A subscriber to a channel on the American video-sharing platform YouTube is a user who has chosen to receive the channel's content by clicking on that channel's "Subscribe" button, and each user's subscription feed consists of videos published by channels to which the user is subscribed. [1] The ability to subscribe to users was introduced on 25 October 2005. [2] YouTube began publishing a list of its most-subscribed channels in April 2006. [3] An early archive of the list dates to 17 May 2006. [4]
Since mid-2006, when Smosh occupied the top position with less than 3,000 subscribers, [4] at least 10 other YouTube channels have held the top spot; these include American fictional character Bree Avery, American comedian Brooke "Brookers" Brodack, American fictional character Fred Figglehorn, Swedish gamer Felix "PewDiePie" Kjellberg, American comedian Ryan Higa, American media personality Ray William Johnson, American public speaker Judson Laipply, and English geriatric Peter Oakley.
The most-subscribed channel is the Indian record label T-Series, which hosts its music videos on its channel. With over 261 million subscribers as of March 2024, the channel has held the top position since April 14, 2019. [5] [6] The most-subscribed channel which is not 'branded' (i.e., does not belong to an organization or company) is that of American YouTuber MrBeast, who is the second most-subscribed channel on YouTube, with over 245 million subscribers as of March 2024. [6]
The following table lists the 50 most-subscribed YouTube channels, [upper-alpha 1] [6] as well as the primary language and content category of each channel. The channels are ordered by number of subscribers. Those whose displayed subscriber counts are identical, are listed so that the channel whose current growth rate indicates that its displayed subscriber count will exceed that of the other channel is listed first. Automatically generated channels that lack their own videos, such as Music and News, and channels that have been made effectively obsolete as a result of the transferral of their content, such as JustinBieberVEVO and TaylorSwiftVEVO [upper-alpha 2] are excluded.
As of March 2024, 21 of the 50 channels listed primarily produce content in English while 17 primarily produce content in Hindi. All 50 channels have surpassed 48 million subscribers, 45 of them have surpassed 50 million subscribers, 31 of them have surpassed 60 million subscribers, 21 of them have surpassed 70 million subscribers, 14 of them have surpassed 80 million subscribers, 13 of them have surpassed 90 million subscribers, 10 of them have surpassed 100 million subscribers, 4 of them have surpassed 150 million subscribers, 2 of them have surpassed 200 million subscribers, and only 1 channel has surpassed 250 million subscribers.
The following table lists the 19 distinct runs as the most-subscribed YouTube channel recorded since May 2006. Only runs lasting at least 24 hours are included. 11 different channels have held the position, with PewDiePie holding the title a record four times. In second place is Smosh, which held it three times, while third place is tied between nigahiga, T-Series, and YouTube's own channel, which have all held it twice each.
Channel name | Date achieved | Days held | Reference |
---|---|---|---|
Smosh (1) | May 17, 2006 | 18 | [4] [18] |
Judson Laipply | June 4, 2006 | 29 | [19] [20] [21] |
Brookers | July 3, 2006 | 45 | [22] [23] [24] |
geriatric1927 | August 17, 2006 | 26 | [25] [26] |
lonelygirl15 | September 12, 2006 | 226 | [27] [28] [29] [30] |
Smosh (2) | April 26, 2007 | 517 | [18] [31] |
nigahiga (1) | September 24, 2008 | 12 | [32] [33] |
FЯED | October 6, 2008 | 318 | [33] [34] |
nigahiga (2) | August 20, 2009 | 675 | [32] [35] [36] |
Ray William Johnson | June 26, 2011 | 564 | [37] [38] [39] |
Smosh (3) | January 12, 2013 | 215 | [18] [40] [41] |
PewDiePie (1) | August 15, 2013 | 79 | [42] [43] |
YouTube Spotlight [upper-alpha 3] (1) | November 2, 2013 | 36 | [44] [45] [46] |
PewDiePie (2) | December 8, 2013 | 4 | [47] [48] |
YouTube Spotlight (2) | December 12, 2013 | 11 | [49] [48] |
PewDiePie (3) | December 23, 2013 | 1920 | [50] [51] [52] |
T-Series (1) | March 27, 2019 [upper-alpha 4] | 5 | [56] [58] |
PewDiePie (4) | April 1, 2019 | 13 | [57] [59] [60] |
T-Series (2) | April 14, 2019 | 1799 | [61] [62] |
As of March17, 2024 UTC |
Timeline of the most-subscribed YouTube channels (May 2006 – present)
Channel | Subscriber milestone | Date achieved | Reference |
---|---|---|---|
Brookers | 10,000 | July 7, 2006 | [63] |
geriatric1927 | 20,000 | August 18, 2006 | [64] |
lonelygirl15 | 50,000 | October 23, 2006 | [65] |
Smosh | 100,000 | May 15, 2007 | [66] |
FЯED | 1 million | April 7, 2009 | [67] |
nigahiga | 2 million | March 13, 2010 | [68] |
RayWilliamJohnson | 5 million | November 15, 2011 | [69] |
Smosh | 10 million | May 25, 2013 | [70] |
PewDiePie | 20 million | January 9, 2014 | [71] |
50 million | December 8, 2016 | [72] | |
T-Series | 100 million | May 29, 2019 | [73] |
200 million | November 30, 2021 | [74] |
Following the third time that Smosh became the most-subscribed YouTube channel, Ray William Johnson collaborated with the duo. [75] A flurry of top YouTubers including Ryan Higa, Shane Dawson, Felix Kjellberg, Michael Buckley, Kassem Gharaibeh, the Fine Brothers, and Johnson himself, congratulated the duo shortly after they surpassed Johnson as the most-subscribed channel. [76]
In mid-2018, the subscriber count of the Indian music video channel T-Series rapidly approached that of Swedish web comedian and Let's Player PewDiePie, who was the most-subscribed user on YouTube at the time. [77] [78] As a result, fans of PewDiePie and T-Series, other YouTubers, and celebrities showed their support for both channels. During the competition, both channels gained a large number of subscribers at a rapid rate, and surpassed each other's subscriber count on multiple occasions in February, March, and April 2019. [53] [54] [55] [57] T-Series eventually permanently surpassed PewDiePie, and on May 29, 2019, it became the first channel to reach 100 million subscribers. [73]
Smosh is an American YouTube sketch comedy-improv collective, independent production company, and former social networking site founded by Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox. In 2002, Padilla created a website named "smosh.com" for making Flash animations, and he was later joined by Hecox. They began to post videos on Smosh's YouTube channel in the fall of 2005 and quickly became one of the most popular channels on the site. The Smosh channel has over 10 billion views and over 25 million subscribers.
Super Cassettes Industries Private Limited, doing business as T-Series, is an Indian music record label and film production company founded by Gulshan Kumar on 11 July 1983. It is primarily known for Hindi film soundtracks and Indi-pop music. As of 2014, T-Series is India's largest music record label, with up to a 35% share of the Indian music market, followed by Sony Music India and Zee Music. T-Series also owns and operates the most-viewed and the most-subscribed YouTube channel, with over 261 million subscribers and 248 billion total views as of 6 March 2024. While best known as a music label, T-Series has also had some moderate success as a film production company.
Disney Digital Network was an American multi-channel network located in Culver City, California. It was originally the successor to Maker Studios, co-founded by Lisa Donovan, Danny Zappin, Scott Katz, Kassem Gharaibeh, Shay Carl, Rawn Erickson II, Ben Donovan, Philip DeFranco, Glasgow Phillips, Michael Gallagher, Matthew Clawson, and Paul Ballon in 2009. Maker Studios was originally conceived as an incubator for YouTube talent through the use of Super Channels like The Station. Maker Studios adopted the multi-channel network (MCN) model after the initial model failed to take root. Maker Studios was acquired by The Walt Disney Company in 2014 for $500 million, and was absorbed into the newly formed Disney Digital Network in 2017.
Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, better known as PewDiePie, is a Swedish YouTuber known for his comedic videos. Kjellberg's popularity on YouTube and extensive media coverage has made him one of the most noted online personalities and content creators. He has been portrayed in media as a figurehead for YouTube, especially in the genre of gaming.
Mark Edward Fischbach, known online as Markiplier, is an American YouTuber, actor and filmmaker. He mainly uploads Let's Plays and is known for his videos of indie horror games. After joining YouTube in 2012, Fischbach became popular on the platform with Let's Plays of Amnesia: The Dark Descent (2010) and the Five Nights at Freddy's series. As of June 2023, his channel has over 35 million subscribers.
YouTube is the official YouTube channel for the American video-sharing platform YouTube, spotlighting videos and events on the platform. Events shown on the channel include YouTube Comedy Week and the YouTube Music Awards. Additionally, the channel uploaded annual installments of YouTube Rewind between 2010 and 2019. For a brief period in late 2013, the channel was ranked as the most-subscribed on the platform. As of November 2023, the channel has earned 39 million subscribers and 3.2 billion video views.
YouTube Creator Awards, commonly known as YouTube Play Buttons or YouTube Plaques, are a series of awards from the American video platform YouTube that aim to recognize its most popular channels. They are based on a channel's subscriber count but are offered at the sole discretion of YouTube. Each channel is reviewed before an award is issued, to ensure that the channel follows the YouTube community guidelines. YouTube reserves the right to refuse to hand out a Creator Award, which it has done for channels featuring horror or extremist political content.
Marzia Kjellberg is an Italian Internet personality and businesswoman. Known for her videos on her now-inactive YouTube channel Marzia, Kjellberg has also ventured into writing, fashion design, and business. She is married to Swedish YouTuber PewDiePie.
Seán William McLoughlin, better known online as jacksepticeye, is an Irish YouTuber. Much of McLoughlin's YouTube content centres around gaming and vlogs. As of February 2024, his YouTube channel has accumulated 16.6 billion views and 30.6 million subscribers, making it the 2nd most-subscribed Irish channel on YouTube.
A YouTuber is a type of social media influencer who uploads or creates videos on the online video-sharing website YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006, and subsequently appeared in the 2006 Time Person of the Year issue.
"Bitch Lasagna", originally named "T-Series Diss Track", is a song by Swedish YouTuber and comedian PewDiePie in collaboration with Dutch music producer Party In Backyard. The song satirizes Indian music label T-Series, as a response to predictions that T-Series would surpass PewDiePie in terms of subscriber count. The song was one of the first events in the PewDiePie vs T-Series competition, in which the two channels competed for the title of the most-subscribed YouTube channel.
Cocomelon is an American YouTube channel owned by the British company Moonbug Entertainment and maintained by the American company Treasure Studio. Cocomelon specializes in 3D animation videos of both traditional nursery rhymes and their own original children's songs. As of February 2024, Cocomelon is the 3rd most-subscribed and 2nd most-viewed channel on YouTube.
James Stephen "Jimmy" Donaldson, better known by his online alias MrBeast, is an American YouTuber, online personality, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He is known for his fast-paced and high-production videos, which feature elaborate challenges and large giveaways. With over 240 million subscribers, he is the most-subscribed individual on YouTube and the second-most-subscribed channel overall.
PewDiePie vs T-Series was an online rivalry between two YouTube channels, PewDiePie and T-Series for the title of the most-subscribed YouTube channel. T-Series has held the title of most-viewed YouTube channel since February 2017, and PewDiePie had been the most-subscribed YouTube channel since August 2013. The rivalry between the two YouTube channels began when T-Series' subscriber count began to near PewDiePie's in late 2018.
Social Blade is an American social media analytics website. Social Blade most notably tracks the YouTube platform, but also has analytical information regarding Twitch, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Trovo, Dailymotion, Mixer, and DLive. Social Blade functions as a third-party API, providing its users with aggregated data from these various social media platforms. Jason Urgo is the CEO of Social Blade.
Swedish YouTuber Felix Kjellberg, known online as PewDiePie, has uploaded over 4,700 videos on the YouTube platform. Having accumulated over 29.2 billion video views as of February 2024, PewDiePie's channel ranks within the 100 most viewed on YouTube. Due to PewDiePie's YouTube channel having been the most-subscribed on the platform from 2013 through 2019, and it remaining one of the most since, his channel's videos have attracted substantial media coverage.
Enes Batur Sungurtekin is a Turkish YouTuber and actor. He became known through the vlog videos he published on YouTube. As of January 2024, he owns the most-subscribed personal YouTube channel in Turkey with 16 million subscribers, through which he publishes a variety of videos.
"Congratulations" is a song by Swedish YouTuber PewDiePie, Swedish singer, YouTuber, and musician Roomie, and English musician and YouTuber Boyinaband. The single was self-released on 31 March 2019 with an accompanying music video on YouTube as a response to T-Series surpassing PewDiePie as the most-subscribed YouTube channel. The music video is banned on YouTube in India. As of May 2023, the video has over 230 million views, making it PewDiePie's second most-viewed video, his most viewed being his previous T-Series diss track, Bitch Lasagna.
In the early days, anyone who made a big viral video could enter the top ten, with "Evolution of Dance" performer Judson Laipply even holding the top spot for a bit.
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