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The first full week of May brought an unprecedented number of Indian channels into the Global Top 50, but it was an American creator who got the most YouTube views over our most recent seven-day measurement period. His screen name is MrBeast, and he soared past 120 billion lifetime YouTube views after collecting 1.24 billion weekly views.
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After MrBeast, the non-Indian channels are few and far between in our viewership ranking. Of the 50 most-watched YouTube channels of the week, a whopping 31 hail from India. That’s the most numerous weekly contingent we’ve had from a single country since the start of 2026.
All the news that’s fit to print (in Hindi, and Tamil, and Chhattisgarhi)
Indian channels have accounted for about half of all Global Top 50 entrants in recent months, and the war in Iran has been the biggest reason why. As we noted last month, India is one of the countries most affected by the conflict; many of its ships travel through the Strait of Hormuz, and the global fuel crisis has altered life for residents of the world’s most populous nation.
As a result, most of the Indian channels that are making their first appearance in the Global Top 50 are news hubs. South Asian family channels like Anaya Kandhal and KL BRO Biju Rithvik are still occupying their usual spots near the top of the ranking, but they’ve been joined in the top 20 by news sources like ABP NEWS and NDTV India.
Both of those digital stations offer headlines in Hindi, but News18 MP Chhattisgarh takes a different approach. It is an offshoot of News18, a regular in our charts that sits (fittingly) in 18th place in this week’s Global Top 50.
In particular, the secondary News18 channel serves residents of Chhattisgarh, an Indian state defined by its namesake language. Chhattisgarh also happens to be a hotbed for Indian YouTube creators, so this seems to be an instance where India’s family channels and news providers are colliding.
News18 MP Chhattisgarh got 354.4 million weekly views during the first full week of May, which was good enough to earn a 44th-place finish in the Global Top 50. It’s fun to imagine that this particular state is getting more YouTube views than some of its neighbors because of its ties to creator culture, but the truth seems simpler: YouTube offers a rare outlet for regional languages that are otherwise marginalized in the national media landscape, and both indie creators and large media organizations are taking advantage of that opportunity.
Chhattigarhi is not the only regional Indian language in the Global Top 50. There are all the Hindi hubs, and Malayalam-language creators like KL BRO Biju Rithvik.
And then there are Tamil channels. Residents of the Southeast Indian state of Tamil Nadu — and its metropolis, Chennai — need to know the latest headlines from Iran, too. That’s why there are at least three different Tamil-language news providers in the Global Top 50: Galatta Tamil, Thanthi TV, and Behindwoods TV, the last of which got 373.9 million weekly views reach 39th place in the Global Top 50.
Data via Gospel Stats
The war’s impact on India can’t be ignored, but the country’s chart dominance reflects its linguistic diversity. In the United States, news outlets in English and Spanish serve the vast majority of the population. But when you have dozens of langauges, you need dozens of channels to keep residents informed, and that’s what we’re seeing in our charts.
Even when the war eventually subsides, Indian regionalism will still be a dominant force on YouTube. Chhattisgarhi creators have made their mark on the world stage, and the stars of Tamil Nadu are ready to shine right alongside their neighbors.
Channel Distribution
Here’s a breakdown of the Top 50 Most Viewed channels this week in terms of their countries of origin:
- India: 31
- United States: 5
- Canada: 3
- Kazakhstan and Taiwan: 2
- Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Germany, Indonesia, Pakistan, and South Korea: 1
This week, 37 channels in the Top 50 are primarily active on YouTube Shorts.
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