The Battle of the YouTube giants – PewDiePie vs. T-Series

Anyone who uses YouTube is likely to know PewDiePie. Anyone who heard or watched any Indian music, will be aware of T-Series. PewDiePie is the most subscribed YouTuber as of today with over 70 million subscribers. He also held the title for being the most viewed YouTube Channel but was dethroned on February 2017. And that’s when the war began….

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LAFFAZ Media

PewDiePie began his channel in 2010 and gained traction in 2012. Since, December 2013 up until now he has been the most subscribed YouTuber, despite being an individual and not a Company. He lost his title of being the most watched YouTube channel just last year around the same time Jio picked up. Thanks to our numbers and the popularity of Bollywood, T-Series is now holding the title of being the most-watched YouTube channel for over a year.

This set the stage for a lot of light-hearted drama from both sides. PewDiePie came up with a hilarious Diss Track, targeting T-Series for usurping him from his coveted position. He realized India was a good market filled with young English speakers, the exact demographic he appeals to and came up with a video calling out and mocking Indian online predators. Following this, he came up with a video titled “You India, You Lose” where he reviewed snippets from Indian Soaps.

PewDiePie V/S Ekta Kapoor

Ekta Kapoor wasn’t a sport about her serials being ridiculed on a Global platform by a “Firangi” and responded with angry tweets. Little does she know, her shows are like a laughing matter and the butt of many jokes within the country itself. Many people called her out for her mean tweets. Indian subscribers of PewDiePie even defended him and justified his blithe mockery. For the first time, rather than trolling and being touchy keyboard warriors, we Indians showed immense maturity on our part and laughed along the world.

In a matter of a few days, PewDiePie came up with a video responding to Ekta Kapoor’s mean tweets. He wasn’t the slightest bit apologetic and ridiculed even more clips from Miss Kapoor’s melodramatic soaps. It was clear who’s the boss. PewDiePie was not backing down. In this video, he even thanked his “army of 9 year olds” for defending him and understanding the frivolous nature of his videos.

All this publicity just made PewDiePie even more popular in the 2nd most populous country in the world. His videos struck a cord with the Indian audience, his comedy was to their taste, and his content was simple and funny.

Neck to neck

It was predicted around October end that T-Series would surpass PewDiePie in terms of subscribers and be the first channel to reach the 69 million subscriber count. But around this time, certain countries (read Bangladesh) and YouTube channels showed their support and ensured PewDiePie holds his spot firmly. Around 5 days ago, PewDiePie became the first channel to reach the 69 million subs mark beating T-Series by a whisker. He even put up a video celebrating the same.

Since this is a matter concerning two YouTube giants, analysts got in on it and made graphs and models predicting their growth. While T-Series is behind, it has a growth-rate nearly double that of Pewdiepie’s. Even though Pewdiepie is first to cross the 70 million subs mark, he will soon succumb to his defeat thanks to India’s sheer numbers.

In Conclusion

For now, watching the live subscriber count of both the channels is a fun way to kill time. PewDiePie’s story as an individual YouTuber is that of an underdog that each one of us can relate to. T-Series is the unassuming goliath he is up against. This is the stuff most fiction is made of. It is a plot that tugs on our heartstrings. Even though I’m a huge fan of Bollywood music and a regular viewer of T-Series’ content, I find myself rooting for PewDiePie. May the best YouTube Channel win.


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Misbah Fathima
Misbah Fathima

Former Staff Writer at LAFFAZ. Misbah is a Pseudo-intellectual, NOT a traveller, adventurer, or a bibliophile. She likes researching, working with numbers and writing on varied topics.

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