Jump to content

PewDiePie vs T-Series: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Rescuing 7 sources and tagging 0 as dead.) #IABot (v2.0.9.5
→Aftermath: Update
Line 117: Line 117:


==Aftermath==
==Aftermath==
As of February 2024, T-Series currently remains the most subscribed YouTube channel with more than 259 million subscribers. Meanwhile, PewDiePie is currently the seventh most subscribed YouTube channel with 111.3 million subscribers{{efn|Subscriber count approximate, taken from Google Chrome.}}, having been passed by [[MrBeast]], [[Cocomelon]], [[Sony Entertainment Television]], [[Kids Diana Show]] and [[Like Nastya]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Top 50 YouTubers sorted by Subscribers - Socialblade YouTube Stats {{!}} YouTube Statistics|url=https://socialblade.com/youtube/top/50/mostsubscribed|access-date=2022-06-12|website=socialblade.com|archive-date=7 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190507224253/https://socialblade.com/youtube/top/50/mostsubscribed|url-status=live}}</ref>
As of May 2024, T-Series currently remains the most subscribed YouTube channel with more than 265 million subscribers. Meanwhile, PewDiePie is currently the eighth most subscribed YouTube channel with 111.1 million subscribers{{efn|Subscriber count approximate, taken from Google Chrome.}}, having been passed by [[MrBeast]], [[Cocomelon]], [[Sony Entertainment Television]], [[Kids Diana Show]] and [[Like Nastya]] and [[Vlad and Niki]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Top 50 YouTubers sorted by Subscribers - Socialblade YouTube Stats {{!}} YouTube Statistics|url=https://socialblade.com/youtube/top/50/mostsubscribed|access-date=2022-06-12|website=socialblade.com|archive-date=7 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190507224253/https://socialblade.com/youtube/top/50/mostsubscribed|url-status=live}}</ref>


On 5 August 2023, [[MrBeast]] posted on his [[Twitter]] page "I'm doing this for Pewdiepie",<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://twitter.com/MrBeast/status/1687881101417783296?lang=en |title=Archived copy |access-date=25 October 2023 |archive-date=3 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231103171537/https://twitter.com/MrBeast/status/1687881101417783296?lang=en |url-status=live }}</ref> - while showing the subcounts between his channel and T-Series' channel. ''[[The Indian Express]]'' reported that this comment would renew "the battle for the most-subscribed YouTube channel".<ref>{{cite news |title='Doing this for PewDiePie': MrBeast renews rivalry with T-Series for most-subscribed YouTube channel |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/trending/trending-globally/pewdiepie-mrbeast-renews-rivalry-t-series-for-most-subscribed-youtube-channel-8882543/ |access-date=October 21, 2023 |work=The Indian Express |date=August 8, 2023 |language=en |archive-date=12 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240512021725/https://indianexpress.com/article/trending/trending-globally/pewdiepie-mrbeast-renews-rivalry-t-series-for-most-subscribed-youtube-channel-8882543/ |url-status=live }}</ref> As of February 2024, T-Series exceeds MrBeast's channel by 19 million subscribers, but that gap is increasingly shrinking, with MrBeast projected to surpass T-Series in April or May 2024.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Compare T-series and Mr. Beast YouTube Statistics (By Social Blade)|url=https://socialblade.com/youtube/compare/t-series/mrbeast6000|access-date=25 October 2023|website=Social Blade|archive-date=28 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231028082820/https://socialblade.com/youtube/compare/t-series/mrbeast6000|url-status=live}}</ref>
On 5 August 2023, [[MrBeast]] posted on his [[Twitter]] page "I'm doing this for Pewdiepie",<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://twitter.com/MrBeast/status/1687881101417783296?lang=en |title=Archived copy |access-date=25 October 2023 |archive-date=3 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231103171537/https://twitter.com/MrBeast/status/1687881101417783296?lang=en |url-status=live }}</ref> - while showing the subcounts between his channel and T-Series' channel. ''[[The Indian Express]]'' reported that this comment would renew "the battle for the most-subscribed YouTube channel".<ref>{{cite news |title='Doing this for PewDiePie': MrBeast renews rivalry with T-Series for most-subscribed YouTube channel |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/trending/trending-globally/pewdiepie-mrbeast-renews-rivalry-t-series-for-most-subscribed-youtube-channel-8882543/ |access-date=October 21, 2023 |work=The Indian Express |date=August 8, 2023 |language=en |archive-date=12 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240512021725/https://indianexpress.com/article/trending/trending-globally/pewdiepie-mrbeast-renews-rivalry-t-series-for-most-subscribed-youtube-channel-8882543/ |url-status=live }}</ref> As of May 2024, T-Series exceeds MrBeast's channel by 8 million subscribers, but that gap is shrinking, with MrBeast projected to surpass T-Series in June or July 2024.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Compare T-series and Mr. Beast YouTube Statistics (By Social Blade)|url=https://socialblade.com/youtube/compare/t-series/mrbeast6000|access-date=25 October 2023|website=Social Blade|archive-date=28 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231028082820/https://socialblade.com/youtube/compare/t-series/mrbeast6000|url-status=live}}</ref>


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 04:15, 13 May 2024

This article is about the online rivalry. For the Epic Rap Battles of History episode based off it, see PewDiePie vs. T-Series (Epic Rap Battles of History).

PewDiePie vs T-Series
PewDiePie in 2019
T-Series' logo
DateAugust 29, 2018[1] – April 28, 2019[2]
Type
Motive
OutcomeT-Series Victory[3]
  • T-Series overtook PewDiePie as the most-subscribed YouTube channel on April 14th, 2019
  • T-Series became the first YouTube channel to reach 100 million subscribers on May 29th, 2019

PewDiePie vs T-Series was an online rivalry between two YouTube channels, PewDiePie (run by Felix Kjellberg) and T-Series (run by an Indian record company of the same name) for the title of the most-subscribed YouTube channel. T-Series has held the title of most-viewed YouTube channel since February 2017, and PewDiePie had been the most-subscribed YouTube channel since August 2013. The rivalry between the two YouTube channels began when T-Series' subscriber count began to near PewDiePie's in late 2018.

Many YouTubers voiced their support for PewDiePie, including Markiplier, Jacksepticeye, MrBeast, DanTDM, KSI, H3h3Productions and Logan Paul. Many of his fans made efforts to gain subscribers for his YouTube channel in numerous ways, including organised marches and supportive YouTube videos. Supporters of PewDiePie often used the slogan "Subscribe to PewDiePie". The activism of some supporters extended beyond legal grounds; vandalism, hacking of websites, social media accounts, personal devices and the creation of malware had taken place to urge people to subscribe. "Bitch Lasagna", a diss track by PewDiePie against T-Series, and the use of anti-Indian remarks by some of his fans (which PewDiePie would later criticize), led to several prominent Indian YouTubers publicly opposing PewDiePie and backing T-Series with YouTube videos and response diss tracks.

T-Series temporarily overtook PewDiePie in subscribers on numerous occasions starting from February 2019. On 28 April 2019, PewDiePie released a video calling for his supporters to end their efforts to keep him as the most subscribed YouTube channel, and with the significant lead now held by T-Series, the competition is generally presumed to have ended with T-Series winning.[4]

Background and overview

Felix Kjellberg, better known online as PewDiePie, is a Swedish YouTuber who makes comedic videos. He has traditionally been known for his Let's Play videos, and his channel was the most subscribed on YouTube from 15 August 2013 until 22 February 2019, when he was briefly surpassed by T-Series due to a YouTube routine audit, although PewDiePie took back the title shortly after approximately 8 minutes.[5][6] His fan base at the time of the competition was generally known as the "9-year-old army".[7]

T-Series is an Indian music record label and film production company. On YouTube, it has a multi-channel network consisting of 29 channels (excluding Lahari Music),[8] run by a team of 13 people.[9] The main T-Series channel primarily contains Indian music videos (Bollywood music and Indi-pop) as well as Bollywood film trailers, and releases several videos every day, having uploaded over 20 thousand videos as of October 2023.[9][10]

The competition between the two channels began after T-Series began to near PewDiePie in subscribers in late 2018. T-Series temporarily overtook PewDiePie in subscribers on numerous occasions in early 2019, and on 27 March 2019, it became the most subscribed YouTube channel for five consecutive days,[11] before PewDiePie regained the lead. PewDiePie then held the lead for 2 weeks, before T-Series passed him permanently on 14 April 2019, reaching 100 million subscribers on 29 May 2019.[12]

Activism

Support of PewDiePie

From YouTubers

The first prominent YouTuber to support PewDiePie was MrBeast, who bought billboards and radio advertisements in North Carolina urging people to subscribe to PewDiePie's channel.[13] He also created a video of himself saying "PewDiePie" 100,000 times in a period of over 12 hours.[14] MrBeast and his friends attended Super Bowl LIII, wearing T-shirts reading "Sub 2 PewDiePie". The group was prominently displayed in an ESPN tweet after Stephen Gostkowski had missed a field goal during the first quarter.[15][16]

Other prominent YouTubers such as Markiplier, Jacksepticeye and Logan Paul made videos or tweets announcing their support for PewDiePie in the competition, often under the slogan "Subscribe to PewDiePie".[15][17][18][19] YouTuber Justin Roberts, a member of the group Team 10, bought a billboard in New York's Times Square reading the same.[20][21] Markiplier made a tongue-in-cheek live stream titled "I literally won't shut up until you subscribe to PewDiePie" urging his viewers to subscribe to PewDiePie's channel.[18][20][21] Jacksepticeye ran a live stream with the same purpose, jokingly threatening to delete his channel if T-Series surpassed PewDiePie.[16]

Smaller YouTubers also promoted PewDiePie. In reaction to MrBeast's advertising campaign, Saimandar Waghdhare, an independent Indian YouTuber with the channel "Saiman Says", responded to MrBeast's advertising campaign by posting a sarcastic video in which he pretends to support T-Series, later releasing a video in which he instead declares his support to PewDiePie.[22]

YouTube Rewind 2018: Everyone Controls Rewind, the 2018 video edition of the annual YouTube Rewind series, became the most-disliked video on the platform after heavy backlash. One of the cited reasons for the criticism was the lack of coverage of the competition between PewDiePie and T-Series.[23] YouTuber Jaiden Animations, however, had contributed to the video, and her animation included several hidden icons and objects related to PewDiePie.[24]

Hackings

A hacker under the pseudonym "HackerGiraffe" sent print jobs to around 50,000 vulnerable printers in November, and another hacker under the pseudonym "j3ws3r" did the same to around 80,000 printers in December.[25][26][27] Messages were printed out saying "PewDiePie is in trouble and he needs your help to defeat T-Series!" and urged printer users to subscribe to PewDiePie, unsubscribe from T-Series, and fix their printer's security settings. HackerGiraffe claimed that he had discovered more than 800,000 vulnerable printers using the search engine Shodan used for finding vulnerable devices.[21][28] In January 2019, more than 65,000 of Google's Chromecast streaming dongles were hacked by HackerGiraffe and j3ws3r, displaying a message on smart TVs urging people to subscribe to PewDiePie and adjust their security settings.[29][30] However, despite positive feedback from some people, one of the hackers anonymously revealed to the BBC that he suffered a breakdown due to the prospect of facing jail time and angry messages urging him to commit suicide, but did not regret lowering the number of vulnerable personal devices.[31] Also in January, dozens of Nest cameras were compromised by a hacker under the pseudonym "SydeFX" using credential stuffing, who spoke to victims through the cameras, demanding they subscribe to PewDiePie.[32]

Hacking was not limited to hardware. In December 2018, one of The Wall Street Journal's websites was hacked to display a message apologizing for articles accusing PewDiePie of antisemitism and to tell readers to subscribe to his YouTube channel.[21][28] The hacker j3ws3r also took down T-Series' website with a denial-of-service attack.[27] In February 2019, Bob Buckhorn, the mayor of Tampa, Florida, had his Twitter account hacked to post malicious tweets, one of these encouraging users to subscribe to PewDiePie.[33] On 22 March 2019, a user on the PewDiePie subreddit developed ransomware by the name PewCrypt that encrypted files on Microsoft Windows machines. The attacker claimed he would release a decryption key when PewDiePie hit the 100 million subscriber milestone, however, the author claimed that if T-Series claimed that goal first, the decryption tool would be deleted permanently.[34]

Other activism

On 4 November 2018, a group of young fans began to hand out posters in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh,[35] which PewDiePie acknowledged in a YouTube video.[36][37] On 27 February 2019, Basketball Club Žalgiris based in Kaunas, Lithuania, had cheerleaders performing "Bitch Lasagna" during a time-out.[38]

Several marches were held in support of PewDiePie. On 27 February 2019, a parade was held in Tallinn, Estonia in support of PewDiePie. Up to several hundreds of people took part in the march, which went through Tallinn's Old Town and other busy areas of the city centre.[39][40] During the 2019 India–Pakistan standoff, T-Series removed the music of Pakistani pop artists from its channel. In response, there was a march in Pakistan where protesters held signs reading "Unsubscribe T-Series" and expressed their support for PewDiePie.[41] On 10 March 2019, a rally was held in Moscow for internet freedom, coordinated by the Libertarian Party of Russia. During the rally protesters played "Bitch Lasagna" and held signs which read "Sub to PewDiePie".[42][43]

On 12 March 2019, indie game developer Thomas Brush released a video game on itch.io based on PewDiePie vs T-Series called Zero Deaths, which takes place in a post-apocalyptic setting where PewDiePie must defend Marzia Bisognin, his wife, from fake YouTube subscribers known as "sub bots".[44]

On 29 April 2019, a plane flew over New York City with a banner attached saying "Subscribe to PewDiePie".[45] More than 21,000 people watched PewDiePie's live stream on DLive showing the plane with its banner fly over the city.[45] During the live stream, PewDiePie said that the event (which happened after his request to end efforts against T-Series) was "a nice little wrap up" to the Subscribe to PewDiePie meme.[45] The flight and banner, which costed more than $4,500, were crowdfunded by PewDiePie's fanbase.[45]

The right-wing populist UK Independence Party announced their support for PewDiePie in a tweet.[46][47] In an October 2019 interview with Kevin Roose of The New York Times, Kjellberg said of UKIP's support that "It's kind of funny how a political party would post about a meme" but that "it's also kind of like, Ehh, don't drag me into your politics."[48]

Criminal acts

Although PewDiePie told his fans not to do "anything illegal" in their activism,[39] some supporters committed criminal acts of vandalism to spread the "Subscribe to PewDiePie" meme. In March 2019, the Brooklyn War Memorial was vandalized with graffiti reading "Subscribe to PewDiePie".[39] The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation said that they would remove it.[49] PewDiePie later condemned the action,[19][50] and stated that he had made a donation to the park.[51] Another vandalism case occurred two days prior when "SUB 2 pewdiepie" was written on a school's property in Oxford, United Kingdom.[52]

In the moments leading up to the 15 March 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings, the perpetrator said on Facebook live, "Remember lads, subscribe to PewDiePie", as he live-streamed the shootings.[53] According to Kjellberg, after this the "Subscribe to PewDiePie" meme should have ended.

Support of T-Series

The rivalry between PewDiePie and T-Series received more attention in India due to controversial actions by PewDiePie and his fans. PewDiePie's "Bitch Lasagna" diss track contained some derogatory lyrics about Indian people that some Indians found offensive. Many of PewDiePie's fans had engaged in negatively spamming and trolling the T-Series channel,[54] which included swarming T-Series' videos with PewDiePie-related comments, disliking videos, and flagging their videos with false reports.[55] A number of PewDiePie's fans and supporters had also been making anti-Indian remarks and using racial slurs.[56][57]

The actions of such fans led to several independent Indian YouTubers announcing their opposition to PewDiePie and support for T-Series.[57][56] In November 2018, Indian-Canadian comedian and YouTuber Jus Reign uploaded a video called "In Defense of T-Series", where he talks about T-Series, mentions his childhood listening to their music, and shows a short music video at the end celebrating T-Series.[58] In response to PewDiePie's "Bitch Lasagna" diss track, several Indian YouTubers responded with their own Hindi-language diss tracks against PewDiePie. Tatva K released his diss track "Pew Ki Pie" in November 2018, followed by Asif Bantaye releasing his diss track "PENDUBHAI" in December 2018. On 1 January 2019, Indian YouTuber CarryMinati, released a diss track called "Bye PewDiePie", which garnered nearly 5 million views in 24 hours.[57][56]

Response

PewDiePie

In August 2018, PewDiePie posted a video titled "this channel will overtake PewDiePie" in which he jokingly rallied his fans against T-Series. The video also referenced the KSI vs. Logan Paul YouTube boxing match, which similarly involved a rivalry between two major YouTubers.[55] On 5 October 2018, PewDiePie, in collaboration with musician Party In Backyard, posted a diss track against T-Series, titled "Bitch Lasagna".[20][59] The title of the song is in reference to a viral Facebook Messenger screenshot, in which an Indian man, in broken English, demands nude photos of a Western woman, and when his requests remain unanswered, refers to her as "bitch lasagna".[60] In the song, he insults T-Series and their video contents, makes references to contemporary Indian stereotypes and accuses the company of using sub bots to gain false subscriptions.[61][62]

After he was asked about his "serious opinions" about the situation, PewDiePie said: "I don't really care about T-Series, I genuinely don't, but I think if YouTube does shift in a way where it does feel more corporate, [then] something else will take its place. I think people enjoy this connection so much, I think something else will just show up, if it feels too corporate."[63] He also blamed YouTube for a lack of support toward individual YouTubers.[13] Speaking to Metro in November 2018, PewDiePie said that he was "surprised no one has stepped up sooner", referring to T-Series competing for the most-subscribed spot.[64]

In December 2018, PewDiePie made a video calling on his viewers to support the Indian non-governmental organization Child Rights and You, in response to some of his fans' anti-Indian sentiment. In the video, Kjellberg says "No more 'f*** India', let's (instead) help India." He raised £173,682, including a donation by Minecraft creator Markus Persson, and also ran a charity live stream the next day.[18][65]

On 3 February 2019, PewDiePie live-streamed himself playing Fortnite on YouTube in an attempt to stop T-Series from surpassing him.[66] He later ran two more live streams for the same purpose, playing Roblox on one occasion,[67][68] and minigames in Minecraft on another.[69]

On 27 March 2019, T-Series surpassed PewDiePie. Following this, PewDiePie suggested through Twitter that the "winner" of the competition would be whoever reached 100 million subscribers first.[70] On 31 March, he posted another diss track: an upbeat synth-pop/hip-hop music video with YouTubers RoomieOfficial and Boyinaband, titled "Congratulations", which sarcastically congratulated T-Series for surpassing him.[19][71][72] In the music video, PewDiePie mocks how T-Series sent him a cease and desist letter alleging that his actions and lyrics of "Bitch Lasagna" were defamatory. The video also criticizes T-Series for alleged tax evasion and the fact that the company was founded through the selling of pirated songs.[72][19] Following PewDiePie's upload of the song, he regained the number one spot.[73][74]

On 28 April 2019, PewDiePie requested in a video that his viewers end the "Subscribe to PewDiePie" meme, stating that it "started out of love and support, so let's end it with that."[4] He also discussed the mental toll the Christchurch shooter's mention of his name had on him, stating "to have my name associated with something so unspeakably vile has affected me in more ways than I've let shown. I just didn't want to address it right away, and I didn't want to give the terrorist more attention. I didn't want to make it about me, because I don't think it has anything to do with me. To put it plainly, I didn't want hate to win … But it's clear to me now the 'Subscribe to PewDiePie' movement should have ended then."[4]

PewDiePie tweeted that he felt "sickened" to have his name uttered by the attacker, and expressed his condolences to the victims' loved ones.[75][50] Those who had helped to popularize the meme, like Ethan Klein, were repulsed that the phrase had been used as a call to arms by the attacker, and urged people to stop spreading the meme, hoping that it would die out.[76] The perpetrator of the 27 April 2019 Poway synagogue shooting also mentioned PewDiePie,[77] claiming without evidence that the shooting was planned and financed by PewDiePie.[78]

Following the 2019 Christchurch shootings, Kevin Roose of The New York Times wrote that the perpetrator's goal behind saying "subscribe to PewDiePie" during his livestream of the attack "may have been to pull a popular internet figure into a fractious blame game and inflame political tensions everywhere."[79] News18 reported a tweet cautioning that the shooter's intended consequence was that haters of PewDiePie would be inclined to blame PewDiePie rather than the shooter in order to "further [the accusers'] political agenda."[80]

T-Series

In September 2018, T-Series president and head of its digital division Neeraj Kalyan said "It's a matter of pride for all Indians that an Indian YouTube Channel will soon be world's biggest channel on YouTube".[81] He also addressed PewDiePie fans, stating "No amount of spamming will be able to hold back the power of good music."[82] Kalyan further added that the channel's overseas viewership had increased as a result of the subscriber race, stating that "people in the West, or in the East as far as Japan were not even aware of us. They now know about us because of all that controversy."[8]

T-Series chairman and managing director Bhushan Kumar, son of late founder Gulshan Kumar, told the BBC in December 2018 that he had never heard of PewDiePie until "a few months ago".[9] He stated he was "really not bothered about this race" and voiced his confusion as to why PewDiePie was "taking this so seriously", adding that they were "not competing with him."[21] In February 2019, Kumar was reported by The Washington Post to have said that "Everybody knows T-Series across the world now. If we had become number one on our own, nobody would have known about us."[47]

On 6 March 2019, Kumar tweeted "We're on the brink of becoming the world's biggest @YouTube channel. We can make history. We can make India win. Subscribe to @TSeries", posting a video encouraging Indians to subscribe to T-Series' channel. In the video, he stated "this is a historic movement for all of us, so let's come together and subscribe to T-Series' YouTube channel and make India proud."[83][84]

In April 2019, T-Series sought a court order from the Delhi High Court to remove PewDiePie's diss tracks from YouTube. Despite PewDiePie's statement that these diss tracks were "done in good fun", the court issued a temporary injunction in favour of T-Series on 8 April 2019. The complaint against Kjellberg claimed that his songs were "defamatory, disparaging, insulting, and offensive," and noted that comments on the videos were "abusive, vulgar, and also racist in nature." Access to the diss tracks on YouTube was blocked in India.[85][86] In August 2019, it was reported that T-Series and PewDiePie had settled their legal disputes outside of court.[87]

In a May 2019 interview with Sangeeta Tanwar from Quartz India, when asked the question "What does being the number one channel on YouTube mean to you? Does it help business?" Kumar said:[88]

"We were never in this tussle to become number one or two with anyone. But all along there were these sarcastic comments from PewDiePie. And that’s how we decided to respond to the comments. I launched the #BharatWinsYouTube campaign, seeking more subscriptions from Indians. For us, this status does not result in any change on the commercial front. However, it changes the perception about who we are. With these developments, T-Series gets promoted. What is heartening is that now we are seeing growth even in countries where people were not watching our channel earlier."

— Sangeeta Tanwar, T-Series chief says PewDiePie asked for a YouTube fight and got it, Quartz India (May 2019)

YouTube

Referring to T-Series' rise to prominence on YouTube, YouTube Asia Pacific's managing director Gautam Anand told The New York Times: "As more and more of India came along, video became the way that they were interacting with the internet", mentioning that 85 per cent of Indian internet users used YouTube. He furthered, "Even if you're not literate, you still enjoy watching video",[89] and mentioned: "India is a really great bright spot. It's one of the fastest-growing markets even within Asia."[8]

On December 14, 2018, YouTube removed a large number of bot and inactive subscribers from the platform. The change affected the subscriber count of both channels in the competition: PewDiePie lost over 55,000 subscribers and T-Series lost more than 220,000 subscribers from its main channel.[90]

Media

Anthony Cuthbertson of The Independent described the rivalry as a shift in how established media companies viewed YouTube.[63] The Guardian's Nosheen Iqbal described T-Series as "a challenger from the streets of Delhi", referring to the origins of its founder Gulshan Kumar, who was a fruit juice seller when he founded the company.[21]

Vox's Aja Romano noted that the competition represented the growing divide of subcultures on YouTube—on one side were the creators who had developed their own channels over the course of YouTube's history, and on the other side corporations who used YouTube as a platform to advertise their shows from external platforms.[91]

Patricia Hernandez of The Verge compared the rivalry to the KSI vs Logan Paul boxing match. She described PewDiePie's antagonism as "all for show" and stated that "rivalries play a huge role on YouTube because they give viewers narratives where pseudo-heroes and villains exist with low (if any) stakes."[55]

The Washington Post reported that the success of T-Series represented the fast growth of Internet in India, with an increase from 20 million Indians with Internet access in 2000 to 560 million in 2018.[47] The Post noted that India became the second-largest mobile phone market in 2018, and highlighted mobile data plans in India, noting the importance of voice technology because of the low rate of literacy in India. Journalist Ravi Agrawal said that India quickly progressed to cheap mobile phones by skipping slower initial technological advances in the west.[47] Vice reported that T-Series' success lay in focusing on regional audiences and having no competitors in online music in India.[92]

Aftermath

As of May 2024, T-Series currently remains the most subscribed YouTube channel with more than 265 million subscribers. Meanwhile, PewDiePie is currently the eighth most subscribed YouTube channel with 111.1 million subscribers[a], having been passed by MrBeast, Cocomelon, Sony Entertainment Television, Kids Diana Show and Like Nastya and Vlad and Niki.[93]

On 5 August 2023, MrBeast posted on his Twitter page "I'm doing this for Pewdiepie",[94] - while showing the subcounts between his channel and T-Series' channel. The Indian Express reported that this comment would renew "the battle for the most-subscribed YouTube channel".[95] As of May 2024, T-Series exceeds MrBeast's channel by 8 million subscribers, but that gap is shrinking, with MrBeast projected to surpass T-Series in June or July 2024.[96]

References

  1. ^ "THIS CHANNEL WILL OVERTAKE PEWDIEPIE! LWIAY #0046". YouTube. 29 August 2018. Archived from the original on 7 December 2023. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  2. ^ "Ending the Subscribe to Pewdiepie Meme". YouTube. 28 April 2019. Archived from the original on 7 May 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  3. ^ "PewDiePie Loses to T-Series in War for 100 Million YouTube Subscribers". Business Insider. 30 May 2019. Archived from the original on 12 May 2024. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  4. ^ a b c Alexander, Julia (28 April 2019). "PewDiePie calls for an end to the 'Subscribe to PewDiePie' meme after New Zealand shooting". The Verge. Archived from the original on 28 April 2019. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
  5. ^ Binder, Matt (24 February 2019). "T-Series finally surpassed PewDiePie in YouTube subscribers and barely anyone noticed". Mashable. Archived from the original on 24 February 2019. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  6. ^ "T-Series finally defeated PewDiePie in YouTube subscribers but for a very brief period". Zee News. 25 February 2019. Archived from the original on 25 February 2019. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  7. ^ Alexander, Julia (30 August 2018). "PewDiePie is about to be dethroned as YouTube's biggest channel". Polygon. Archived from the original on 26 November 2018. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  8. ^ a b c "PewDiePie's Tumultuous Reign as YouTube King Is Almost Over". Bloomberg. 15 November 2018. Archived from the original on 17 November 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  9. ^ a b c Biswas, Soutik (20 December 2018). "PewDiePie v T-Series: The battle to be king of YouTube". BBC News. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  10. ^ Browne, Ryan (26 October 2018). "YouTube's PewDiePie set to be overtaken by Bollywood channel T-Series". CNBC. Archived from the original on 28 December 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  11. ^ "PewDiePie finally loses world's most popular YouTube channel to Indian music label". The Independent. 18 March 2019. Archived from the original on 29 March 2019. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  12. ^ Alexander, Julia (30 May 2019). "T-Series is the first YouTube channel to hit 100 million subscribers". The Verge. Archived from the original on 29 April 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  13. ^ a b Cuthbertson, Anthony (29 October 2018). "PewDiePie fans are desperately trying to keep his YouTube channel the site's most popular". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2 January 2019. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  14. ^ Spangler, Todd (20 March 2019). "PewDiePie vs. T-Series: YouTube Channels Keep Battling for No. 1 Spot". Variety. Archived from the original on 20 March 2019. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  15. ^ a b Alexander, Julia (3 February 2019). "'Subscribe to PewDiePie' campaign hits the Super Bowl". The Verge. Vox Media. Archived from the original on 4 February 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  16. ^ a b Jackson, Ryan (17 February 2019). "PewDiePie cracks 86 million YouTube subscribers in ongoing T-Series battle". CNET. Archived from the original on 25 February 2019. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  17. ^ Sekhose, Marcia (6 December 2018). "PewDiePie vs T-Series: Logan Paul extends help to fellow YouTuber". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 28 December 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  18. ^ a b c Farokhmanesh, Megan (3 December 2018). "PewDiePie urges his fans to donate to charity as T-Series battle rages on". The Verge. Archived from the original on 4 December 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  19. ^ a b c d Radulovic, Petrana (31 March 2019). "PewDiePie officially loses YouTube's top spot to T-Series". Polygon. Archived from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  20. ^ a b c Spangler, Todd (3 December 2018). "PewDiePie Zooms Past 73 Million YouTube Subscribers as Fans Rally to Keep Him Ahead of T-Series". Variety. Archived from the original on 14 December 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  21. ^ a b c d e f Iqbal, Nosheen (23 December 2018). "YouTube king PewDiePie faces a challenger from the streets of Delhi". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 27 December 2018. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  22. ^ Ramos, Dalreen (11 December 2018). "Say it like Saiman Waghdhare". Mid-Day. Archived from the original on 5 January 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  23. ^ Gerken, Tom (10 December 2018). "YouTube Rewind is second-most disliked video". BBC News. Archived from the original on 10 December 2018. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  24. ^ Sekhose, Marcia (14 December 2018). "YouTube Rewind 2018 becomes the most disliked video: Are PewDiePie's fans behind this?". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  25. ^ Tidy, Joe (16 December 2018). "PewDiePie printer hackers strike again". BBC News. Archived from the original on 29 December 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  26. ^ Kleinman, Zoe (3 December 2018). "PewDiePie battles to keep top YouTube spot". BBC News. Archived from the original on 15 December 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  27. ^ a b Stokel-Walker, Chris (13 December 2018). "Inside the printer-hacking army spreading PewDiePie propaganda". Wired. Archived from the original on 13 December 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  28. ^ a b Cuthbertson, Anthony (17 December 2018). "PewDiePie fans hack Wall Street Journal and hijack printers". The Independent. Archived from the original on 28 December 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  29. ^ Brewster, Thomas. "Hackers Expose 72,000 Smart TVs In Honor Of PewDiePie -- And Terrible Security". Forbes. Archived from the original on 15 January 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  30. ^ Ng, Alfred (2 January 2019). "Hackers are forcing smart TVs, Chromecasts to promote PewDiePie". CNET. Archived from the original on 2 January 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  31. ^ Tidy, Joe; Slater, Jack (29 January 2019). "The PewDiePie Hackers: Could hacking printers ruin your life?". BBC News. Archived from the original on 29 January 2019. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  32. ^ Cole, Samantha; Koebler, Jason (23 January 2019). "Watch a Hacker Access Nest Cameras and Demand People Subscribe to PewDiePie". Motherboard. Archived from the original on 24 January 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  33. ^ Steer, George (21 February 2019). "A Hacker Took Over the Tampa Mayor's Twitter and Sent a Fake Ballistic Missile Warning and Bomb Threat". Time. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  34. ^ Cuthbertson, Anthony (25 March 2019). "PewDiePie ransomware forces people to subscribe to his YouTube channel". The Independent. Archived from the original on 26 March 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  35. ^ "PewDiePie Fans in Bangladesh Have Taken to the Streets to Destroy T-Series in YouTube War". News 18. 2 November 2018. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  36. ^ "Bangladesh backs PewDiePie in YouTube battle with T-Series, despite him not realising it's a country". Independent. 8 November 2018. Archived from the original on 28 December 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  37. ^ "Bangladeshis root for PewDiePie against Indian YouTube channel". Dhaka Tribune. 2 November 2018. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  38. ^ Katzowitz, Josh (27 February 2019). "PewDiePie's subscriber battle heats up with cheerleaders doing 'B*tch Lasagna' routine". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on 28 February 2019. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  39. ^ a b c Cuthbertson, Anthony (8 March 2019). "PewDiePie fans vandalised a war memorial to promote his YouTube channel". The Independent. Archived from the original on 8 March 2019. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  40. ^ Kohlmann, Sten (27 February 2019). "Rongkäik maailma populaarseima juutuuberi toetuseks tõi Tallinna tänavatele ohtralt innukaid fänne". Õhtuleht (in Estonian). Archived from the original on 28 February 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  41. ^ "PewDiePie under fire for India-Pakistan comments amid YouTube supremacy race with T-Series". Zee News. 13 March 2019. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  42. ^ "Светов, IC3PEAK и Дуров на иконе: как прошел митинг за свободу интернета". mbk-news.appspot.com (in Russian). 10 March 2019. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  43. ^ Кузьмин, Женя (13 March 2019). "В соцсетях разошлось "расследование", что митинг за свободу интернета проплатил PewDiePie. Авторы — пародийный канал RT — Интернет на TJ". TJ (in Russian). Archived from the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  44. ^ Alexander, Julia (12 March 2019). "PewDiePie's battle for largest YouTube channel is now an indie video game". The Verge. Archived from the original on 6 April 2019. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  45. ^ a b c d Alexander, Julia (29 April 2019). "There's a plane flying around New York with a 'subscribe to PewDiePie' banner". The Verge. Archived from the original on 29 April 2019. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  46. ^ Trenholm, Richard; Jackson, Ryan (11 March 2019). "PewDiePie dethroned by T-Series as YouTube's most subscribed channel". CNET. Archived from the original on 12 March 2019. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  47. ^ a b c d Masih, Niha (1 February 2019). "Meet the next king of YouTube: An Indian music channel". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2 February 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  48. ^ Roose, Kevin (9 October 2019). "What Does PewDiePie Really Believe?". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 4 April 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  49. ^ Chinn, Natalie (6 March 2019). "Brooklyn WWII Memorial Defaced With Call to 'Subscribe' to Controversial Youtuber PewDiePie". NBC New York. WNBC. Archived from the original on 8 March 2019. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  50. ^ a b Cuthbertson, Anthony (15 March 2019). "PewDiePie 'absolutely sickened' after gunman tells people to subscribe to his channel during terror attack". The Independent. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  51. ^ "T-Series briefly takes the top spot from PewDiePie for the third time". Zee News. 14 March 2019. Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  52. ^ "Boys questioned over swastika graffiti". BBC News. 21 March 2019. Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  53. ^ Roose, Kevin (15 March 2019). "A Mass Murder of, and for, the Internet". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  54. ^ "T-Series responds to PewDiePie's fans trolling as it inches towards becoming 'biggest YouTube channel'". Daily News and Analysis. 1 September 2018. Archived from the original on 28 December 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  55. ^ a b c Hernandez, Patricia (30 August 2018). "Pewdiepie's reign as the biggest YouTube channel may soon be over". The Verge. Archived from the original on 27 December 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  56. ^ a b c "PewDiePie Vs T-Series: Hackers Take Over Google's Chromecast". The Quint. Archived from the original on 4 January 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  57. ^ a b c "Watch: Indian YouTuber CarryMinati attacks PewDiePie as T-Series 'feud' continues". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 4 January 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  58. ^ "WATCH: JusReign's In Defense of T-Series video will make you proud". PINKVILLA. 11 November 2018. Archived from the original on 5 January 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  59. ^ Cuthbertson, Anthony (8 November 2018). "Bangladesh is backing PewDiePie in his YouTube battle with T-Series, despite him not realising it's a country". The Independent. Archived from the original on 28 December 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  60. ^ "Bitch Lasagna". Know Your Meme. 21 December 2018. Archived from the original on 1 June 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  61. ^ "bitch lasagna". YouTube. 5 October 2018. Archived from the original on 10 April 2019. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  62. ^ "Party in Backyard & PewDiePie – Bitch Lasagna". Genius. Archived from the original on 3 June 2019. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  63. ^ a b Cuthbertson, Anthony (24 October 2018). "PewDiePie is about to be dethroned as YouTube's most popular channel". The Independent. Archived from the original on 28 December 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  64. ^ "PewDiePie is 'surprised no one has stepped up sooner' to take YouTube's top spot". Metro. 7 November 2018. Archived from the original on 14 February 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  65. ^ Sekhose, Marcia (4 December 2018). "PewDiePie vs T-Series: YouTuber urges fans not to post offensive comments about India". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 2 January 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
  66. ^ "PewDiePie vs T-Series: YouTuber's campaign reaches Super Bowl". Hindustan Times. 4 February 2019. Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  67. ^ Gach, Ethan (13 February 2019). "PewDiePie Clashes With Roblox, Which Appears To Have Banned His Name [Update]". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 14 February 2019. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  68. ^ Gerken, Tom (15 February 2019). "PewDiePie ban lifted after controversy". BBC News. Archived from the original on 17 February 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  69. ^ "PewDiePie presses the emergency button, switches to Minecraft stream to stay ahead of T-Series". Zee News. 18 February 2019. Archived from the original on 20 February 2019. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  70. ^ ƿ૯ωძɿ૯ƿɿ૯ (21 March 2019). "It's first to 100 mil right?". Twitter. Archived from the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  71. ^ "PewDiePie concedes defeat to rival T-Series". BBC News. 1 April 2019. Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  72. ^ a b Alexander, Julia (31 March 2019). "PewDiePie concedes to T-Series in battle for YouTube's biggest channel". The Verge. Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  73. ^ Tobin, Ben (2 April 2019). "PewDiePie back on top as largest YouTube channel over Indian music label T-Series". USA TODAY. Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  74. ^ "PewDiePie drops scathing Congratulations video for T-Series". Metro. 2 April 2019. Archived from the original on 5 April 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  75. ^ Chokshi, Niraj (15 March 2019). "PewDiePie Put in Spotlight by New Zealand Gunman". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 12 May 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  76. ^ Alexander, Julia (19 March 2019). "YouTube creators are trying to move on from 'subscribe to PewDiePie'". The Verge. Archived from the original on 20 March 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  77. ^ Warzel, Charlie (28 April 2019). "Opinion | Mass Shootings Have Become a Sickening Meme". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 5 May 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  78. ^ "A Shooting At A Synagogue Near San Diego Has Left One Dead And Multiple People Injured". BuzzFeed News. 27 April 2019. Archived from the original on 5 May 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  79. ^ Roose, Kevin (15 March 2019). "A Mass Murder of, and for, the Internet". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  80. ^ "'You Can't Blame PewDiePie': Why New Zealand Shooting is Not The YouTuber's Fault". News18. 15 March 2019. Archived from the original on 15 March 2019. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  81. ^ "Move aside PewDiePie, YouTube will have a new king soon – T-Series". dna. 16 November 2018. Archived from the original on 7 February 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  82. ^ "T-Series vs PewDiePie: Why Swedish YouTuber is fighting with India's music recording giant". The Financial Express. 9 December 2018. Archived from the original on 7 February 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  83. ^ "PewDiePie vs T-Series: YouTuber responds to Bhushan Kumar's appeal for support from Indians". Hindustan Times. 7 March 2019. Archived from the original on 12 March 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  84. ^ "T-Series vs PewDiePie: The battle for world's number one YouTube channel getting 'desperate'". The Times of India. 8 March 2019. Archived from the original on 15 March 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  85. ^ "Battle between PewDiePie and T-series now reaches Delhi High Court". The Statesman. 11 April 2019. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  86. ^ Sekhose, Marcia (11 April 2019). "PewDiePie vs T-Series: YouTuber pulls diss videos after Delhi HC order". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  87. ^ Ghosh, Shona (13 August 2019). "PewDiePie and T-Series quietly settled a court battle over 'racist' diss tracks following their epic YouTube battle". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 25 May 2021. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  88. ^ Tanwar, Sangeeta (2 May 2019). "T-Series chief says PewDiePie asked for a YouTube fight and got it". Quartz India. Archived from the original on 2 May 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  89. ^ Chow, Andrew R. (14 November 2018). "How a Bollywood Music Label Conquered YouTube". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 17 November 2018. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  90. ^ Sekhose, Marcia (16 December 2018). "PewDiePie vs T-Series: Crackdown on fake accounts helps YouTuber maintain lead". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 11 January 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  91. ^ Romano, Aja (14 December 2018). "YouTube's 2018 "Rewind" is the site's most disliked video ever. The implications are huge". Vox. Archived from the original on 17 December 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  92. ^ "PewDiePie is YouTube's most-subscribed channel. He's about to be dethroned". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 8 January 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  93. ^ "Top 50 YouTubers sorted by Subscribers - Socialblade YouTube Stats | YouTube Statistics". socialblade.com. Archived from the original on 7 May 2019. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  94. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 November 2023. Retrieved 25 October 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  95. ^ "'Doing this for PewDiePie': MrBeast renews rivalry with T-Series for most-subscribed YouTube channel". The Indian Express. 8 August 2023. Archived from the original on 12 May 2024. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  96. ^ "Compare T-series and Mr. Beast YouTube Statistics (By Social Blade)". Social Blade. Archived from the original on 28 October 2023. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  1. ^ Subscriber count approximate, taken from Google Chrome.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=PewDiePie_vs_T-Series&oldid=1223592158"