List: Successful YouTube Channels
As I discussed in my last post about YouTube advertising resources, YouTube is definitely the big dog in online video. Soon, I’m going to elaborate on what the YouTube platform has planned for the future as well as my thoughts on the proposed shift in media consumption, but first I thought I’d share a list of the some of the most successful channels on YouTube as a quick way of starting the conversation. These are not organized in any particular way and don’t show every single large channel, just a selection of some of the top performers. For a more detailed list, you can check YouTube’s own channels page or this unofficial list from VidStatsX.
Machinima
Founded in 2000, Machinima originally was created to showcase “machinima,” stories told through game engines rather than more traditional videography or art. The channel has since grown to host a wide range of video game related content, gaining 97 million subscribers and over 22 billion network views.
CollegeHumor
College Humor’s YouTube channel extends their network of sketch comedy, humorous articles, and series to YouTube. Some of their more famous shows are Hardly Working, Jake and Amir, Full Benefits, POV, and Bleep Bloop. College Humor’s YouTube presence boasts over 2.5 million subscribers and over one billion page views.
freddiew
The YouTube Channel of Freddie Wong, an independent filmmaker. Freddie’s channel has nearly three million subscribers a little over half a billion video views. Freddiew’s videos range from video game parodies to fictional wars taking place on golf courses.
VEVO
Vevo is the premiere in music videos on YouTube. Started as a joint venture between some of the big music industry players, Vevo features content three of the largest music labels (EMI, Sony Music Entertainment, and Universal Music Group). Its primary channel has over a million subscribers and has over fifty million channel views. However, VEVO also has a fair amount of other channels specific to each artist, further increasing the amount its content is viewed, pushing its video views well into the billions. As all of the VEVO accounts can be lumped under the VEVO umbrella, this makes VEVO’s network of content one of the largest on YouTube and the Internet itself.
IGN
A News Corporation property, IGN is a videogame focused network of media websites with a large presence on YouTube. IGN’s channel has close to two million followers and over 1.5 billion video views. News Corporation owned IGN has a number of other channels under its umbrella, comprising a network showcasing videogame related content that appeals to a highly targeted demographic of videogame enthusiasts.
Barely Political
Nearing two million subscribers and 1.25 billion page views, Barely Political is a YouTube channel that puts out video content satirizing politics. The channel is known for several series, including Obama Girl, Key of Awesome, Barely Digital, Barely Guys, and Rated Awesome. Additionally, the channel also puts out a wide variety of sketches out.
FailBlog
A part of the Cheezburger network, FailBlog has over 1.5 million subscribers and is quickly approaching two billion video views. The premise of the channel is to showcase “fails” which, as the name implies, are videos of people failing at a certain activity.
RayWilliamJohnson
The channel of actor and comedian Ray William Johnson is currently the most subscribed to channel on YouTube. With over five million subscribers and over 1.5 billion video views, the comedian’s channel has grown exponentially since its beginnings as one man’s idea of formatted content on the video platform.