Audience decline of CDL 2024: Major 1 Qualifiers continued despite Scump and Zooma co-casting

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The qualification for the Call of Duty League 2024: Stage 1 Major has concluded. Its feature was a new expanded format for the group stage and the return of broadcasts on YouTube (including co-casting by Scump and ZooMaa). This helped slow down the audience attrition for the league but did not stop it completely. 

Atlanta FaZe was the strongest team of the qualifiers, it was the team that won all seven matches. Los Angeles Thieves, Boston Breach, Carolina Royal Ravens, and Las Vegas Legion occupied the last four positions in the overall standings, so they will start the Major from the lower bracket of the playoffs.

Call of Duty League 2024: Stage 1 Major Qualifiers Viewership

Call of Duty League 2024: Stage 1 Major Qualifiers generated over 5.2 million Hours Watched. This is 15% more than the most-watched qualifiers in 2023. The reason for the growth lies in the increased airtime: previously, teams played four matches in the qualifiers, and they started playing seven games each in the new season.

Compared to the qualifiers for the first Major in 2023, the average viewership for CDL Stage 1 Major Qualifiers dropped by 25%, and the peak viewership decreased by 8.5%. The transition from Twitch to YouTube reduced the league's viewership, but not as much as one might have expected — YT broadcasts from Scump and ZooMaa slightly compensated for the outflow of the audience. It is also important to note that the CDL 2024: Stage 1 Major Qualifiers matches were covered on only 7 different channels, while last year the number of channels in the qualifiers reached 50-70.

CDL Stage 1 Major Qualifiers comparison with other qualifications in 2023

The official CoD League channel on YouTube was the most popular for broadcasts. It's gathering nearly as many peak viewers as the combined streams of Scump and ZooMaa. Worth noting that the league's official channels and co-streamers attracted a significantly larger audience when they were streaming on Twitch.

The transition of community casters from Twitch to YouTube is an interesting move for the league's broadcast development. However, not all viewers are willing to leave their favorite platform even when following their favorite streamers. Tens of thousands of viewers continue to watch (or rather listen to) Scump and ZooMaa streams on Twitch, even considering that they don't broadcast game feeds there.

Comparing the metrics of CDL Stage 1 Major Qualifiers on the red platform, the number of league viewers has significantly increased compared to previous years. For example, in 2022 (when all broadcasts were also exclusively on YouTube), the most popular qualification gathered 91.4K Peak Viewers, while the latest qualification gathered 168.8K — an 84% increase.