【Karen Foster Archives】

LOS ANGELES -- Sure,Karen Foster Archives there were hundreds of attendees at the Sixth Annual Streamy Awards.

But like the awards show's title suggests, most people who watched the ceremony actually -- you guessed it -- streamed it.

This year, about 498,000 people livestreamed the platform on YouTube, according to data provided to Mashableby organizers.

Since its inception, the Streamys — co-produced by Tubefilter and Dick Clark Productions — has become a must-watch event for younger audiences who consume content mostly online.

Last year, the digital awards show was broadcast on television and online (on VH1's digital platforms).

But Drew Baldwin, Tubefilter and Streamys co-creator, said the sixth annual show wanted to return to its digital roots by partnering up with YouTube, which served as the official livestream partner. The move away from linear TV apparently paid off.

The number of livestreams this year surged about 51 percent from the 2015 livestream on VH1's YouTube channel.

"The Streamy Awards — like the creator community we celebrate — gets bigger and bigger every year and will undoubtedly continue to expand," Baldwin told Mashable.

Of those streaming the show, the majority -- about 75 percent -- watched from their phones, 21 percent watched from their desktop computers and 4 percent from their smart TV/game consoles.

There was also an 81 percent increase from 2015 in the total number of votes for the two Audience Choice categories – Entertainer of the Year and Show of the Year, which went to FouseyTube and The Phil DeFranco Show, respectively.

As expected, social engagement was also high.

Vines clipped from the show and posted to the Streamys Vine page have over 2 million loops.

The Streamys "My Story" had over 1 million total views within 24 of the first snap posted.