Watch With lets creators broadcast live commentary and reactions alongside an eligible livestream. First piloted on NFL coverage in 2024, YouTube is now opening it to more creators.
2026-09-09 · by Moe Ameen
Published 2026-09-09 · Updated
Short answer
YouTube is opening Watch With, its live co-streaming reaction feature, to more creators as of September 2026. Creators in the test tap "React live" in the Share panel on mobile, and viewers see the creator's camera and the original stream together in one vertical stream. Creators earn revenue normally on the reaction, and viewing metrics go to the original broadcaster. YouTube first tried it with NFL coverage in 2024.
Key takeaways
In early September 2026, YouTube said it is expanding access to Watch With, the feature that lets a creator broadcast their own live commentary and real-time reactions alongside an existing livestream or event. It had been running as a limited experiment; the current move opens it up to more creators.
Mechanically, a creator in the experiment sees a "React live" button in the Share panel when viewing an eligible stream on a mobile device. Tapping it starts their own live reaction on top of the source content. Viewers can tune in from any device and see the two combined — the creator's camera feed and the original video together in a single vertical stream. YouTube has said creators earn revenue normally from the reactions posted within their stream, and that viewing metrics are shared with the original broadcaster in the app.
YouTube first piloted Watch With in 2024 as part of its NFL coverage. The feature sits inside a broader 2026 push into live — alongside always-on "Stations" channels, livestream leaderboards and livestream gifts — as YouTube works to turn passive viewing into something more participatory. YouTube says more than 30% of daily logged-in users watched live content in September 2025.
The thing to see is that Watch With produces a live asset, and live assets decay the instant the stream ends. The leverage is turning that ephemeral moment into durable, cross-platform content while the topic is still hot. After you co-stream a game or an event, take the replay into Kompozy and let it do the distribution work a live feature never will: Clipped Shorts cut your sharpest reactions into vertical shorts, a carousel recaps the best moments slide by slide, Quote Graphics lift your standout lines, and per-platform Text and Photo Posts go out in your own voice through the Persona Brief — then the whole set schedules across eight social platforms plus a blog recap and a newsletter on autopilot. One live broadcast on one platform becomes a week of posts everywhere.
There is also a fast, today play on the news itself. "YouTube is expanding Watch With" is a high-intent search this week, and commentary creators are actively looking for what it is and how to use it. A single point of view on the feature becomes a week of content in Kompozy — a short explainer, a carousel breaking down how "React live" works, captioned clips, and platform-native posts — published while the interest curve is climbing. Watch With is where the live moment happens; Kompozy is how that moment keeps earning attention after it is over. It pairs naturally with YouTube's other live bets, like its always-on Stations experiment and vertical-live practice mode.
This persona short was generated in the Kompozy workspace. It is the kind of vertical clip a creator can publish after a live stream ends.
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Watch With is a YouTube feature that lets a creator broadcast their own live commentary and reactions alongside an existing livestream or event. Viewers see the creator's camera feed and the source video combined in a single vertical stream, and the creator can watch together with their audience in real time.
If you are in the experiment, you tap a "React live" button in the Share panel while viewing an eligible stream on a mobile device. That starts your reaction on top of the source content, and viewers can join from any device. Access is limited and being expanded gradually, so not every creator has the button yet.
YouTube has said creators earn revenue normally from the reactions posted within their Watch With stream, and that viewing metrics are shared with the original broadcaster. It functions as both a monetization surface for the reacting creator and a collaboration signal for the broadcaster.
Like any livestream, the live experience is over when the broadcast stops, and the moment loses momentum fast. To keep value from it, capture the replay and repurpose the best segments into shorts, carousels, and posts. A content engine like Kompozy clips the strongest reactions and fans them across platforms so one live moment becomes ongoing content.
We checked every figure, date, quote and product claim on this page against the sources listed below on 2026-10-23, and removed or rewrote anything we could not confirm. Watch With details, the 2024 NFL pilot and YouTube's live-viewing figure come from Social Media Today's report. Kompozy plan and format details come from kompozy.io.
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