YouTube is the most popular video sharing platform in the world. With over 2 billion monthly active users, it has become a hugely influential force in internet culture. One of the most common metrics used to gauge a YouTube channel’s success is its view count. But who has racked up the most views of all time on the platform? Here is a look at the YouTube channels with the highest view counts of all time.
What does view count measure on YouTube?
A view on YouTube refers to one playback of a video. For a view to be counted, the video needs to be played for at least 30 seconds by an individual user account. YouTube does not count embeds or autoplays toward a video’s overall views. View count shows how many times a video has been watched and is a standard metric of popularity on the platform.
View count accumulates over the lifetime of a video and does not reset. It continues to increase as people view the video over time. However, YouTube does periodically audit view counts and adjust the numbers if needed to remove spam views. But otherwise, view count serves as a measure of total lifetime reach and viewership of a video.
Who are the top YouTube channels by total video views?
Here are the YouTube channels with the highest total video view counts of all time, as of October 2023:
| Channel | Total Video Views |
|---|---|
| T-Series | 210 billion |
| Cocomelon – Nursery Rhymes | 143 billion |
| SET India | 119 billion |
| Zee TV | 111 billion |
| WWE | 108 billion |
| Canal KondZilla | 105 billion |
| MrBeast | 94.8 billion |
| Justin Bieber | 88.2 billion |
| Movieclips | 86.9 billion |
| Badabun | 86.1 billion |
Indian music label and movie studio T-Series has maintained its #1 position with over 210 billion total lifetime views across its catalog of music videos, film trailers, and more. It surpassed previous long-time most viewed channel PewDiePie back in 2019 and has continued widening its lead.
Following distantly behind in 2nd place is Cocomelon – Nursery Rhymes, an animated children’s education channel, with 143 billion views. SET India and Zee TV, two other major Indian media brands focused on entertainment, take the next spots at #3 and #4.
Notable entrants in the top 10 are WWE at #5 with its massive collection of wrestling entertainment content, Brazillian music video producer Canal KondZilla at #6, and top creators MrBeast and Justin Bieber at #7 and #8 respectively.
T-Series dominates with Bollywood content and music
T-Series is an Indian music record label and film production company that has been around since the 1980s. It has a vast catalog of Indian pop music, devotional music, and film/theatrical content.
Some key facts about T-Series and its success on YouTube:
- Uploads new music videos, movie trailers, and film clips on a daily basis
- Operates 29 YouTube channels collectively
- Average daily view growth of 70-80 million views
- Owns rights to majority of songs from Bollywood films
- After crossing 100 billion views in 2017, it took just about 2 years to reach 200 billion in 2019
By having its finger on the pulse of what’s popular in Indian entertainment, T-Series has been able to continuously expand its YouTube dominance. The label is adept at getting the hottest new music and movie content uploaded quickly to appeal to youth audiences.
Kid-friendly content propels Cocomelon to #2
While T-Series has found huge success with music content aimed at young people, Cocomelon has cornered the market on toddler and preschooler entertainment.
Cocomelon is an animated series that takes traditional nursery rhymes and children’s songs and sets them to 3D animation. Some key factors in its rise on YouTube include:
- Upload schedule of 3-5 new nursery rhyme videos per week
- Animation and songs are targeted towards toddler and preschool ages 1-5
- Vast library of over 1,000 videos with many classic nursery rhyme songs
- Uses rhymes and repetition that kids enjoy and learn from
- Added a range of alphabet learning, counting, and other educational content
Parents looking for videos that are fun and educational for young ages have turned to Cocomelon by the billions. Its expert targeting of this key early childhood demographic has allowed it to surpass 100 billion lifetime views faster than any channel ever.
Media companies dominate Indian market
With T-Series, SET India, and Zee TV taking 3 of the top 4 spots, it’s clear that Indian media brands rule the roost on YouTube in terms of view count.
SET India is owned by Sony Pictures Networks and encompasses Sony Entertainment Television channels and digital assets. It focuses primarily on Hindi-language entertainment including drama serials, reality TV, and movies. SET India was the 2nd channel ever to cross 100 billion views back in 2019.
Zee TV operates a popular family of Hindi entertainment channels in India, with content spanning reality shows, serials, and theatrical movies. It has over 80 channels available globally.
Some keys to the success of Indian media brands on YouTube:
- Focus on high-output Bollywood and Hindi serial entertainment
- Expert targeting of India’s massive entertainment-loving population
- Quick turnaround from television premieres to YouTube uploads
- Viewership and adoption of YouTube growing rapidly across India
By leveraging their existing entertainment content assets ideal for YouTube, these brands have found a loyal audience across India’s 1.4 billion population. Their dominance is likely to continue as Indian entertainment becomes more accessible online.
WWE brings sports entertainment prowess
With over 108 billion views, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) has proven itself a sports entertainment juggernaut on YouTube.
WWE has several massively popular YouTube channels including its flagship WWE channel, WWE Network, Raw, Smackdown, NXT, and pay-per-view events. Content consists of match highlights, wrestler profiles, reality shows, segments, and more.
Keys to WWE’s YouTube strategy and success include:
- Tapping into wrestling’s passionate global fanbase
- Posting highlights and clips shortly after live matches
- Segments cater to the YouTube format, not just repurposed TV content
- Targeting various demographics from kids to adults with different channels
- Fun scripted storylines and larger-than-life personalities that go viral
WWE has proven itself adept at leveraging YouTube to reach its existing fanbase while also attracting new viewers. Its wrestling entertainment programming seems universally appealing on the platform.
Individual creators succeeding alongside media brands
While YouTube’s upper view count echelons are dominated by big media brands, top individual creators are also thriving with their own massive audiences.
Notable creators among the top channels by views include:
- MrBeast – 94.8 billion views. Known for expensive stunts, charitable challenges, Willy Wonka style competitions.
- Justin Bieber – 88.2 billion views. Global pop superstar with loads of music videos.
- Like Nastya – 71.2 billion views. Russian-American children’s channel with toy play and educational content.
- Kids Diana Show – 62.8 billion views. Family-friendly toy play channel.
- Marshmello – 60 billion views. American EDM artist popular with youth audiences.
These creators have proven they can garner just as much viewership as major media corporations by cultivating engaged, dedicated audiences in popular niche categories like music, entertainment, and kids content.
Success factors for top individual creator channels
What has allowed these individual creators to find such immense view count success on YouTube?
- Specializing in certain genres. They focus on what they know best rather than jumping on trends.
- Establishing unique personal brands. Through charisma and high production value, they build recognizable brands people want to watch.
- Engaging directly with followers. Using comments, community posts and videos responds to what their audience wants.
- Consistency. They stick to regular, frequent upload schedules so followers know what to expect.
- Revolutionizing genres. Taking proven categories like children’s content to the next level production and entertainment-wise.
By marrying strong production value and online branding with viewer interaction, these creators have struck YouTube gold. They have proven individual content creators still have a major place on the platform, even competing with the view count of media corporations.
What it takes to succeed on YouTube today
YouTube has come a long way since its first video “Me at the Zoo” in 2005. Just as video production technology and internet speeds have evolved, so too have audience tastes and demands.
Here are some key trends and tips to succeed as a YouTube creator today based on what the top channels have shown:
- Mobile optimization. Given how many people watch YouTube on their phones, vertical video formats that work for mobile devices are becoming the norm.
- Showing personality. Audiences respond to personable hosts they feel they have a relationship with.
- Community interaction. Responding to comments and involving followers directly in your content yields greater engagement.
- Bite-sized content. With short attention spans ruling, compact edited clips under 10 minutes tend to get more traction than longer videos.
- Staying power. View counts accumulate over time. Long term diligence and persistence pays off.
- Adapting to the algorithm. Optimizing titles, tags and thumbnails for searchability and thumb-stopping power.
While every niche is different, analyzing the strategies of the most viewed YouTube channels provides excellent benchmarks to model. Authenticity, consistency and really understanding your target audience are universal keys to success no matter the content category.
Conclusion
While view count isn’t the only metric for YouTube success, it remains the best numeric indicator of a channel’s overall reach and popularity. Music corporations like T-Series and children’s brands like Cocomelon have topped the leaderboards by mastering their specific niches and leveraging pre-existing entertainment content assets.
Yet plenty of room still exists for individual creators to carve out massive audiences that rival media brands by honing their skills and connecting deeply with fans. Not every wildly popular channel needs billions of views either – many would see even just reaching the million subscriber mark as an achievement.
YouTube continues to be both a platform for major media companies to reach bigger audiences but also one where a single person broadcasting from their bedroom can find fame and success. The common ingredient across both is understanding your specific viewers and the content that captivates them. The creators who unlock this code are the ones who climb to the top of YouTube’s view count mountain.
