While announcing the YouTube Fan Fest yesterday, the company said that the company saw 14 creators hitting the 1 million subscribers mark in the past one year, across Entertainment, Music, Tech and Food: channels like BB Ki Vines (crossing both the 1m and 2m mark in 2016), Shirley Setia, Being Indian, Kabita’s Kitchen, VidyaVox, Technical Guruji, Nisha Madhulika, SANAM, Sandeep Maheshwari, Sanjeev Kapoor and InfoBells Telugu. BB Ki Vines is the fastest creator in India to ever hit the 2 million subscriber mark. In 2016, the company saw over 500 creators across India get over 100k subscribers, "meaning at least one channel is crossing this threshold every day." The company said that India now has over 300 million smartphone users, which has led to a massive growth in online video viewership: "with over 180 million users per month in India on mobile alone, according to App Annie." Around 80% of YouTube’s total watch time in India is mobile, and has grown at over 400% year on year. Earlier this year, YouTube announced that its over 1 billion users worldwide are now watching 1 billion hours of video daily. Another big factor driving YouTube’s success in India is the rise of independent online creators. 2016 saw the fastest growth of creators’ subscriber base, with now over ten creators across the country boasting more than 1 million subscribers. YouTube has been consistently investing in boosting creators’ success, with initiatives such as the NextUp development program as well as holding more than 50…
