If MrBeast‘s filings with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office are any indication, the top creator will stay busy as he consolidates his YouTube empire. Among the many irons Jimmy Donaldson has in the proverbial fire, the man known as MrBeast is cooking up a financial services firm that could include banking, advising, and crypto components.
In recent months, Donaldson has filed trademark applications for several phrases, including “MrBeast Financial.” According to the filing, the proposed venture would consist of “downloadable software in the nature of a mobile application for banking services, short-term cash advances, providing cryptocurrency exchange services, providing investment banking services and investment management services, providing consumer lending services and insurance services, providing financial advisory and consultancy services, providing financial planning services, and providing financial wellness education services.”
Should such a service come to fruition, it would expand the work MrBeast has already done within the financial sphere. He invested in Current in 2021, and he has incorporated the fintech company into several of his videos.
In recent years, however, Donaldson has started developing more in-house capabilites to go along with his external partnerships. For example, in the world of telecom, the longtime Samsung partner is rumored to be building his own mobile phone company. His MrBeast Financial trademark feels like a similar move, albeit in a different industry.
The idea of a financial firm led by a man who loses money on his blockbuster videos may seem like an odd premise, but there’s evidence to suggest that MrBeast Financial could find a devoted customer base. According to data from Precise TV, viewers between the ages of 13 and 17 are the most common demographic among MrBeast’s audience. That cohort accounts for 39% of his viewers, and many 13-to-17-year-olds are also ready to make money moves. According to a 2022 report, 49% of teens open their first bank accounts during that time, often when they land their first jobs.
Even if MrBeast Financial doesn’t pan out, Trademark Office data shows that Donaldson has many other ideas he can fall back on. His recent filings include phrases like “Vyro” and “Beast Mode.” (Marshawn Lynch might have something to say about that last one.)
Based on all those official registrations, we can tell that the MrBeast idea machine is as busy as it’s always been. I don’t blame Donaldson for the flurry of activity; when you’re trying to build a $5 billion company, you need to develop enough business ideas to keep the growth coming.
Filed under: Articles, Featured, Homepage Feature, MrBeast, News by Sam Gutelle Comments Off on MrBeast filed a trademark for a financial services company (and a bunch of other stuff)
Indigenous artists looking for popular recognition have long faced an uphill battle, but Indigenous House is looking to level out the playing field. The new content hub is led by Native creators and full of fresh videos across categories like music, cooking, culture, and comedy.
The new hub evolved out of IllumiNative, an organization that increased visibility for Native people while looking to change pervasive narratives that define them. As IllumiNative sunsets, Indigenous House is kicking off on YouTube. A launch slate of nine original programs will put Native voices front and center.
“Indigenous House was created for and by Native people to celebrate and share our cultures, not only with each other, but the world,” said IllumiNative Founder Crystal Echo Hawk in a statement. “Through our creators and original content, we’re able to share the beauty of community to a wider audience and continue to amplify Native perspectives from across the country.”
The perspectives featured on Indigenous House represent numerous walks of life. Organizer Jade Begay will helm an interview series, Dr. Claudia Serrato will pass down traditional recipes, and Jessica Metcalfe of Beyond Buckspin will explore the world of fashion through a Native lens.
Those programs will add to the growing library of Indigenous stories, which can be seen both on social platforms like TikTok and in film and TV productions like Killers of the Flower Moon and Reservation Dogs. (One of the stars of Indigenous House, Thosh Collins, has a recurring role on Reservation Dogs.)
The social media industry’s impact on Native visibility was on display at an Indigenous Peoples’ Day House Party that doubled as the kickoff event for Indigenous House. Tlingit storyteller Alyssa London hosted, hip-hop artist Supaman provided entertainment, and artisans representing brands like Copper Canoe Woman, Jennifer Younger Designs, and Urban Native Era sold their goods at an open marketplace. It was the sort of broad cultural experience viewers can expect from Indigenous House uploads — subscribe on YouTube if you want to know more.
Filed under: Articles, Featured, Homepage Feature, News by Sam Gutelle Comments Off on Indigenous House, a streaming service led by Native creators, opens its doors
Welcome to our rundown of the most-watched branded YouTube videos of the week.
We’re publishing this snippet of a larger Gospel Stats Weekly Brand Report in order to analyze sponsorship trends in the creator economy. Any video launched in tandem with an official brand partner is eligible for the ranking.
And – as the name up above would imply – all the data comes from Gospel Stats. If you’re interested in learning more about Gospel – and which brands are sponsoring what creators on YouTube – click here.
Sometimes our Gospel Stats Weekly Brand Reports seem to have a theme, as if thousands of creators in thousands of niches decided to unite across the internet in some tacit agreement that, yes, everyone’s meditating on that this week. But other weeks, like this week, are just as interesting: A collection of videos with diversity of topic, form, and function that shows off how YouTube continues to be a place for creators of all sorts to share what they’re up to.
We had a long streak where MrBeastwasn’t at the top of our list every single week. But that streak has now ended, because he’s been leading our top 5 consistently for a couple months now, getting lots of eyeballs on his own brand Feastables as well as sponsor brands like Jack Link’s and DoorDash.
All that is to say that whenever MrBeast publishes a sponsored video, it’s going to be at the top of our list. But that can be a little hard to swallow when the video (like today’s, sponsored by Feastables) is just 33 seconds long. 33 seconds and 167 million views, when there are creators out there making hours-long video essays and barely cracking 10K. Now, sure, there are arguments to be made about audience appetite and content quality, but the fact remains: MrBeast is generating record-setting numbers of views with videos that are shorter than microwaving a cup noodle.
Video #2 this week is also a Short (so is video #3, but we’ll get to that). Like many videos from our Sept. 29 report, this clip is from a small business showing what life is like offering their services on a day-to-day basis. And, like many small biz videos, CR Carpentry & Remodeling‘s is backed by a sponsor that operates in its space: tool company Mileseey.
We totally get big creator partnerships that are often part of large-scale campaigns–campaigns that target a bunch of sizable creators from across niches to talk about products that may personally interest them and be appealing to a portion of their audience, but aren’t directly related to their content. (Think a gaming creator promoting an underwear brand, or a draw-with-me artist promoting a meal kit company.) Those can and do work for brands. But partnerships like this, where a small business actually uses a niche industrial product that’s essential to their work, are a special type of sponsorship. We like to see ’em.
And that’s three for three on Shorts. Like MrBeast’s, Daniel LaBelle‘s video this week clocks in at well under a minute–but those 28 seconds are all sponsor LEGO needed. LEGO is not a super prolific sponsor, and is actually a great example of going out of niche for partnerships: It picks one or two channels each week, and those channels usually do not have a history of making LEGO content. Instead they’re people like LaBelle, a physical comedian known for his dramatic performances, and viewbait/challenge creator Preston, who came in spot #841 this week with his own under-a-minute LEGO ad.
After Salish Mattershut down the American Dream mall with the Sephora-based launch of her new skincare brand SincerelyYours, we’re not surprised she snagged the cosmetics vendor as a sponsor for her latest video. And we’re betting Sephora is pleased, because it doesn’t just get a small, 30-second shout-out in this half-hour video. Instead, the entire video is about Salish setting up a mobile Sephora store in a boxtruck, while her dad Jordan Matter turns his own truck into a waterpark.
Whichever creator tricks out their vehicle the best wins a prize–but either way, Sephora is the real winner here.
We like to end these with some levity, so as we head into spooky season, Blake Jennings is here to judge you all for your taste in nookie. This video builds on the whole “hear me out” trend, where people would gather together and present the cartoon character/Pokemon/inanimate object/etc they would most like to meet in a non-Biblical way. You want to get down with Shaggy from Scooby-Doo? That’s basic. Try the disconcertingly sexy puff of smog from FernGully, or a particularly curvaceous building from a 90s rom-com.
Anyway, now that you’re primed to experience this…Jennings has a rundown of viewer-submitted Halloween-themed hear-me-outs that are perfect for putting you in the trick-or-treat mood, all backed by Brooklyn-based giftshop Uncommon Goods.
…and there’s a lot more data where that came from. If you’re interested in learning more about Gospel – and which brands are sponsoring what creators on YouTube – click here.
With regulators hot on its heels, Instagram is doing more to keep its teenage users safe. The Meta-owned app has a new set of guidelines that are inspired by the film industry. To prevent teens from coming across harmful content, Instagram is keeping it PG-13: Violent or profane material that pushes into R-rated territory will be unavailable on teen accounts.
Like its rivals, Instagram already offers a standard set of safety features that aim to protect users under the age of 18. Helpful as those tools may be, many parents feel that Instagram can still do more to protect its most vulnerable charges. With California set to place warning labels on social media platforms, concerns about the harms conveyed through those platforms are as intense as ever.
Instagram’s response involves a mix of technological and human-centric solutions. Like YouTube, the Meta-owned app is using generative AI to locate users who are lying about their age. Once kids are automatically locked into teen accounts, they will be unable to access content that is overly suggestive or mature. That means no alcohol ads, no over-the-top violence or risky stunts, and as little cursing as possible (though even Instagram acknowledges that it would be hard-pressed to scrub every swear word from teen-appropriate videos).
The result, in theory, will be “the Instagram equivalent of watching a PG-13 movie” — but is that a realistic goal? While interviewing Adam Mosseri on Today, Craig Melvin pressed the Instagram Head about the slipperiness of enforcement. Melvin reminded Mosseri that teens often use code words to evade moderators, and the top Insta exec admitted that “the work never ends” on that front.
“I feel like it’s my responsibility to try and shepherd the app as best I can into a healthy place over the long run, which I think is going to have to require that it is a really safe experience,” Mosseri said. “Not just for teens, but adults as well.”
Even if the PG-13 rating sticks, is that really the right system for social media? Under-18 users aren’t just threatened by violence and profanity. They also struggle with unrealistic body standards and cyberbullying — two subjects that can theoretically pass muster in a PG-13 setting. Using Hollywood as a benchmark at all feels somewhat outdated.
Ultimately, Instagram might be better suited to provide teens with positive resources rather than denying them access based on nebulous rules. That’s what YouTube is doing, and Instagram would be wise to follow along. In the meantime, parents who don’t agree with the new rules have the freedom to take restrictions off of their children’s accounts.
These days, it seems as if every social platform wants to build a podcast library. If those podcasts have video versions, that’s even better.
But here’s the thing about podcasts: Building an audience of devoted listeners is no small feat. Perhaps that was easier in the days when podcasting was still a niche hobby, but the number of video podcasts is now into six digits — and that’s just on Spotify. Audio programming is still a popular investment, but the industry is starting to look pretty bubbly.
The current state of podcasts puts Netflix in a predicament. The streamer has signalled its interest in the video podcast space, but it has to figure out how to actualize that idea. As companies like Alex Cooper’s Unwell diversify to put less emphasis on podcast production, Netflix is moving in a different direction: Rather than making its own podcasts, it’s borrowing some from Spotify.
Starting in 2026, U.S. Netflix subscribers will be able to sample a curated selection of Spotify-hosted video podcasts. The first batch of shows heading to Netflix includes multiple podcasts produced by The Ringer, a network led by sports and culture pundit Bill Simmons (pictured above). NBA fans will be able to get insights from the man who wrote The Book of Basketball on his flagship Bill Simmons Podcast, while The Rewatchables offers Netflix users a choice for film buffs.
Of course, no podcast partnership is complete without some true crime, so Spotify is including originals like Conspiracy Theoriesand Serial Killersin its curated Netflix selection. Spotify “will continue to add more podcasts from various genres and studios” to the collection while also expanding the partnership to non-U.S. regions, according to a press release.
Spotify VP and Head of Podcasts Roman Wasenmüller described the partnership as a “new chapter for podcasting.” Netflix VP of Content Licensing and Programming Strategy Lauren Smith added that the rising prominence of video podcasts paved the way for the blockbuster deal. “From pop culture and lifestyle to true crime and sports, this curated selection of video podcasts adds fresh voices and new perspectives to Netflix, making our entertainment lineup more exciting than ever,” she said. “This offers more choice to creators and unlocks a completely new distribution opportunity.”
Netflix’s podcasting strategy up to this point has been uneven. Though the streamer produces companion shows for hit franchises like Stranger Things, those podcasts are mostly distributed through platforms like Spotify and are hard to find via the Netflix interface. Here, for example, is a screenshot of the search results for “stranger things,” with no add-on pod to be found.
One would think that the arrival of a new crop of Spotify shows will come with some enhancements that make video podcasts more accessible on Netflix. Therefore, we’ll be keeping our eyes peeled for relevant announcements. If they don’t come before 2026, then the web video boogeyman known as poor discoverability could rear its ugly head once again.
Filed under: Articles, Featured, Homepage Feature, News by Sam Gutelle Comments Off on Netflix wants its own video podcast library, so it’s partnering with Spotify
Since VidCon’s very earliest days, content creators have connected with their fans in person at live events. But as our space has grown into a massive, multibillion-dollar business with creators themselves as the commanding entrepreneurs, the traditional convention meet-and-greet has been increasingly replaced with individual events.
Over the last year or so, creators like Kai Cenat, Jordan and Salish Matter, and Sam & Colby have all held major live events and/or introduced ongoing live installations that build their digital connection with fans into IRL experiences.
Now Night, the Dallas-based management company that got its start with MrBeast and currently reps creators like Cenat, Sam & Colby, Hasan Piker, Safiya Nygaard, and The Costco Guys, is making its own live events acquisition.
It’s buying Experiential Supply Co., the experiential/immersive marketing company that was responsible for swarming San Francisco with horseback-riding apes ahead of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and planting a 60-foot-tall Titanosaurus in front of New York City’s Rockefeller Center to promote Jurassic World Rebirth.
The duo told The Hollywood Reporter that they intend to blend Night’s position as a longtime creator manager tapped into the viral digital world with Experiential Supply’s live events expertise to “accelerate marketing results for media, entertainment and sports clients.”
“As consumer attention shifts more and more towards digital media, we believe that experiential marketing is one of the few traditional marketing channels that brands can still use to create unique and memorable moments that actually reach consumers,” Reed Duchscher, Night’s founder/CEO, told THR. “Marketing leaders tell us that in today’s media landscape it’s important that those experiential investments also translate into digital success and drive earned media virality online. That’s why we’re so excited to welcome Jasen and team to Night.”
The “Jasen” he refers to is Jasen Smith, who founded Los Angeles-based Experiential Supply Co. in 2017.
“Through the years we’ve been able to achieve really special organic engagements and virality with our experiences and marketing stunts,” Smith added. “With Night leading the pace in the creator and digital space we felt there was a silver bullet offering to have this all under one roof that couldn’t be ignored. I couldn’t be more excited to charge forward with Reed and his team at Night to transform how brands show up physically and on the internet.”
They didn’t give any additional details about what Night and Experiential have planned, but considering Night reps multiple creators who’ve been dominating live events, like Cenat and Sam & Colby, we expect to see Experiential Supply Co.’s dramatic flair added to their already well-attended shindigs.
Filed under: Homepage Feature, Night Media by James Hale Comments Off on Could content creators + experiential marketing be the magic sauce? Night and its new acquisition are going to find out
Watch parties are a tradition as old as TV: Friends getting together at someone’s house for a long evening on the couch munching popcorn and reacting in real-time to the latest episode of their favorite shows.
But it’s not a tradition that translates well online. Sure, small groups of friends can hold private virtual watch parties through platforms like Discord, but when a creator wants to hold a watch party for a few thousand of their closest followers, the studios that own top shows like Real Housewives and Kitchen Nightmaresstart warming up their lawsuit departments.
The London-based startup, founded in February 2024 by former Twitch and TV execs, Gaggl lets streamers broadcast episodes of shows like The Price is Right, Family Feud, Supermarket Sweep, Deadliest Catch, Baby Animals, Gordon Ramsay’s F Word, Taskmaster, Baggage, and Whose Line is it Anyway.
These episodes are DMCA-free thanks to agreements between Gaggl and rightsholders, so streamers don’t have to worry about copyright issues. Up until now, that’s been the primary benefit for creators who join Gaggl.
Now, the platform is introducing “Reward Mode,” which lets streamers monetize broadcasts. It recently tested the mode with the show Supermarket Sweep, partnering with the show’s owner Fremantle and Cash App to run a campaign with integrated ads and a giveaway for viewers. From Sept. 24 through the end of October, over 100 Twitch streamers, including ExtraEmily, Alex Botez, and OliviaMonroe, are earning ad revenue while streaming Supermarket Sweep to their viewers.
Moving forward, Reward Mode will be the primary way for streamers to monetize Gaggl-licensed content–a model that is structured to benefit both creators and rightsholders, Gaggl co-founder Greg Miall tells Tubefilter.
“The appeal to brands is that we have a large audience that engages with shows up to 7 times more than a creator’s other streams,” he says. “The combination of high engagement with a huge audience in their hard-to-reach target demographic is very attractive to brands.”
Rightsholders also “get new audiences and revenue in an age when many great shows are no longer easily accessible,” he adds. “With the decline of linear TV, content owners are open to new revenue streams, and very keen to get their shows in front of a younger audience that consumes all of their content on streaming platforms like Twitch.”
“Creators are looking for compelling content, engaged audiences, and ways to get paid,” Adam Harris, Miall’s fellow co-founder, adds. “With Gaggl, we designed a platform that delivers on those needs while driving measurable ROI for our brand and advertiser partners. Early Beta results confirm that this model works for both sides of the equation.”
Gaggl says that during its beta period, it saw creators broadcast around ~5,000 streams of licensed programs. It currently works with more than 800 content creators.
As for what’s coming in the future, Gaggl just signed a deal with PBS, so more shows are on the way. It also plans to introduce more features for streamers, including letting brands create custom game show formats that creators can play with their viewers while shows are airing.
Filed under: Gaggl, Homepage Feature, Twitch by James Hale Comments Off on Streamers like to watch TV with their chats. Gaggl will pay them to do it.
In today’s social media world, viewership on short-form formats is growing much faster than it is on long-form videos. To reach consumers who are unlikely to stick around for more than a minute, brands and creators have embraced clipping — the creation of short videos that are pulled out of longer uploads — to expand the scope of their distribution.
Clipping has become so valuable that some experts in the craft are making up to $30,000 per month by providing short videos on behalf of creative partners. When there’s money flowing into the creator economy, MrBeast is rarely far away, and this instance is no exception. The most-subscribed YouTube star in the world has unveiled Vyro, a platform that pays users who contribute clips that meet creator and brand briefs.
Vyro hits clip makers with financial propositions so simple, you’d think they came out of a MrBeast video: In one campaign, for example, clippers earn $3 for every 1,000 hits their clips generate. Payouts are sent hourly and can be withdrawn to crypto wallets, PayPal accounts, and traditional banks.
MrBeast and Mark Rober are listed as two creators who are soliciting clips via Vyro. The new platform continues MrBeast’s efforts to bring his trusted video production, distribution, and marketing tactics to the masses. With analytics platform ViewStats, the leading creator provided access to the numerical data that informs his own content decisions.
Now, with Vyro, he’s recognizing that the shifting winds of the creator economy require new types of matchmaking services. MrBeast has become more active on YouTube Shorts, and he seems to recognize that a robust presence on short-form hubs is a key asset for creators who are looking to build multiplatform brands. With traditional publishers also embracing clipping, platforms like Vyro will become crucial tools for creators who need enough video volume to keep up with algorithmic demands.
Tubefilter has reached out to MrBeast’s team for comment. Check back on this point for more details on the scope of the new service. If you’d prefer, I can provide a short-form update on social media as well — but I may need someone to Vyro that for me.
Data from our Tubefilter charts shows survival content ranks among the most popular genres on YouTube worldwide. That viewership trend is serving as Propagate Content‘s compass, leading the production company to a new YouTube-based venture titled Survive+.
The new service is emerging out of a partnership between Propagate — a studio known for TV-first formats like Chopped and streaming hits like Untold — and the U.K.-based producer Cowshed Ventures. The available shows will be led by a mix of familiar faces and social media standouts, including veteran survivalist Bear Grylls and zookeeper Jack Randall.
Survive+ content will be available on YouTube and other social media platforms, according to Deadline. “Survive+ represents a bold new chapter for adventure storytelling,” said Propagate Content COO and Group President Drew Buckley. “Partnering with Cowshed allows us to blend world-class talent like Bear Grylls with emerging voices like Jack Randall, all through a digital-first lens.”
Propagate, which produces Grylls’ Nat Geo show Running Wild, is betting that now’s the time to bring the former Discovery star back to YouTube. The popularity of survival content on YouTube Shorts justifies that decision. Creators who tie knots and scale cliffs are getting more views than ever before. In some cases, channels trend up through mere mentions of the word “survival,” even if the attached content is pure nonsense.
Those numbers show there is a viewer appetite that can be sated by an old favorite like Grylls, and the two companies behind Survive+ are well-positioned to marry unscripted TV to creator content. Cowshed, which will run the service’s day-to-day operations, teamed up with the Sidemen to launch their YouTube-to-Netflix success story Inside. Part of Propagate’s digital-first investment has come through talent management firms. It has picked up majority shares for both Select and Parker Management, two companies that work with notable influencers.
Propagate and Cowshed revealed Survive+ at MIPCOM, the entertainment conference that has turned into a gold rush for traditional production companies who are hunting creator fanbases. By adding family content like The Survivaliststo Survive+, Propagate and Cowshed are ensuring that they can get a piece of the dialed-in YouTube audience, and they won’t have to consume anything untoward to make that happen.
Filed under: Articles, Featured, Homepage Feature, News by Sam Gutelle Comments Off on Survive+ arrives on YouTube to feed growing appetite for adventure
What do you do if you’re sitting on hundreds of unscripted TV formats that are waiting for their revivals to come? If you’re Banijay, you team up with YouTube to ride the wave of creator game shows.
At the MIPCOM conference in Cannes, Banijay announced the establishment of an Entertainment Creators Lab that will pair French YouTube stars with dormant IP. The multinational media company will reach across its vast portfolio — which includes more than 130 production studios across 23 territories — to select the formats that are ready to be turned into digital-native spinoffs.
Familiar TV favorites owned by Banijay include MasterChef, Big Brother, Deal or No Deal, and Survivor. The Paris-based company is kicking off its Entertainment Creators Lab in its home country by reimagining game shows like Minute to Win It (picutred above) and local favorites like Première Compagnie.
The chosen creators will each receive €50,000 to kickstart the development of their pilots.”For us, it’s an opportunity to test, to launch, and maybe to scale up in the future some of our dormant IP, because we have a huge dormant catalog of formats, or maybe to launch a new show,” Banijay CEO Marco Bassetti told Variety at MIPCOM.
Since the start of 2025, Banijay has been accelerating its work on what Basseti has dubbed “digital transformation efforts.” One property that has already received a digital shake-up is MasterChef; a creator-led take on the franchise premiered in Brazil earlier this year.
That initiative looks to tap into the energy generated by the creators who have developed and presented their own game shows. Entertainment rights holders have turned that passion into a new distribution window, leading to collaborations like the Sidemen x FremantleMedia team-up that resulted in a YouTube version of Supermarket Sweep.
Unscripted creator programming is particularly big in France, where the streamer Squeezie recently completed an epic racecar rally that drew more than 1.4 million viewers on Twitch. One of the biggest stars on the French version of YouTube is Inoxtag, who turned his quest to climb Mount Everest into a documentary that raked in seven figures at the box office.
Banijay France CEO Alexia Laroche-Joubert believes her company can engage with those creator fanbases through a program that will “reinvent our emblematic brands” for “digital universes.” That kind of reinvention is happening all over the globe, so there’s room for Banijay to make deals (or no deals) with a multinational cohort of creator partners.
Filed under: Articles, Featured, Homepage Feature, MIPCOM, News by Sam Gutelle Comments Off on Creators are the new unscripted TV. Now they’re getting access to some famous formats.
[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.]
Scroll down for this week’s Tubefilter Chart. 👇
Getting a billion views a week on a YouTube channel was once an inconceivable feat. Since a change to how the platform is calculating publicly available Shorts viewership, it’s now commonplace. This week three channels crossed the 10-digit viewership threshold. J House jr. squeaked by with 1.003 billion. Cool Items Official had a little more breathing room with 1.077 billion. And KIMPRO blew past it with 1.298 billion to once again claim the #1 spot on the Tubefilter Weekly YouTube Most Viewed Charts.
The South Korean Shorts powerhouse shows no signs of slowing down, having consistently put up weekly viewership numbers in the 1.3 billion range for the last several weeks. What’s especially impressive about that number is KIMPRO doesn’t post a ton compared to other Shorts hubs, uploading on average two Shorts a day to get to those massive views.
The arc of YouTube evolution is short and it bends toward children’s programming.
Gabriela Flores Villar is a Peru-based dancer, singer, and host who broke out on YouTube with a Shorts-first strategy. When she launched her channel in 2019, that strategy consisted of the kinds of dance clips that broke out on the internet during the pandemic era. Basically, single vertical shots of choreography featuring subjects that know how to move their bodies. Like this.
Villar gained an audience for her baila and started offering classes on the subject. Her content continued to be predominantly dance focused with early signs of a lean towards one-person-show, short-form comedy. Until it was basically all focused on one-person-show, short-form comedy. Until it was basically family-friendly, one-person, short-form programming for kids, replete with the stereotypical flamboyant characters and vibrant colors you see on channels like fellow South American Alejo Igoa. Like this.
It seems to be working. This week Villar occupied the #40 spot on the Views Chart with 416 million views. You can also see her weekly YouTube views over the last year in the graph below. See if you can guess where she started leaning into the content for kids. (Hint: It’s around when the viewership numbers start to go way up.)
Here’s a breakdown of the Top 50 Most Viewed channels this week in terms of their countries of origin:
India: 20
United States: 11
Indonesia: 3
Canada: 2
Austria, China, Germany, Egypt, Hong Kong, Pakistan, Peru, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam: 1
This week, 40 channels in the Top 50 are primarily active on YouTube Shorts.
As always, keep up to speed with the latest Tubefilter Charts and all our news by subscribing to our newsletter. You’re going to love it. 👉 Newsletter.Tubefilter.com.
[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.]
Scroll down for this week’s Tubefilter Chart. 👇
Another week and another 2 million subscribers for MrBeast. He’s now at 445 million subscribers all-time. That’s 145 million subscribers more than his next closest competitor T-Series. At this rate, MrBeast is set to pass half-a-billion YouTube subscribers sometime around Saturday, April 18. I’m guessing it will happen before then, though. As the milestone becomes more imminent, I’m sure he’ll amp up the stakes.
Argentina and auto-dubbing
Alejo Igoa isn’t tacking on the same kinds of subscriber numbers as MrBeast, but he is getting close.
The 29-year-old creator hails from Posadas, Misiones, Argentina and started posting to YouTube in the mid-2010s while briefly studying architecture. He leaned into energetic, brightly-colored, family-friendly Spanish-language entertainment with the usual challenges, like 24-hour formats, school-themed “retos” (which is Spanish for “challenge” or “dare”) and travel bits. He quickly crossed from online notoriety to the fringes of mainstream Latin American pop culture (he’s been at things like Club Media Fest and had a cameo on Nickelodeon Latin America’s own Kally’s Mashup) and has spent stretches in Mexico and Colombia to deepen his regional audience, which is now just shy of 100 million subscribers.
Across the years he’s framed his channel as a positive, playful space (he has spoken about being bullied in school). As his audience scaled, the industry followed suit with increasing brand integrations (like these recurring Fashion Nova Menfeatures) and regional digital awards. He’s now recognized as one of the most prominent Spanish-speaking YouTubers.
Igoa’s content looks, acts, and feels like programming geared to elementary school-aged children. He’s obviously done a great job of targeting more and more Spanish-speaking ones over the years. But I wonder if he’s now going to do a great job of targeting non-Spanish-speaking ones, too, thanks to auto-dubbing.
It’s not perfect yet. The audio sounds dubbed and the lips don’t match up (though that’s coming soon). For creators with older audiences, that may be a deal-breaker. For kids’ programming, it likely won’t matter. If children are drawn to oddball, technicolor, high-energy shows, they’ll keep watching so long as they understand the language. They don’t have the reference points to notice something is “off.” Some may even find it fun.
This week Igoa got 900,000 new subscribers to take the #6 spot on the Tubefilter Global Weekly YouTube Subscribers chart. I’d expect that number to go up for him and people like him in the future.
Channel Distribution
Here’s a breakdown of the Top 50 Most Viewed channels this week in terms of their countries of origin:
United States: 17
India: 11
Hong Kong, Pakistan, South Korea, Spain: 2
Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Czechia, Egypt, Indonesia, Russia, Ukraine: 1
This week, 38 channels in the Top 50 are primarily active on YouTube Shorts.
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