YouTube celebrates success of its famous online content creators by hosting FanFest

Mobile contributes to 80 per cent of YouTube's total watch time in India and is growing at a staggering 400 per cent year on year. In 2016, YouTube saw over 500 creators across India get over 1,00,000 subscribers

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Mumbai | March 24, 2017

With over 14 independent creators hitting the one million subscribers mark across entertainment, music, tech and food, YouTube is continuing to see massive growth in online video viewership in India, reaching over 180 million users per month in India on mobile alone, according to App Annie.

To support and celebrate its online original content creators, YouTube is hosting FanFest's fourth Edition from March 24 at 7.00 pm at Jio Garden, Bandra Kurla Complex, where over 5,000 fans will see their favourite YouTube stars from across the globe perform live. Official sponsors of the event are Be Beautiful, 5 Star, Gionee and Maruti Ignis.

With over 300 million smartphone users now in the country, creators are finding audiences beyond the top metros, thanks to improved access to the Internet, as well as more Indians coming online in tier two cities who are discovering new content in their languages. This demand is driving more hunger for YouTube content across all genres. These trends are driving YouTube's massive growth in watch time, with mobile contributing to 80 per cent of YouTube's total watch time in India. Mobile watch time is growing at a staggering 400 per cent year on year. Earlier this year, YouTube announced that its one+ billion users worldwide are now watching one billion hours of video daily.

Talking about YouTube's plans to further grow the content creator ecosystem in India, David Powell, Director of Online Partnerships and Development, YouTube, APAC, said, “With more people coming online especially in tier two cities, we're seeing more hunger for YouTube content across all genres. In 2016, we saw over 500 creators across India get over 100k subscribers, meaning at least one channel is crossing this threshold every day.”

Another big factor driving YouTube's success in India is the rise of independent online creators. 2016 saw the fastest growth of creators' subscriber base, with now over 10 creators across the country boasting more than one million subscribers. YouTube has been consistently investing in boosting creators' success, with initiatives such as the NextUp development programme as well as holding more than 50 events and workshops across India.

At its pre-YouTube FanFest press conference on March 23, YouTube congratulated Bhuvam Bam, otherwise known as BB Ki Vines, as the fastest creator ever in India to hit the two million subscriber mark — he had attained the one-million milestone just a few months ago. YouTube also awarded a Gold Play Button to celebrate the one million subscriber milestone to Technical Guruji and Shirley Setia. Among other top creators, Being Indian, Kabita's Kitchen, Nisha Madhulika, Sanam, and Vidya Vox also emerged as the next generations of stars who are defining a new form of entertainment for millions of Indians with their entry into the 1 million subscribers club.

Powell also said, “This meteoric rise of content creators across the country is at the heart of YouTube's popularity in India, and we are significantly ramping up our efforts to make India one of the most vibrant and successful content creator communities in Asia. We will ramp up our efforts in creator community events across the country with a big focus on the south of India, and will continue to put the spotlight on creators as with our recent #SeeSomethingNew campaign.”

Fastest growing online creators who have crossed a million subscribers in India are BB Ki Vines (who crossed both 1 million and 2 million in 2016), Shirley Setia, Being Indian, Kabita's Kitchen, VidyaVox, Technical Guruji, Nisha Madhulika, Sanam, Sandeep Maheshwari, Sanjeev Kapoor and InfoBells Telugu.

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