Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Dynamic list Template:Multiple image
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 in 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 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 247 million subscribers as of August 2023, 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 overall, with over 176 million subscribers as of August 2023.[6]
50 most-subscribed channels
The following table lists the 50 most-subscribed YouTube channels,Template:Efn[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 TaylorSwiftVEVOTemplate:Efn are excluded.
As of August 2023, 20 of the 50 channels listed primarily produce content in English while 18 primarily produce content in Hindi. All 50 of the channels have surpassed 45 million subscribers, 40 of them have surpassed 50 million subscribers, 25 of them have surpassed 60 million subscribers, 18 of them have surpassed 70 million subscribers, 14 of them have surpassed 80 million subscribers, 11 of them have surpassed 90 million and 8 of them have surpassed 100 million subscribers. Only 1 channel, T-Series, has surpassed 200 million subscribers.
Historical progression of most-subscribed channels
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. Template:Legend Template:Legend
| Channel name | Date achieved | Days held | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smosh (1) | May 17, 2006 | 18 | [4][16] |
| Judson Laipply | June 4, 2006 | 29 | [17][18][19] |
| Brookers | July 3, 2006 | 45 | [20][21][22] |
| geriatric1927 | August 17, 2006 | 26 | [23][24] |
| lonelygirl15 | September 12, 2006 | 226 | [25][26][27][28] |
| Smosh (2) | April 26, 2007 | 517 | [16][29] |
| nigahiga (1) | September 24, 2008 | 12 | [30][31] |
| FЯED | October 6, 2008 | 318 | [31][32] |
| nigahiga (2) | August 20, 2009 | 677 | [30][33][34] |
| Ray William Johnson | June 28, 2011 | 564 | [35][36][37] |
| Smosh (3) | January 12, 2013 | 215 | [16][38][39] |
| PewDiePie (1) | August 15, 2013 | 79 | [40][41] |
| YouTube SpotlightTemplate:Efn (1) | November 2, 2013 | 36 | [42][43][44] |
| PewDiePie (2) | December 8, 2013 | 4 | [45][46] |
| YouTube Spotlight (2) | December 12, 2013 | 11 | [47][46] |
| PewDiePie (3) | December 23, 2013 | 1920 | [48][49][50] |
| T-Series (1) | March 27, 2019Template:Efn | 5 | [51][52] |
| PewDiePie (4) | April 1, 2019 | 13 | [53][54][55] |
| T-Series (2) | April 14, 2019 | Template:Age in days | [56][57] |
| As of July 29, 2026 UTC | |||
Timeline
Timeline of the most-subscribed YouTube channels (May 2006 – present) <timeline> ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:80 right:130 left:20 AlignBars = late DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:2005 till:29/07/2026 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1 start:2005
Colors =
id:Sub value:rgb(0.0,0.5,0.0) legend: Most-subscribed channel on YouTube id:On value:gray(0.8) legend: Channel on YouTube id:Off value:white
Legend = columns:2 left:200 top:50 columnwidth:250
BarData =
bar:Smosh bar:Laipply bar:Brookers bar:Geriatric bar:Lonely bar:Nigahiga bar:Fred bar:Johnson bar:PewDiePie bar:YouTube bar:T-Series
PlotData =
width:5 align:left fontsize:9 shift:(5,-4) anchor:till
bar:Smosh from: 19/11/2005 till: 17/05/2006 color:On text: from: 17/05/2006 till: 12/06/2006 color:Sub text: from: 12/06/2006 till: 26/04/2007 color:On text: from: 26/04/2007 till: 24/09/2008 color:Sub text: from: 24/09/2008 till: 12/01/2013 color:On text: from: 12/01/2013 till: 15/08/2013 color:Sub text: from: 15/08/2013 till: end color:On text: "Smosh (3)"
bar:Laipply from: 23/03/2006 till: 12/06/2006 color:On text: from: 12/06/2006 till: 03/07/2006 color:Sub text: from: 03/07/2006 till: end color:On text: "Judson Laipply"
bar:Brookers from: 30/09/2005 till: 03/07/2006 color:On text: from: 03/07/2006 till: 17/08/2006 color:Sub text: from: 17/08/2006 till: 12/07/2017 color:On text: from: 12/07/2017 till: end color:Off text: "Brookers"
bar:Geriatric from: 04/08/2006 till: 17/08/2006 color:On text: from: 17/08/2006 till: 17/09/2006 color:Sub text: from: 17/09/2006 till: 23/03/2014 color:On text: from: 17/09/2006 till: end color:On text: "geriatric1927"
bar:Lonely from: 12/05/2006 till: 17/09/2006 color:On text: from: 17/09/2006 till: 26/04/2007 color:Sub text: from: 26/04/2007 till: end color:On text: "lonelygirl15"
bar:Nigahiga from: 20/07/2006 till: 24/09/2008 color:On text: from: 24/09/2008 till: 06/10/2008 color:Sub text: from: 06/10/2008 till: 20/08/2009 color:On text: from: 20/08/2009 till: 28/06/2011 color:Sub text: from: 28/06/2011 till: end color:On text: "nigahiga (2)"
bar:Fred from: 01/10/2005 till: 06/10/2008 color:On text: from: 06/10/2008 till: 20/08/2009 color:Sub text: from: 20/08/2009 till: end color:On text: "Fred"
bar:Johnson from: 25/05/2008 till: 28/06/2011 color:On text: from: 28/06/2011 till: 12/01/2013 color:Sub text: from: 12/01/2013 till: end color:On text: "Ray William Johnson"
bar:PewDiePie from: 29/04/2010 till: 15/08/2013 color:On text: from: 15/08/2013 till: 02/11/2013 color:Sub text: from: 02/11/2013 till: 08/12/2013 color:On text: from: 08/12/2013 till: 12/12/2013 color:Sub text: from: 12/12/2013 till: 23/12/2013 color:On text: from: 23/12/2013 till: 27/03/2019 color:Sub text: from: 27/03/2019 till: 01/04/2019 color:On text: from: 01/04/2019 till: 14/04/2019 color:Sub text: from: 14/04/2019 till: end color:On text: "PewDiePie (4)"
bar:YouTube from: 14/02/2005 till: 02/11/2013 color:On text: from: 02/11/2013 till: 08/12/2013 color:Sub text: from: 08/12/2013 till: 12/12/2013 color:On text: from: 12/12/2013 till: 23/12/2013 color:Sub text: from: 23/12/2013 till: end color:On text: "YouTube Spotlight (2)"
bar:T-Series from: 13/03/2006 till: 27/03/2019 color:On text: from: 27/03/2019 till: 01/04/2019 color:Sub text: from: 01/04/2019 till: 14/04/2019 color:On text: from: 14/04/2019 till: end color:Sub text: "T-Series (2)"
</timeline>
Milestones and reactions
| Channel | Subscriber milestone | Date achieved | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brookers | 10,000 | July 7, 2006 | [58] |
| geriatric1927 | 20,000 | August 18, 2006 | [59] |
| lonelygirl15 | 50,000 | October 23, 2006 | [60] |
| Smosh | 100,000 | May 15, 2007 | [61] |
| FЯED | 1 million | April 7, 2009 | [62] |
| nigahiga | 2 million | March 13, 2010 | [63] |
| RayWilliamJohnson | 5 million | November 15, 2011 | [64] |
| Smosh | 10 million | May 25, 2013 | [65] |
| PewDiePie | 20 million | January 9, 2014 | [66] |
| 50 million | December 8, 2016 | [67] | |
| T-Series | 100 million | May 29, 2019 | [68] |
| 200 million | November 30, 2021 | [69] |
Following the third time that Smosh became the most-subscribed YouTube channel, Ray William Johnson collaborated with the duo.[70] 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.[71]
PewDiePie vs T-Series
Template:Main 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.[72][73] 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.[74][75][76][53] T-Series eventually permanently surpassed PewDiePie, and on May 29, 2019 it became the first channel to gain 100 million subscribers.[68]
See also
Template:Portal Template:Colbegin
- List of most-viewed YouTube channels
- List of most-viewed YouTube videos
- List of most-liked YouTube videos
- List of most-disliked YouTube videos
- List of YouTubers
- List of most-viewed Indian YouTube videos
- List of most-viewed Pakistani YouTube videos
- List of most-viewed Arabic music videos on YouTube
- List of most-viewed French music videos on YouTube
Notes
- ↑ The Quickstart Guide to YouTube – Lesson 2: YouTube Basics. YouTube Creator Academy. YouTube. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
- ↑ Official YouTube Blog – Tuesday, October 25, 2005. Official YouTube Blog. Google(25 October 2005). Retrieved 5 November 2013.
- ↑ Lots 'o New Stuff. Official YouTube Blog. Google. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 YouTube - Most Subscribed Members (This Month)(2006-05-17). Retrieved 2016-09-11.
- ↑ Hackers Target Chromecast Devices, Smart TVs with PewDiePie Message. Variety. Penske Business Media(January 2, 2019). Retrieved 23 April 2019.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Top 100 Subscribed YouTube Channels (Sorted by Subscriber Count). Social Blade. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
- ↑ The Top 10 Most Popular YouTube Channels: Should You Subscribe?. MakeUseOf. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
- ↑ T-Series Rules YouTube's Airwaves, but Bhushan Kumar Is Not Stopping Here. The Economic Times. Bennett, Coleman & Co.. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
- ↑ BBC, Sony Television's India Unit Partner for New Channel. The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media(September 17, 2015). Retrieved 3 December 2018.
- ↑ Why Are YouTube Stars So Popular?. The Guardian(February 3, 2016). Retrieved 30 November 2018.
- ↑ Spanish Ads on English TV? An Experiment. The Washington Post. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
- ↑ 10 Children Who Are Making Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars — and Possibly Millions — Through YouTube. Business Insider. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
- ↑ eee Music Company – About. YouTube. Zee Entertainment Enterprises. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
- ↑ The Nation Wants to Know: What Do Indians Watch on Facebook and YouTube?. Quartz India(November 9, 2017). Retrieved 3 December 2018.
- ↑ Why Are Broadcasters Launching More Hindi GECs?. Business Today. Living Media. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Smosh. YouTube. Mythical Entertainment. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
- ↑ Judson Laipply. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
- ↑ A Complete Timeline Of Every "Most Subscribed" YouTuber In History, Dryden, Liam. We The Unicorns(16 March 2017). Retrieved June 1, 2017.
- ↑ The History Of YouTube's Most-Subscribed Channels Is A Fun Nostalgia Trip, Gutelle, Sam. tubefilter(March 15, 2017). Retrieved June 1, 2017.
- ↑ Brookers. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
- ↑ Brooke BRODACK | EMC. www.entertainment-masterclass.tv. Retrieved 2016-09-11.
- ↑ YouTube - Most Subscribed Channels. YouTube(2006-07-03). Retrieved 2016-09-11.
- ↑ geriatric1927. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
- ↑ The meteoric rise of geriatric1927(2006-08-29). Retrieved 2016-09-11.
- ↑ lonelygirl15. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
- ↑ YouTube Stars!: The Lonelygirl15 Story. Retrieved 2016-09-11.
- ↑ Lonelygirl15: Prank, Art or Both. The New York Times(2006-09-17). Retrieved 2016-09-11.
- ↑ The 100 Greatest Internet Memes of All Time12. Lonelygirl15. Complex. Retrieved 2016-09-11.
- ↑ A Big Deal: The Run-Off on YouTube!!, Heffernan, Virginia. Retrieved 2016-09-11.
- ↑ 30.0 30.1 nigahiga. YouTube. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
- ↑ 31.0 31.1 Fred, Smosh or Nigahiga?!(2008-10-06).
- ↑ Fred. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
- ↑ DETHRONED: Fred No Longer #1 on YouTube, Parr, Ben. Mashable(August 23, 2009). Retrieved 2016-09-11.
- ↑ YouTube Winners & Losers! NigaHiga and Fred(2009-08-21).
- ↑ Ray William Johnson. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
- ↑ Ray William Johnson: =3 Adds Up To Most-Subscribed On YouTube, Humphrey, Michael. Forbes. Retrieved 2016-09-11.
- ↑ Ray William Johnson Surpasses Nigahiga To Become The Most Subscribed YouTuber Of All Time. socialtimes.com. Retrieved 2016-09-11.
- ↑ Smosh Passes Ray William Johnson as #1 Most Subscribed YouTube Channel, joshuajcohen. Tubefilter(2013-01-12). Retrieved 2016-09-11.
- ↑ SMOSH Becomes The #1 Most-Subscribed YouTube Channel - New Media Rockstars(2013-01-12). Retrieved 2016-09-11.
- ↑ PewDiePie. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
- ↑ It's Official: PewDiePie Becomes #1 Most Subscribed Channel On YouTube, joshuajcohen. Tubefilter(2013-08-16). Retrieved 2016-09-11.
- ↑ YouTube Is Now The Most Subscribed Channel On YouTube, Cohen, Joshua(November 4, 2013).
- ↑ YouTube Statistics for PewDiePie (24 October – 2 November 2013 archive). Social Blade. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
- ↑ YouTube Statistics for YouTube (27 October – 5 November 2013 archive). Retrieved 3 August 2022.
- ↑ YouTube Statistics for PewDiePie (3 December – 12 December 2013 archive). Social Blade. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
- ↑ 46.0 46.1 YouTube Statistics for YouTube (5 December – 14 December 2013 archive). Retrieved 3 August 2022.
- ↑ YouTube Statistics for PewDiePie (8 December – 17 December 2013 archive). Social Blade. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
- ↑ YouTube Statistics for PewDiePie (17 December – 26 December 2013 archive). Retrieved 22 November 2018.
- ↑ YouTube Statistics for YouTube (20 December – 29 December 2013 archive). Retrieved 22 November 2018.
- ↑ PewDiePie Breaks 20 Million YouTube Subscribers, Cohen, Joshua(January 9, 2014).
- ↑ After a few days of back & forth @TSeries has been able to hold the title of #1 most subbed on YouTube for 24 hours now. That's not to say that @pewdiepie may not regain the lead, but going to have to congratulate @TSeries here! Onward to 100m for both!. Twitter. Social Blade. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
- ↑ PewDiePie nur noch YouTube Nummer Zwei. PC Welt. IDG Tech Media. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
- ↑ 53.0 53.1 PewDiePie Concedes Defeat to YouTube Rival T-Series. BBC News(April 2019). Retrieved 2 April 2019.
- ↑ PewDiePie – Detailed Statistics. Social Blade. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
- ↑ T-Series – Detailed Statistics. Social Blade. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
- ↑ PewDiePie – Detailed Statistics. Social Blade. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
- ↑ T-Series – Detailed Statistics. Social Blade. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
- ↑ YouTube Channels – Most Subscribed. YouTube.
- ↑ YouTube Channels – Most Subscribed Channels (All Time). YouTube. Retrieved 3 September 2006.
- ↑ Channels – Most Subscribed (All Time). YouTube.
- ↑ smosh Channel. YouTube(9 July 2007). Retrieved 8 January 2014.
- ↑ The first YouTube channel to hit one million subscribers(April 9, 2009). Retrieved February 28, 2018.
- ↑ How'd They Do That? NigaHiga, YouTube's No.1 Most Subscribed of All Time. Blogspot(March 13, 2010). Retrieved August 11, 2013.
- ↑ Ray William Johnson is First to 5 Million YouTube Subscribers. Tubefilter(November 15, 2011). Retrieved August 11, 2013.
- ↑ YouTube History: Smosh Is First Channel Past Ten Million Subs. Tubefilter(May 25, 2013). Retrieved August 11, 2013.
- ↑ PewDiePie Breaks 20 Million Subscribers, Cohen, Joshua. Tubefilter(January 9, 2014). Retrieved January 10, 2014.
- ↑ PewDiePie hits 50 million subscribers, promises again to delete his account, Popper, Ben. The Verge(December 8, 2016). Retrieved April 4, 2019.
- ↑ 68.0 68.1 PewDiePie vs T-Series Sub Count: Indian YouTube Channel Becomes First Ever to Pass 100 Million Subscribers, Rosseinsky, Kate. Evening Standard(May 29, 2019). Retrieved 29 May 2019.
- ↑ T-Series crossed over 200 Million subscriber dominating on YouTube. Merazone. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
- ↑ RWJ vs SMOSH. YouTube(January 16, 2013). Retrieved August 9, 2013.
- ↑ YouTubers Respond to Smosh Becoming #1 Most-Subscribed YouTube Channel, Cohen, Joshua(January 12, 2013). Retrieved August 9, 2013.
- ↑ This Bollywood YouTube Channel Is on the Verge of Bumping 'PewDiePie' from His Top Spot. CNBC. NBC Universal(August 31, 2018). Retrieved 8 March 2019.
- ↑ PewDiePie Could Lose His King of YouTube Crown to a Channel Called T-Series. Business Insider Singapore. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedTrenholm - ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedHamilton - ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedSpangler
References
Template:YouTube navigation Template:Most popular social media accounts