[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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Viewership was down across the board on YouTube this week. The #1 channel in the Global Top 50 is Anaya Kandhal, an Indian family creator who has previously received ten-digit viewership in a single week. As the calendar turned over to August, young Anaya got just 588.5 million weekly views. Even though that’s nowhere near her high water mark, it was enough traffic to snag the top spot in our viewership ranking.
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The depressed viewership gives our Global Top 50 chart a flatter curve than it usually has. The 50th channel is much closer to the first channel compared to the usual running order, and the channels that eked out upticks during a difficult week performed particularly well. Let’s look at one of them:
The KATSEYE is out of the bag
Once upon a time, BTS was a regular chart-topper in our Global Top 50. Any time the K-pop favorites dropped a new album, single, or live performance, they would rocket up the rankings, both on their main hub and the official channel of their label Hybe. Even during their ongoing comeback, they have been able to reassume a position atop the charts as if they never left.
At the same time, it seems as if the members of BTS are ready to tone down the fame, as evidenced by the group’s decision to omit their music from Grammy consideration. There’s room in our charts for other pop superstars to grab the torch from BTS, and another HYBE product is primed to take a turn in the driver’s seat.
I’m talking about KATSEYE, the L.A.-based group that, while classified as a “global girl group,” has its roots intertwined with the same K-pop hitmaker that brought BTS to the world. Like many other pop acts, KATSEYE has thrived on YouTube, where its lifetime view count totals nearly ten billion.
Even by KATSEYE’s standards, the past week has brought an immense amount of attention. The group’s new album, Wild, is due out on August 14, and a fittingly titled single called “Animal” has been lighting up the YouTube charts across multiple music videos.
Even during a week when other channels saw their viewership go down, “Animal” allowed KATSEYE to surge forward and become the leader of the pop girl pack. With 347.7 million weekly views, the five-piece outfit reached 13th place in the Global Top 50. That traffic total is more than twice as big as the sum KATSEYE registered a week ago.
KATSEYE has already shown that the aesthetics and musical stylings of K-pop are not exclusive to Koreans. Now, the group is showing that the marketing tactics that vaulted BTS to the top of our charts are just as relevant outside of East Asia. As we head toward the Wild release date, KATSEYE has a great chance to break into the top ten.
Ultimately, allusions to Korean culture go like gangbusters on YouTube Shorts, especially during the KPop Demon Hunters era we’re still living through. Channels that merely mention Korea sometimes tally nine-digit view counts every week. This chart, for example, is only the sixth time in the last six months that Korean Drama Production has earned fewer than 500 million weekly views, even though its videos are more often AI slop than K-drama clips.
Data via Gospel Stats
We’ll only get a break from this Korea-inspired explosion when KPop Demon Hunters finally relinquishes its hold on the global pop culture zeitgeist. But it’s now been a year since Netflix dropped its animated hit, and the fake YouTube Shorts Rumis just keep on coming.
While we wait for that wave to subside, KATSEYE is perfectly positioned to harness the energy that’s building on YouTube Shorts. The group’s new album could provide the soundtrack for many a meme, and if one of the members chooses to rock some purple hair during the promotional tour, you’ll know why.
Channel Distribution
Here’s a breakdown of the Top 50 Most Viewed channels this week in terms of their countries of origin:
- India: 20
- United States: 7
- Canada: 3
- Indonesia and Taiwan: 2
- Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Belarus, Brazil, China, Colombia, Germany, Japan, Pakistan, Russia, South Korea, Turkiye, and Vietnam: 1
This week, 41 channels in the Top 50 are primarily active on YouTube Shorts.
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