T-Series is the first YouTube channel to reach more than 100 million subscribers after months of racing to the top.
YouTube congratulated T-Series on Twitter, telling the Bollywood channel to make room on its shelf for a new trophy — similar to the Play Buttons the company hands out to channels that reach 1 or 10 million subscribers. T-Series also thanked fans for helping the company reach the milestone. Hitting 100 million subscribers doesn’t necessarily help the channel, but it is a point of pride.
The milestone comes after a months-long battle with Felix “PewDiePie” Kjellberg to become the largest channel on YouTube. In the process, both channels grew by tens of millions of subscribers, and the widespread attention gave T-Series global recognition.
Kjellberg called for the battle to end last month in a video addressing how hateful the race had become. Kjellberg asked for fans to stop antagonizing T-Series with the “Subscribe to PewDiePie” meme on his behalf. The message came just one month after a mass shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand, left 51 people dead. The shooter used the phrase, “Subscribe to PewDiePie” before entering the first Mosque. Kjellberg condemned the act on Twitter, disavowing the shooter’s use of the popular phrase many PewDiePie fans use. Still, he continued to poke fun at the phrase and released a diss track music video that contained harmful language. Although Kjellberg previously defended the video by calling the jokes ironic, he later apologized for his insensitive comments.
Their race to the top started around September 2018 and ran for more than six months on YouTube. It became one of the most talked-about cultural events on the platform, with dozens of channels running constant live stream trackers of each channel’s subscriber growth and loss.
Kjellberg believed at the time that his channel may reach 100 million subscribers first, and he requested that his fans not celebrate another channel’s defeat. Kjellberg told fans that the “Subscribe to PewDiePie” movement “started out of love and support, so let’s end it with that.”
Still, some PewDiePie fans immediately began attacking YouTube’s tweet congratulating T-Series, claiming the company would never do the same for him. Kjellberg has yet to comment on T-Series’ record-breaking moment.
This article is from The Verge
