What is the best time to stream on Twitch to get the most viewers, followers, and subscribers?
Does it matter what day of the week it is? Does the size of your channel matter?
We dived into statistics to answer these questions. Keep reading if you want to find the perfect time to go live on Twitch without trial and error, even if you haven’t even created your channel yet!
What are the best times to stream on Twitch?
When it comes to maximum viewers, the best time to stream on Twitch is between 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM PST. This is when viewership peaks and you have the most potential viewers.
But that doesn’t mean it’s the best time to stream on Twitch if you’re trying to grow your channel!
With high attendance comes high levels of competition. On Twitch, small channels can’t compete with the big names.
If you’re a new or small channel looking to grow your audience, the best time to stream on Twitch is between 12:00 PM and 4:00 AM PST.
This is when the number of other live channels drops, which means you have much less competition for viewers.
So we’ve narrowed down the block of time, but what’s the difference in a day?
Best days to stream on Twitch
The best days to stream on Twitch are Saturday and Sunday.
However, the days with the fewest competitions are Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Don’t worry if you can’t stream during those days and hours!
If you have a small channel, you should target your specific audience. Not only in terms of content, but also in terms of schedule. So let’s see how to do it.
How to find the best times to stream on Twitch for your channel
One of the biggest attractions of Twitch is the ability to connect with people in a specific niche.
Maybe it’s the best players in your favorite first-person shooter, people learning how to make digital art for the first time, or literally something in between.
Think about who will watch and when.
How to choose the right time to broadcast in your time zone
Remember those gold Twitch watches we talked about above? They are great, but depending on where you live, they may not be suitable for your local audience.
And by “local audience”I mean people in your current and nearby time zones.
You just need to ask yourself one question: When will your audience be able to watch?
To answer this question, you need to ask a few more:
- When will they be able to watch (when awake, not at school or at work)?
- Should I broadcast one longer broadcast or do a “split shift”?
Now that you’ve narrowed down the list to a few local timeslots, it’s time to focus on what you’ll be streaming!
How to choose the right time to stream for your category/game
The next step to determine the best time to stream on Twitch is to study the browsing habits of the category or game you are streaming.
This way you can plan your content ahead of time, knowing exactly what time and day you’ll get the best results!
Here’s how:
Step 1: Visit sullygnome, Twitch’s stats and analytics aggregator.
Step 2: Find your specific category by entering the name into the search bar in the top right corner.
Step 3: Select a category from the drop down menu.
Step 4: Expand the summary data to 180 or 365 days and apply a language filter.
Step 5: Focus on the average, not the peak (so that special events don’t interfere with the numbers).
You want to find the days when the average number of views is closest to the average number of views of a category.
Average view stats can be skewed by large events, but you just need to identify trends for peaks in the chart. Try to find one or two days a week to focus on.
Step 6: Reduce the summary data to 7 days and find the hours when the average number of views is closest to the average number of category views.
Using the examples above, you can see that for Minecraft, the highest average audience is on Friday and Saturday between 20:00 and 01:00 in our time zone.
How to Choose the Right Time to Stream According to Your Audience Size
How big your average audience is has a big impact on when you should stream. It has to do with how people browse Twitch.
By default, Twitch sorts channels into categories by current viewers, from highest to lowest. This means that the more active channels, the more difficult it is to find them if you have a smaller channel.
Unfortunately, most people believe that popularity = quality.
But don’t worry! Here’s how to spot the perfect time to increase the chances of new viewers finding you:
Step 1: Go back to sullygnome and select your category again (if it’s not already open).
Step 2: This time, focus on the average daily channels and look for a trend in the lows. This is when you will have the least amount of competition.
You can set the data to display 180 or 365 days to find the day of the week with the lowest competition.
Then set it to 7 days to find specific hours.
In this example, 7 and 11 o’clock have the fewest active channels, regardless of the day of the week. Thursday is the lowest competition.
Isn’t data analysis fun?
After all that, you now have a day and time guideline for your streaming schedule.
If you’re looking at these time blocks and can’t clear your entire schedule to find the perfect time to stream, don’t worry!
How to Create a Successful Stream Schedule on Twitch
For newer and smaller channels on Twitch, chances are very high that you won’t be able to stream during golden hours.
But I have good news: perfect timing doesn’t really have to be!
Here’s how you can create your ideal streaming schedule for growth.
Keep track of your schedule
Note that consistency is more important than time span because it forms habits! You want viewers to know exactly when to find you.
Think of it this way: going on the air at the best time might draw people in once, but going on the air at a constant time is what keeps them coming back.
Find a block in your schedule that you can stick to and commit to it!
Stream 3-5 times a week
Speaking of forming viewing habits, live streaming three to five times a week does just that.
Streaming every day might seem like the best way to grow, but that’s not the case for smaller channels.
It is better to dedicate this time to some activity outside of Twitch that will help grow your channel (more on this below).
On top of that, doing something non-stop is a recipe for burnout. There is no faster way to get rid of this fire than to turn it into a daily chore!
Stream at least 2 hours per broadcast
Stats directly from Twitch, it’s best to stream at least two hours per broadcast. The ideal stream length is three to four hours.
What if I told you that the best way to grow your audience is not to find the best time to stream on Twitch?
Even if you do everything right, there is no guarantee that you will find new viewers.
So how do you get people to watch your Twitch stream, no matter when it’s live? Two words: social media.
The chances of being found on Twitch are slim, even at the best of times. Unfortunately, the platform is just built that way.
The truth is that growth is best achieved outside of Twitch!
Social media promotion can be used to overcome inconsistency and the inability to broadcast during golden hours.
Twitch does not have the algorithmic discoverability of other social media platforms.
So why not use these networks to get your Twitch broadcast to your potential audience?
Here’s how you can use other social networks to get new viewers to your Twitch channel!
Use existing content for other platforms
Video content is king online no matter where you are. Use it to your advantage!
Capture clips or stream your best moments and post them anywhere! Just don’t forget to add a link to your channel.
Download the best clips or highlights from your latest broadcast, edit them as needed, and re-upload to other platforms. It is so simple!
Short clips are best for TikTok and Instagram (in fact, almost all platforms these days love videos that are 60 seconds long or less). Longer moments for YouTube.
For more tips on growing your channels on these platforms, check out our Instagram, Tiktok, and YouTube guides!
Make sure you add the appropriate hashtags for your category or game. Then let powerful algorithms do all the work.
Become a member of your category’s community
Interact anywhere and everywhere your audience spends time online:
- facebook groups
- Discord servers
- Subreddits
- Internet forums
Share tips, ask questions, post memes. Don’t just spam them with promotions for your Twitch channel. Nobody likes it. Instead, include a link to your Twitch channel in your bio.
If you are active in these communities, other members will naturally find this link after interacting with you. If they like your content outside of Twitch, they’re much more likely to check you out on Twitch!
Point your audience to Twitch through other channels
Letting people know when they can see you live will allow them to adjust their schedule without you having to change yours.
- Post your upcoming weekly schedule
- Create notification posts when you go live
- Include the right hashtags for more reach
- Always link to your Twitch channel
This is ideal for networks like Twitter and Instagram. This is where you can post content for people who follow you specifically for content.
From a single dashboard, you can edit and schedule posts across all networks, track sentiment, engage your audience, measure results, and more. Try it for free today.