PewDiePie vs. T-Series
Since December 23rd, 2013, PewDiePie has been the most subscribed to channel on YouTube. The Swedish content creator currently boasts 87 million subscribers, and has standed uncontested since he surpassed Smosh 6 years ago. However, the Indian corporation T-Series has been closing this gap. As the fastest growing channel to date, T-Series started it’s climb in 2016. In just 3 years, the company was able to climb to second place on the subscriber charts and is itching to become number one. PewDiePie has been able to keep the throne so far, but it seems this is not a battle of if, but when.
PewDiePie is an independant YouTube channel operated by Felix Kjellberg. Founded in 2010 while Kjellberg was in college, PewDiePie quickly rose to popularity and became the most subscribed content creator within three years. T-Series is run by Super Cassettes Industries Private Limited, an Indian film and music production company. While T-Series has been around since 1983, their YouTube channel has recently gained a large amount of support. This rise in popularity has been largely attributed to cheap and accessible mobile phones and data plans in India leading to more people in the country having access to YouTube content. This growth has lead to T-Series nipping at the heels of PewDiePie, and the corporation was expected to surpass the indie creator by the start of 2019.
In November of 2018, Kjellberg released a “T-Series Diss Track” in an attempt to gain more subscribers and increase the subscriber gap to stave off being surpassed by T-Series. This sparked a conflict between the two channels that continues to this day. PewDiePie fans have posted advertisements encouraging people to subscribe, and even have gone as far as to call phone books and hack printers to gain support. Many other YouTubers, such as Markiplier, Jacksepticeye, and Logan Paul have also thrown their hats in with Kjellberg. However, this work seems to just delay the inevitable as T-Series always manages to close the gap. It seems that, despite many fans’ support, PewDiePie is just delaying the inevitable.
While the PewDiePie vs. T-Series conflict seems like a simple matter of two channels competing for favor, it has grown into so much more. Many believe that Kjellberg represents independent YouTube content creators being able to rise to a position of prominence, and that anyone can become famous with a good idea and enough determination. These people claim that, should T-Series become the most subscribed YouTube channel, it will show that the platform is no longer welcoming independent creators and catering to large companies. For many, PewDiePie vs. T-Series has become a debate between individuality and corporations.
