaming Times for Least Competing Channels
Maybe instead of going live during max viewership, you’d prefer the strategy of going live when there’s the least amount of competing channels that are also live with their own stream. After all, the less options to choose from, the more likely it is that someone chooses your stream to be their entertainment of choice, right?
If you’d prefer to go with this method, your ideal times would fall around 12 am (midnight) and 9 am PST (Pacific Standard Time).
These wee hours of the night see the least amount of active streams, meaning there will be less competition for potential viewers if you choose to go live at these times.
Keep in mind that each strategy has it’s own pros and cons. Targeting the times with the most active viewers means that there’s more potential competition for those viewers, while targeting the times with the least active competition means there’s less potential viewers. You may find it useful to test both these windows of time and determine which works best for you, or even a different time slot entirely (especially if it fits your target demographic).
Final Word
Overall, there’s no one magic window of time that will get you the most amount of viewers on your Twitch streams.
Instead, there’s multiple times that could be the best fit for you depending on factors such as what strategy you want to approach with and even what your channel’s target audience may be. You can try out multiple of these times to find your best fit, or you can hone in on your one time and grind it out until you see that viewership number growing. You may also consider coordinating your time with another friend who streams so you can send each other raids to get a viewer boost to your streams.