YTLive: A Dataset of Real-World YouTube Live Streaming Sessions

This repository contains the YTLive dataset, providing timestamped information about YouTube live streams and their viewer statistics.

Files

durations.csv

Contains stream duration information with precise timestamps (UTC):

• videoId: Unique stream identifier (SHA-256 hash)
• actualStartTime: Stream start timestamp (ISO 8601)
• actualEndTime: Stream end timestamp (ISO 8601)
• duration_in_minutes: Total duration in minutes

viewers.csv

Contains periodic viewer counts recorded at 5-minute intervals:

• Timestamp: Observation time (UTC)
• Columns named with videoIds: Concurrent viewer counts

Key Characteristics

• 📅 Covers 2-month observation period (May & June 2024)
• ⏱ 5-minute sampling interval for viewer counts

Citation

@INPROCEEDINGS{ytlive,
  author={Mozhganfar, Mojtaba and Jamshidi, Pooya and Aghamiri, Seyyed Ali and Ghasemi, Mohsen and Dolati, Mahdi and Tashtarian, Farzad and Khonsari, Ahmad and Timmerer, Christian},
  booktitle={NOMS 2026-2026 IEEE Network Operations and Management Symposium}, 
  title={YTLive: A Dataset of Real-World YouTube Live Streaming Sessions}, 
  year={2026},
  volume={},
  number={},
  pages={1-5}
}