[Tubefilter Charts is a periodic 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. We use data directly from YouTube and in terms of subscribers, YouTube rounds that data to the first three significant figures. Check out all of our Tubefilter Charts with new installments every week right here.]
Scroll down for this week’s Tubefilter Chart.
The leader in this month’s Global Sub Top 100 had a dominant run during July. He added about 15.8 million new subscribers during the month that just concluded, and no other YouTube channel even got halfway to that total. Congrats to this chart’s new rey, Argentina’s Alejo Igoa.
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Once you move past Igoa’s eye-popping numbers, there are some juicy details to find further down in the chart. One particular channel in the Global Sub Top 100 caught my attention because it is fusing an old form of entertainment with something a bit more contemporary.
The humble arcade is becoming a short-form hotspot (especially when Pikachu is involved)
In these columns, we often talk about the importance of timing for YouTube Shorts creators. The best way to retain viewers, and thus draw in the watch time that is critical to channel growth, is to keep them guessing until the very end. That tactic has helped creators like Ben Azelart rise to the top of our Tubefilter charts.
But before YouTube ever existed, there was another entertainment medium that tantalized consumers with promises of big payoffs that do not materialize until a critical moment of truth. The arcade games you’d find on a carnival midway are hardly sophisticated, but their inherent marketing tactics are highly relevant in the age of YouTube Shorts, and some savvy gamers are paying attention.
TYE Arcade is 72nd in this month’s Global Sub Top 100. During July, the old-school gaming hub added 1.1 million new subscribers. That was an 82% higher total than TYE’s subscriber sum from the previous month, and it brought the channel’s total subscriber count within hailing distance of eight million.
The pacing of TYE Arcade videos borrows from the games that are featured on the channel. A classic claw game, for example, is an easy way to generate anticipation. If you end up throwing your prize on the ground, you’ll whet your audience’s appetite even more. TYE Arcade’s most-watched videos don’t provide viewers with satisfying conclusions, and that may be part of the reason why they’re so popular. How else can you explain the lack of a reveal in a video like this:
The presence of a Pokeball in that video may also be one of the secrets of its success. Kids these days are obsessed with Pokemon collectibles, thanks in large part to Logan Paul’s lavish spending habits.
The official YouTube home of the pocket monsters is benefiting from the renewed surge of interest in the trading card game. Pokemon Kids TV is an all-ages hub where viewers can follow the fauna from their favorite game as they embark on adventures with one another. That channel had a huge month in July; it got 1.6 million new subscribers to reach 25th place in the Global Top 100.
Data via Gospel Stats
Pokemon Kids TV has had big months on YouTube in the past, so it may be that the arcade channels are flourishing because they feature Pokemon cards, not the other way around. But no matter which direction that relationship flows, there’s a clear trend emerging here: Old-school gaming is in.
Trading cards and claw games may not offer the immersive experience of the latest AAA video game, but they’re fun, colorful, and accessible. In the era of YouTube Shorts, those factors often lead to a big-time viewership jackpot.
Channel Distribution
Here’s a breakdown of the Top 100 Most Subscribed channels this month in terms of their countries of origin:
- India: 31
- United States: 21
- Bangladesh and Hong Kong: 6
- Mexico: 4
- Brazil, South Korea, and Spain: 3
- Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, and Vietnam: 2
- Argentina, Belarus, Belgium, China, Germany, Jordan, Peru, Singapore, Slovenia, Taiwan, Tanzania, United Kingdom, and Uzbekistan: 1
This month, 71 channels in the Top 100 are primarily active on YouTube Shorts.
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