86-436: YouTube Premium , formerly known as YouTube Red, is a subscription service that provides advertising-free streaming of all videos hosted by YouTube , offline play and background playback of videos on mobile devices, access to advertising-free music streaming through YouTube Music , and access to "YouTube Original" series and films. In January 2022, YouTube announced it was shutting down its "YouTube Originals" program. Following
172-471: A LWIAY video discussing Indian record label T-Series' YouTube channel being projected to surpass his in subscribers. On 5 October, Kjellberg uploaded a diss track against the label titled "Tseries Diss Track", stylized in all caps and later renamed " Bitch Lasagna " in response to their YouTube channel being projected to surpass his in subscribers. The video went on to replace "A Funny Montage" as Kjellberg's most-viewed video. It included some lines mocking
258-400: A "shoestring budget", but he maintained that "in order to scale up, it takes a different kind of enterprise, a different kind of skill set" such as story-telling and "showrunning". Prominent YouTube personality PewDiePie , who was involved in one of the planned originals for the service, explained that the service was meant to mitigate profit loss from the use of ad blocking . YouTube Red
344-445: A YouTube career would be "fucking stupid". Kjellberg has also discussed an enjoyment of Adobe Photoshop , wanting to work on photo manipulation art using the program rather than be in school. Following this passion after he departed from Chalmers, he entered Photoshop contests and almost earned an apprenticeship at a prominent Scandinavian advertising agency. He was also interested in creating content on YouTube; after not earning
430-449: A career. Meanwhile, in his personal life, he moved to Japan with his wife, Italian Internet personality Marzia . With over 110 million subscribers and 29.4 billion views, his channel still ranks as one of the most-subscribed and viewed on YouTube. His popularity online has been noted to boost sales for the video games he plays, and has allowed him to stir support for charity fundraising drives. In 2016, Time magazine named him as one of
516-539: A change in style: "He began to take more risks. He continued playing video games, but he started experimenting. He did viral challenges, made fun of other YouTubers, and reviewed meme submissions from his fans." Kjellberg has attributed his content around this time as a result of immaturity, boredom with playing video games, YouTube's platform incentives, and the belief that his channel's growth had plateaued. One video cited as being representative of this change featured Kjellberg reading erotic fan fiction about characters from
602-565: A computer with the money he made selling artwork through his grandmother's gallery. Kjellberg then went on to pursue a degree in industrial engineering and management at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, but left the university in 2011. While it has been reported that he left Chalmers to focus on his YouTube career, Kjellberg clarified in 2017 that he had left due to a lack of interest in his course of study. He further expressed that, in general, leaving university to pursue
688-485: A course of action that Kjellberg disagreed with. The outlet Zee News reported that Kjellberg "faced strong criticism for his comments on the heightened tension between Pakistan and India in [the] March 12 issue of Pew News ". Kjellberg issued a clarification on Twitter, expressing that he was not attempting to speak on the broader India–Pakistan relations , but rather on the more specific context of T-Series removing artists' songs from its YouTube channel. On 15 March,
774-432: A deal with the company. On 11 April, T-Series started to seek court orders to remove Kjellberg's "diss tracks" from YouTube . The alleged court order was ruled in favor of T-Series. It was allegedly stated that the complaint against Kjellberg claimed that his songs were "defamatory, disparaging, insulting, and offensive", and noted that comments on the videos were "abusive, vulgar, and also racist in nature." Access to
860-437: A harbor captain, selling prints of his Photoshop art, and working at a hot dog stand. Kjellberg stated that the ability to make videos was more important to him than a prestigious career. Five years later, Kjellberg recalled, "I knew people were big at other types of videos, but there was no one big in gaming, and I didn't know you could make money out of it. It was never like a career that I could just quit college to pursue. It
946-520: A label's videos from public access if they did not agree to the new terms. In a statement to the Financial Times in June 2014, Robert Kyncl confirmed that these measures were "to ensure that all content on the platform is governed by its new contractual terms". Stating that 90% of labels had reached deals, he went on to say that "while we wish that we had [a] 100% success rate, we understand that
SECTION 10
#17327943312951032-501: A meme with singer Demi Lovato 's face; the meme jokingly referenced Lovato's struggles with addiction . The meme was posted around the same time Lovato was hospitalized after suffering an opioid overdose. As a result, he received criticism from online users. Kjellberg later deleted the meme, and apologized for the incident. In a video uploaded in early December, Kjellberg promoted several small content creators on YouTube, recommending his viewers to subscribe to them. Among those creators
1118-869: A parody and homage to Jack Douglass ' Yesterday I Asked You (YIAY) , where he challenges his audience to create content and reviews the output; and Meme Review , in which he reviews popular Internet memes . Kjellberg began a book club -styled series, with his own enjoyment with the series also being noted. Kjellberg began Pew News , a satirical series where he presents and discusses recent news stories while in-character, often as fictional characters named after CNN hosts, such as Gloria Borger , Poppy Harlow , or Mary Katharine Ham and sometimes, an amalgamation of these names. Pew News parodies both mainstream news channels, such as CNN, and YouTube news channels, such as DramaAlert. Topics covered by Kjellberg on Pew News included culture war topics he previously avoided. In May 2018, Kjellberg attracted controversy for using
1204-470: A promotional stunt" for Scare PewDiePie . Kjellberg nevertheless continued to express discontent with the platform, aiming further criticism at YouTube's changing algorithm negatively affecting viewership for content creators. The site's algorithm began to focus on watch time statistics and "favor videos that drew daily viewers, higher engagement (more likes and comments) and cleaner 'ad-friendly' fare." Kjellberg later recounted to The New York Times that
1290-448: A relaunching of The Game Station, Maker's gaming network. Kjellberg's subscriber count surpassed that of the leading channel, Smosh, on 15 August. Kjellberg received a certificate from Guinness World Records for becoming the most subscribed YouTuber. In November, YouTube's Spotlight channel overtook Kjellberg's as the most-subscribed. Later in the month, Kjellberg proclaimed his dislike of YouTube's new comment system , and disabled
1376-473: A representative of ESPN's parent, The Walt Disney Company , stated that conflicts with third-party rights holders in regard to sports footage contained in ESPN's YouTube videos prevented them from being offered under the new terms. A limited number of older videos remain on ESPN's main channel. Similarly, a large amount of content licensed by Japanese record labels became unavailable in regions where YouTube Red
1462-516: A subscription price difference. On April 20, 2020, support was added for Unified Payments Interface for subscribers in India . In August 2021, YouTube began piloting a second subscription tier, "YouTube Premium Lite" in European markets such as Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, Norway and Sweden, at a price point of € 6.99. It contained only the ad-free viewing benefit. YouTube discontinued
1548-431: A substantial following and was one of the fastest growing channels in 2012 and 2013, before becoming the most-subscribed on YouTube on 15 August 2013. From 29 December 2014 to 14 February 2017, Kjellberg's channel was also the most-viewed on the platform . During this period, his content shifted focus from Let's Plays and diversified to include vlogs , comedy shorts, formatted shows, and music videos. Kjellberg's content
1634-541: A total availability in 119 markets. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine , Google indefinitely suspended all of its all payment and subscription-based services in the country, including YouTube Premium. PewDiePie Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg ( / ˈ ʃ ɛ l b ɜːr ɡ / SHEL -burg , Swedish: [ˈfěːlɪks ˈǎrːvɪd ɵlf ˈɕɛ̂lːbærj] ; born 24 October 1989), better known as PewDiePie ( / ˈ p juː d iː p aɪ / PEW -dee-py ),
1720-662: A video posted in January 2017, Kjellberg featured two paid individuals on Fiverr , asked to hold a sign that read "Death to all Jews ". He alleged his intent was not against Jews, but to showcase how "crazy" the modern world and website were. The video received negative attention and caused a media backlash, with various publications writing critically of Kjellberg's defense of his controversial content as jokes taken out of context, and opining that his content helps normalise ideologies such as fascism , neo-Nazism , and white supremacy . The Wall Street Journal alleged that this
1806-705: A war memorial, and its mention by the Christchurch mosque shooter. While live streaming the following day, Kjellberg showed a plane flying over New York City with a banner attached saying "Subscribe to PewDiePie", and called it "a nice little wrap up" to the meme. The remainder of 2019 saw further controversies for PewDiePie. In early June, Kjellberg uploaded a video on YouTube sponsored by social media application Nimses. The app spiked in popularity after he promoted it on his YouTube channel. Controversy ensued when Nimses' location features and privacy settings led fans of Kjellberg and fellow YouTubers to believe that he
SECTION 20
#17327943312951892-536: Is a Swedish YouTuber known for his comedic videos. Kjellberg's popularity on YouTube and extensive media coverage has made him one of the most noted online personalities and content creators. He has been portrayed in media as a figurehead for YouTube, especially in the genre of gaming. Born and raised in Gothenburg , Kjellberg registered his YouTube channel "PewDiePie" in 2010, primarily posting Let's Play videos of horror and action video games. His channel gained
1978-579: Is a corporate executive. During his childhood, Kjellberg was interested in art and has detailed that he would draw popular video game characters such as Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog , as well as play video games on his Super Nintendo Entertainment System , such as Star Fox and Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest . During high school, he frequently played video games in his bedroom and would skip classes to join at an Internet café with friends. During his last year of high school, he bought
2064-483: Is a list of all available, upcoming, and abandoned "YouTube Original" films and documentaries . These shows were created by YouTube and are spoken entirely or almost entirely in a non-English language. YouTube Premium YouTube Premium (formerly Music Key and YouTube Red ) is a subscription service offered by the American video platform YouTube . The service provides ad-free access to content across
2150-590: Is available. It was believed that the ability to download videos for offline viewing in YouTube Red was a subject of hesitation for Japanese media companies due to the need to monitor when, where, and how content is being used in accordance with Japanese copyright laws , hence their content was blocked under the new requirements. As of March 2024, YouTube Premium is available in most of the Americas, Europe and Oceania, as well as parts of Africa and Asia, with
2236-466: Is not likely an achievable goal and therefore it is our responsibility to our users and the industry to launch the enhanced music experience". The Financial Times later reported that YouTube had reached an aggregate deal with Merlin Network —a trade group representing over 20,000 independent labels, for their inclusion in the service. However, YouTube itself has not confirmed the deal. Following
2322-694: Is now actively playing more things that interest him." Around 2014, as YouTube began to invest more deeply in creators, the company developed a classification system for its stable of stars. Either they followed the SNL model, using YouTube to springboard into TV or film, or they took the Oprah path, building empires of fervent audiences right on YouTube. PewDiePie was one of the best Oprahs. He lived and breathed YouTube. –Mark Bengen, Like, Comment, Subscribe (2022) In March 2014, he updated his video production output, announcing he would be scaling down
2408-612: The Indian background of T-Series, which were described as racist in media publications. On the prospect of being surpassed by T-Series in terms of subscriber count, he stated he was not concerned about T-Series, but feared the consequences a corporate channel surpassing him would have for YouTube as a video-sharing platform. Online campaigns to "subscribe to PewDiePie" greatly assisted Kjellberg's subscriber growth; his channel gained 6.62 million subscribers in December 2018 alone, compared to
2494-469: The most-disliked on the entire platform . "I've made some jokes that people don't like. And you know what? If people don't like my jokes, I fully respect that. I fully understand that. I acknowledge that I took things too far, and that's something I definitely will keep in mind moving forward, but the reaction and the outrage have been nothing but insanity." –Felix Kjellberg, My Response video, February 2017 (relating to Fiverr controversy) In
2580-448: The 7 million subscribers gained in all of 2017. On 12 March, Kjellberg uploaded an episode of his show Pew News in which he mentioned the 2019 Pulwama terrorist attack , where 40 Indian paramilitary troops were killed by a member of a Pakistan-based jihadist group. Following the attack, T-Series removed several songs by Pakistani artists on its YouTube channel after being pressurised by political party MNS to isolate Pakistani artists,
2666-530: The Disney film Frozen . Then-CEO of The Walt Disney Company Bob Iger was reportedly angered by the video, putting Kjellberg's deal with Maker Studios, a Disney subsidiary, in jeopardy. On 6 September 2015, his YouTube account became the first to surpass 10 billion video views. Later in the month, Kjellberg teased about having a role in a web television series, stating that he was in Los Angeles for
List of YouTube Premium original programming - Misplaced Pages Continue
2752-452: The No. 1 YouTube channel. Kjellberg signed with Maker Studios in December, a multi-channel network (MCN) that drives the growth of the channels under it. Prior to his partnership with Maker, he was signed to Machinima , which operates as a rival to Maker. Kjellberg expressed feeling neglected by Machinima, and frustrated with their treatment; he hired a lawyer to free him from his contract with
2838-598: The Premium Lite plan in October 2023. In September 2022, YouTube tested paywalling 4K resolution streaming of any YouTube video behind YouTube Premium. Amid criticism, this pilot ended in mid-October 2022. In April 2023, YouTube began to pilot a variant of this concept under which some videos offer an enhanced bitrate 1080p option. As of July 2022, in the United States the price of individual accounts on
2924-645: The United Kingdom). The rebranding came alongside the re-launch of YouTube Music as a music streaming service , which reintroduced a music-oriented subscription option (YouTube Music Premium) slotted below YouTube Premium at a US$ 9.99 pricing, competing primarily with Apple Music and Spotify . The rebranding also came amid internal concerns that the previous "YouTube Red" name could be confused with internet pornography website RedTube . By July 2019, YouTube Premium and YouTube Music Premium were available in approximately 60 countries and territories with
3010-703: The YouTube app. The service also included access to Google Play Music All Access, which provides ad-free audio streaming of a library of music. Alongside Music Key, Google also introduced tighter integration between Play Music and YouTube's apps, including the sharing of music recommendations, and access to YouTube's music videos from within the Play Music app. Music Key was not YouTube's first foray into premium content, having launched film rentals in 2010, and premium, subscription-based channels in 2013. During its invite-only beta, Music Key faced mixed reception due to
3096-611: The ad-free service; under the new contract terms, partners would receive a share of the total revenue from YouTube Red subscriptions, as determined by how much their content is viewed by subscribers. YouTube also sought to compete against sites such as Netflix , Amazon Prime Video and Hulu by offering original content (YouTube Originals) as part of the subscription service, leveraging prominent YouTube personalities in combination with professional producers. Robert Kyncl acknowledged that many of YouTube's prominent personalities had built their followings and created content while operating on
3182-558: The apprenticeship, he sold limited edition prints of his photoshopped images to purchase a computer to work on YouTube videos. Kjellberg originally registered a YouTube account under the name "Pewdie" in December 2006; he explained that "pew" represents the sound of lasers and "die" refers to dying. After initially forgetting the password to this account, he registered the "PewDiePie" YouTube channel on 29 April 2010. Following his exit from Chalmers, his parents refused to financially support him, so he funded his early videos by working as
3268-419: The background, and in picture-in-picture mode on Android Oreo and newer. YouTube Premium also offers original content that is exclusive to subscribers, which is created and published by YouTube's largest creators. YouTube Premium offers original films and series produced in collaboration with professional studios and YouTube personalities , under the banner YouTube Originals . For multi-episode series,
3354-675: The benefits also extend out to YouTube Kids . Adamya Sharma of Android Authority argued that the service is only worth it for avid YouTube viewers and that a YouTube Premium subscription would not be worth it if the user did not use all of its features. Additionally, Sharma strongly criticized the manner in which YouTube nagged its viewers to subscribe to Premium and claimed that its attempts have driven users to competitor TikTok . Some have additionally noted that YouTube Premium's paid features can easily also be replicated with free online tools, particularly with YouTube video downloader tools replacing Premium's downloading feature and Adblock removing
3440-690: The comment section on all of his videos. On 23 December 2013, his channel overtook the YouTube Spotlight channel, to once again become the most-subscribed on YouTube . Throughout 2012 and 2013, Kjellberg's channel was one of the fastest-growing on YouTube, in terms of subscribers gained. Billboard reported that the channel gained more subscribers than any other channel in 2013. In 2014, Kjellberg's commentaries, originally best known for featuring horror video games, began to feature games that interested him regardless of genre. Kotaku wrote: "Instead of limiting himself to horror games, Pewdiepie
3526-629: The deal, the head of Maker Studios, Courtney Holt, stated, "we're thrilled to be doubling down with Felix." Along with Kjellberg, eight other YouTubers signed to the network upon its creation: CinnamonToastKen, Marzia , Dodger, Emma Blackery , Jacksepticeye , Jelly, Kwebbelkop, and Markiplier . Three YouTubers – Cryaotic, KickThePJ , and Slogoman – would later join the sub-network after its launch. Throughout 2016, Kjellberg's video style change became more apparent. While producing fewer Let's Play videos about horror games, his style of humour changed; he commented that he had shifted to drier humour, which
List of YouTube Premium original programming - Misplaced Pages Continue
3612-567: The event, with particular criticism aimed at The Wall Street Journal for how their reporting portrayed references to Nazis in some of his videos. The Wall Street Journal response referred to another video with a YouTuber going by the name Jesus Christ, stating "Hitler did absolutely nothing wrong," as well as Kjellberg's response to the Fiverr suspension of the Jesus Christ account. According to Social Blade, his channel's total view count
3698-427: The first episode of a YouTube Originals series is available free. In selected countries where the service is not yet available, individual episodes can also be purchased through YouTube or Google TV . Access to YouTube Originals is also included in YouTube's separate streaming television service YouTube TV , but a YouTube Premium subscription is still required for the service's other benefits. In November 2018, it
3784-520: The forums of his Broarmy.net website. He stated in a later video that disabling comments made him happier. In the same year, Kjellberg began streaming videos of his co-hosted series, BroKen , onto MLG.tv . He co-hosted the series with Kenneth Morrison, better known as CinnamonToastKen, who is also a video game commentator. In October 2014, Kjellberg hinted at the possibility that he would not renew his contract with Maker Studios upon its expiration in December 2014. He had expressed his frustrations with
3870-760: The frequency of uploads. In August 2014, Maker Studios released an official PewDiePie app for the iPhone, allowing audiences to view his videos, create custom favourite video feeds, and share videos with others. Later in the month, Kjellberg uploaded a video, announcing he would permanently disable comments on his YouTube videos. He cited most comments being spam and self-advertising and was not what he wanted to see. After disabling comments, Kjellberg continued interacting with his audience through Twitter and Reddit . On 13 October, he decided to allow comments on his videos once more, albeit only after approval. However, he expressed that he toggled his comment settings this way so that he could redirect viewers to instead comment on
3956-466: The game. The video clip of the incident quickly went viral despite Kjellberg deleting it, and garnered widespread criticism across the internet. Kjellberg later apologised for the incident in a short video uploaded to his YouTube channel. As a response to the incident, Campo Santo co-founder Sean Vanaman referred to Kjellberg as "worse than a closeted racist", announced that Campo Santo would file copyright strikes against Kjellberg's videos featuring
4042-496: The issue of YouTube accounts experiencing an unexplained loss of subscribers and views. Kjellberg stated that many people working with YouTube "have no idea of the struggles that came with being a content creator." A Google representative issued a statement to Ars Technica , stating that no decreases in subscriber numbers were out of the ordinary. Kjellberg's video was uploaded as his channel approached 50 million subscribers, and he stated he would delete his channel once it reached
4128-644: The limited scope of the offering; YouTube's chief business officer Robert Kyncl explained that his daughter was confused over why videos of songs from Frozen were not "music" in the scope of the service, and thus not advertisement-free. These concerns and others led to a revamping of the Music Key concept to create YouTube Red ; unlike Music Key, YouTube Red was designed to provide ad-free streaming to all videos, rather than just music content. This shift required YouTube to seek permission from its content creators and rights holders to allow their content to be part of
4214-416: The milestone. On 8 December, his channel reached 50 million subscribers, becoming the first YouTube channel to do so. He shortly thereafter received a custom Play Button from YouTube as a reward for reaching this milestone. Ultimately, Kjellberg did not delete his PewDiePie channel, and instead deleted a smaller second channel he had then-recently created. His threat to quit was also reported to be "in fact,
4300-536: The music videos on YouTube was later blocked in India. The two parties were reported to have come to a settlement later that July, although Kjellberg's videos remained blocked in India. On 28 April, Kjellberg uploaded a video entitled "Ending the Subscribe to Pewdiepie Meme" in which he asked his followers to refrain from using the phrase "Subscribe to PewDiePie", due to incidents such as the phrase being graffitied on
4386-515: The need to pay to remove ads. In February 2024, the YouTube Premium service passed 100 million subscribers. In May 2014, prior to the official unveiling of the Music Key service, the independent music trade organization Worldwide Independent Network alleged that YouTube was using non-negotiable contracts with independent labels that were "undervalued" in comparison to other streaming services, and stated that YouTube threatened to block
SECTION 50
#17327943312954472-480: The network a share of his YouTube ad revenue. In 2014 alone, Kjellberg's account amassed nearly 14 million new subscribers, and over 4.1 billion total views. Both figures were higher than any other user. According to Social Blade , Kjellberg's channel became the most-viewed channel on the website on 29 December 2014, having amassed over 7 billion views by that date. The New York Times retrospectively noted that around 2015, Kjellberg's video content experienced
4558-810: The network. Early in his YouTube career, Kjellberg used jokes about rape in his videos. A satirical video, created by Let's Play YouTuber Michael " Slowbeef " Sawyer, mocking Kjellberg's content highlighted his usage of such jokes. Shortly after, Kjellberg attracted criticism and controversy for the jokes, and in October 2012, he addressed the issue through a Tumblr post, writing, "I just wanted to make clear that I'm no longer making rape jokes, as I mentioned before I'm not looking to hurt anyone and I apologise if it ever did." The Globe and Mail stated " unlike many young gamers, he listened when fans and critics alike pointed out their harmful nature, and resolved to stop making rape jokes." On 18 February 2013, Kjellberg's channel reached 5 million subscribers. In April, he
4644-500: The new algorithm. As a satirical knock on the changing algorithms, Kjellberg made several videos asking viewers to help the video reach specific engagement milestones such as one million likes, dislikes, and comments. The videos were successful, promptly achieving the goal Kjellberg requested from viewers; the dislike video accumulated over 5 million dislikes before YouTube made such figures private in November 2021, becoming one of
4730-468: The original content associated with the service available on an ad-supported basis. The service was first unveiled in November 2014 as Music Key, serving as a collaboration between YouTube and Google Play Music , and meant to succeed the latter's own "All Access" service. Music Key offered ad-free playback of music videos from participating labels hosted on YouTube , as well as background and offline playback of music videos on mobile devices from within
4816-462: The perpetrator of the live-streamed Christchurch mosque shootings said "remember lads, subscribe to PewDiePie" before carrying out the attacks. In response, Kjellberg tweeted his disgust after having his name associated with the attack, and offered condolences to those affected by the tragedy. Various journalists covering the shooting reported that Kjellberg was not complicit with the shootings. The New York Times suggested that Kjellberg's mention in
4902-459: The platform's boundaries were widely unknown to creators. He responded to the algorithm changes by uploading vlogs that "mixed earnest schmaltz [...] with inanity." Additionally, he "enjoyed wading into the meme culture and edgelord humor that accompanied Donald Trump 's ascent". During this late 2016 and early 2017 period Kjellberg uploaded a string of videos addressing what Kjellberg saw as negative effects to content creator viewership caused by
4988-493: The premium service is worth it for consumers, saying that in addition to including a music streaming service, the lack of ads and the ability to download videos and having videos played in the background is useful for consumers. YouTube releasing experimental features as well to subscribers was a benefit to Nield, which as of writing included the rollout of pinch to zoom in videos. Ashley Maready of The Motley Fool concurred with Nield in her review, while additionally noting that
5074-430: The service also changed from US$ 9.99 to US$ 11.99 per month for new subscribers. The existing pricing, as well as bundling of YouTube Premium with Google Play Music , was grandfathered in some countries for those who subscribed prior to the rebranding. Alongside the rebranding, the service also expanded into Canada, and 11 European countries (Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden and
5160-406: The service was increased to $ 13.99 per month ($ 18.99 if purchased via Apple App Store) A YouTube Premium subscription allows users to watch videos on YouTube without advertisements across the website and its mobile apps , including the dedicated YouTube Music and YouTube Kids apps and services. Through the apps, users can also save videos to their device for offline viewing, play their audio in
5246-530: The service, as well as access to premium YouTube Originals programming produced in collaboration with the site's creators, downloading videos and background playback of videos on mobile devices, and access to the music streaming service, YouTube Music , along with other benefits. It has over 100 million subscribers. The service was originally launched on November 14, 2014, as Music Key, offering advertisement-free streaming of music videos from participating labels on YouTube and Google Play Music. The service
SECTION 60
#17327943312955332-441: The shootings was a ploy for the news media to attribute blame to Kjellberg, and to otherwise inflame political tensions. After briefly gaining the title several times in early 2019, on 27 March, T-Series surpassed Kjellberg in subscribers to become the most-subscribed channel on YouTube . On 31 March, Kjellberg posted another diss track music video, titled " Congratulations ", sarcastically congratulating T-Series for obtaining
5418-433: The show's shooting. Although not many details were revealed at the time, it was later announced that the series would be an original YouTube Red series, titled Scare PewDiePie . The series premiered the following February. In January 2016, Kjellberg announced a partnership with Maker Studios to produce Revelmode, a sub-network of Maker, that would showcase Kjellberg and his friends on YouTube in original series. After
5504-400: The studio's game Firewatch , and encouraged other game developers to do the same. Amidst the controversy stirred up by the incident, it was brought to light that Kjellberg was following several prominent far-right and white supremacist figures on Twitter, such as Stefan Molyneux , Carl Benjamin and Lauren Southern . He later deactivated his Twitter account and unfollowed everyone he
5590-595: The studio's parent company, Disney. Kjellberg mulled the option of launching his own network. However, in light of news outlets reporting his disinterest with Maker, he tweeted, "I feel like I was misquoted in The WSJ , and I'm really happy with the work that Maker has been doing for me." Kjellberg ultimately continued creating videos under Maker. His relationship with Maker saw the network launch an official PewDiePie website, app, and online store to sell merchandise, while Kjellberg promoted Maker's media interests, and gave
5676-522: The term "Twitch thots" in a video that featured him watching a compilation of female Twitch streamers. Alinity, a streamer featured in the video, responded by making a copyright claim against his video, which she stated was later removed by CollabDRM, a company that strikes videos on behalf of creators. Alinity stated that her reaction was caused by "the rampant sexism in online communities ", arguing that Kjellberg's comments degraded women; she refused to accept Kjellberg's apology. In July, Kjellberg posted
5762-476: The things that made him famous. He's doing fewer Let's Plays of horror games like Amnesia ," and adding, "the PewDiePie of 2016 can still be immature, sure, but [...] a defining aspect of recent PewDiePie videos is existential angst , as he describes the bleak reality of making content for a machine he cannot fully control or understand." On 2 December 2016, he uploaded a video discussing his frustration with
5848-701: The title of Fridays with PewDiePie . The series was a weekly deviation from the Let's Play videos that formed most of his content output at the time, and often featured vlogs , and Kjellberg completing viewer requests. By December 2011, Kjellberg's channel had around 60,000 subscribers, before rapidly increasing in 2012. Around the time his channel earned 700,000 subscribers, Kjellberg spoke at Nonick Conference 2012. July 2012 saw his channel reaching 1 million subscribers, and it reached 2 million subscribers in September. In October, OpenSlate ranked Kjellberg's channel as
5934-435: The title. In the music video, Kjellberg mocked T-Series and its actions, alleging T-Series was founded to sell pirated songs and mocking them for sending him a cease and desist letter after "Bitch Lasagna". Following the video's release, Kjellberg temporarily regained the most-subscribed position over T-Series. On 9 April, Kjellberg announced that he would live-stream exclusively on streaming service DLive , as part of
6020-407: The unveiling of YouTube Red, it was stated that these same contractual requirements would now apply to all YouTube Partner Program members; partners who do not accept the new terms and revenue sharing agreements related to the YouTube Red service will have their videos blocked entirely in regions where YouTube Red is available. The YouTube channels of ESPN were a notable party affected by the change;
6106-513: The world's 100 most influential people . Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg was born on 24 October 1989 in Gothenburg , where he was also raised. He was born to Lotta Kristine Johanna ( née Hellstrand, born 1958) and Ulf Christian Kjellberg (born 1957), and grew up with his older sister, Fanny. His mother, a former chief information officer (CIO), was named the 2010 CIO of the Year in Sweden. His father
6192-741: Was "E;R", whom Kjellberg highlighted for a video essay on Netflix 's Death Note . Shortly thereafter, The Verge ' s Julia Alexander noted that the video in question used imagery of the Charlottesville car attack to joke about the murder of Heather Hyer, and that E;R's channel included frequent use of racist, sexist, anti-semitic, and homophobic content. In December 2018, Vox reported that "E;R" also contained white supremacist messaging. After online criticism, he described his posting as an "oopsie" and asserted that he had posted it "recommending someone for their anime review", rather than any intention to promote antisemitism. Kjellberg said he
6278-542: Was already noted for its polarizing reception among general audiences online, but in the late 2010s, it became more controversial and attracted increased media scrutiny. In 2019, following a public competition with Indian record label T-Series , Kjellberg was overtaken as the most-subscribed YouTube channel. Kjellberg also became more reserved online, uploading less consistently and taking frequent breaks from Internet use. He eventually semi-retired from YouTube, choosing to upload less frequently for his enjoyment rather than as
6364-682: Was covered in The New York Times after surpassing 6 million subscribers. In May 2013, at the inaugural Starcount Social Stars Awards in Singapore, Kjellberg won the award for "Swedish Social Star". Nominated alongside Jenna Marbles , Smosh , and Toby Turner , he won the award for "Most Popular Social Show". In July 2013, he overtook Jenna Marbles to become the second most-subscribed YouTube user, and reached 10 million subscribers on 9 July 2013. In August, Kjellberg signed with Maker's gaming sub-network, Polaris. Polaris functioned as
6450-435: Was in the works prior to the aforementioned allegations of antisemitic themes in his videos. Business Insider detailed that Kjellberg's first stream amassed around 60,000 viewers, and that Netglow had accumulated 93,000 subscribers to that point. In September, while Kjellberg was live-streaming gameplay of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds to his YouTube channel, he used the ethnic slur " nigger " towards another player in
6536-453: Was just something I loved to do." In his early years as a YouTube creator, Kjellberg focused on video game commentaries, most notably of horror and action video games. Some of his earliest videos featured commentaries of mainstream video games including Minecraft and Call of Duty , although he was particularly noted for his Let's Plays of Amnesia: The Dark Descent and its related mods . On these videos, Kjellberg has stated "I
6622-519: Was largely unaware of E;R's content apart from the Death Note video essay, revoked his recommendation of the channel, and edited his video to remove the reference. On 27 December 2018, Kjellberg uploaded "YouTube Rewind 2018 but it's actually good", in response to the generally negatively-received YouTube Rewind 2018: Everyone Controls Rewind , which was originally uploaded by YouTube's Spotlight channel . In September 2018, Kjellberg uploaded
6708-586: Was not the first time Kjellberg had used antisemitic language and imagery in his videos. Kjellberg and the two individuals later apologised, but the event led Maker Studios to cut their ties with Kjellberg and Google to drop him from the Google Preferred advertising program and cancel the upcoming second season of the Scare PewDiePie YouTube Red series. Ultimately, Kjellberg apologised, but strongly rebuked media coverage of
6794-554: Was officially unveiled on October 21, 2015. On May 18, 2016, YouTube Red and YouTube Music launched in Australia and New Zealand , the first countries to gain access to the service outside the United States. On August 3, 2016, YouTube Red support was added to the YouTube Kids app. On December 6, 2016, YouTube Red expanded to South Korea . On June 18, 2018, YouTube rebranded the service as YouTube Premium. The price of
6880-476: Was often not understood by younger viewers. He examined his older videos, and while noting the stylistic changes he had undergone, he expressed specific regret for his casual use of words like gay or retarded in a derogatory sense. In December 2016, Kotaku ' s Patricia Hernandez wrote about his stylistic changes, explaining that "over the last year, the PewDiePie channel has also had an underlying friction, as Kjellberg slowly distances himself from many of
6966-648: Was previously following, stating "What I don't like is the constant posturing that goes on there. People just can't seem to help themselves from pointing out what is good and what is bad, or how others are bad and you are good." In 2018, Paul MacInnes of The Guardian wrote about Kjellberg's YouTube content; he noted that each week Kjellberg posted videos featuring one of three series formats, comparing this uploading pattern to television programming . The three series listed were You Laugh You Lose , which features Kjellberg watching humorous video clips while trying to not laugh; Last Week I Asked You ( LWIAY ), having begun as
7052-412: Was promoting a privacy-invasive app, with some fans suspecting the app of being a pyramid scheme due to a referral program in the app that offered more in-application currency . The Pirate Party Germany criticized his promotion of Nimses, warning that Kjellberg was promoting a potentially harmful app to a large audience. Andrey Boborykin, the head of marketing and communications at Nimses, published
7138-488: Was reported that YouTube was planning to offer some of its premium shows available for free on an ad-supported basis by 2020. The Premium subscription would still cover ad-free access, timed exclusivity windows for original content, and content that is not made freely available. YouTube significantly scaled back its YouTube Originals program in January 2022. Reception to YouTube Premium has been mixed amongst consumers and journalists alike. David Nield of Wired argues that
7224-636: Was so shy back then," and added, "It was so weird to me, sitting alone in a room talking into a microphone. That was unheard of back at the time. No one really did it." Kjellberg's oldest video available for viewing is titled " Minecraft Multiplayer Fun ". Uploaded on 2 October 2010, the video is noted for containing mainly Swedish commentary from Kjellberg, rather than the English language he would later employ in his videos. The video has amassed over 21 million video views as of August 2022. Starting on 2 September 2011, he also began posting weekly vlogs under
7310-553: Was surpassed by the Indian record label T-Series at the top of YouTube's view rankings on 14 February. In April, while still continuing to upload new content onto YouTube, Kjellberg created Netglow, a crowdsourced channel on the livestreaming service Twitch . On Netglow, he started streaming Best Club , a weekly live stream show. Best Club premiered on 9 April, with its first episode featuring Brad Smith alongside Kjellberg. Kjellberg commented that his decision to create Netglow
7396-411: Was then revised and relaunched as YouTube Red on October 21, 2015, expanding its scope to offer advertisement-free access to all YouTube videos, as opposed to just music. YouTube announced the rebranding of the service as YouTube Premium on May 17, 2018, alongside the return of a separate, YouTube Music subscription service. Later in the year, it was reported that YouTube was planning to make some of
#294705