[Editor’s Note: Tubefilter Charts is a weekly rankings column from Tubefilter with data provided by GospelStats. It’s exactly what it sounds like; a top number ranking of YouTube channels based on statistics collected within a given time frame. Check out all of our Tubefilter Charts with new installments every week right here.]
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In March 2023, short-form channels continued to dominate our rankings of the most-watched YouTube hubs.
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Despite the vertical video invasion, the top five channels in the latest Global Top 100 are all known for long-form videos. Even as YouTube trends shift, some content categories have evergreen appeal.
Chart Toppers
Cocomelon – Nursery Rhymes finished #1 in every weekly chart that we released in March, so it’s no surprise that the U.S.-based channel wound up at the front of the monthly Top 100. If anything is surprising, it’s the relatively small gap between Cocomelon and its closest competitor. The Moonbug-owned family animation channel collected 2.6 billion monthly views, which put it a few percentage points ahead of second place. Cocomelon lost 11% of its viewership month-over-month, but the #2 channel experienced a similar dip, so Cocomelon can stay at #1.
T-Series was the channel that nearly caught Cocomelon in March. The Indian record label still hasn’t ended Cocomelon’s streak of ten straight #1 finishes in our weekly charts, even though it led most of the Global Top 50 rankings we released in 2022. That doesn’t mean T-Series is having a down year. On the contrary, it picked up 2.5 billion monthly views in March, which brought its YouTube-leading lifetime viewership within a stone’s throw of 220 billion. It will clear that milestone in April.
The final three spots in March’s monthly top five are all occupied by channels based in India. Many South Asian consumers have turned to YouTube to watch their favorite shows, and that trend has been good news for SET India, which has cemented itself as one of the most-watched channels on the internet. In March, SET India snagged 1.87 billion monthly views, which allowed it to move up one spot after finishing third in February. The Sony-owned destination is also third in terms of lifetime YouTube viewership.
StarPlus took the #4 spot in the Global Top 100. The Indian media company was just outside the global top five in February, but it was able to improve its traffic by 17% month-over-month to secure a two-spot jump. Across the 31 days of the third month, StarPlus earned 1.8 billion monthly views, which put its lifetime viewership sum above 22 billion.
A channel with ties to SET India completes March’s global top five. Sony SAB is known for distributing comedy, and its funny videos brought in 1.6 billion monthly views during our latest measurement period.
Top Gainers
Based on the position of two channels in the Global Top 100, we may be poised for an Italian Renaissance in the world of short-form video.
We can call it the Khaby Lame effect. The Italian star became TikTok’s most-followed personality thanks to his wordless reaction videos. Now, some other creators from the boot-shaped nation are pulling in billions of views by sharing their own reactions to viral content. Specifically, let’s talk about the work of Ornella Zocco.
Zocco has turned some heads in her home country thanks to her music career, but she doesn’t need to show off her singing voice to turn heads on YouTube Shorts. The three most-watched videos on her channel all fall into the same category: Zocco watches something horrible happen to a cute creature, and she reacts by miming universal indicators of compassion, comfort, and empathy.
Videos like these worked wonders for Zocco’s YouTube channel in March. She collected 1.05 billion monthly views during the third month of the year. By doubling her monthly viewership, she moved up to 36th place in the Global Top 100. And even though she’s only operated her YouTube channel since 2020, she’s already close to five billion lifetime views.
Zocco and compatriot PANDA BOI have provided some Italian representation in our global charts. Maybe it’s Khaby Lame, or maybe it’s the culture of effusive gestures, but whatever the reason, Italy is having a moment on Shorts. We’ll take a look to see if that grandissimo viewership continues into April.
Channel Distribution
Here’s a breakdown of the Top 100 Most Viewed channels this month in terms of their countries of origin:
- United States: 25 channels in the Top 100.
- India: 20 channels in the Top 100.
- Russia: 11 channels in the Top 100.
- Vietnam: 7 channels in the Top 100.
- Japan: 4 channels in the Top 100.
- Germany, Pakistan, South Korea, and Turkey: 3 channels in the Top 100.
- Brazil, Canada, Cyprus, Italy, Taiwan, and United Kingdom: 2 channels in the Top 100.
- Argentina, China, El Salvador, France, Latvia, Moldova, The Netherlands, Thailand, and United Arab Emirates: 1 channel each in the Top 50.
This month, 74 channels in the Top 100 are primarily active on YouTube Shorts.
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Gospel Stats provides transparent social media stats you can trust. For more information visit GospelStats.com.
