YouTube , formerly named YouTube Spotlight , [ 1 ] is the official YouTube channel for the American video-sharing platform of the same name , spotlighting videos and events on the platform. Events shown on the channel include YouTube Comedy Week and the YouTube Music Awards . Additionally, the channel uploaded annual installments of YouTube Rewind between 2010 and 2019. The channel briefly ranked as the most-subscribed on the platform in late 2013. As of August 2026, the channel has 46.2 million subscribers and 1.2 billion video views. [ 2 ] On November 2, 2013, the YouTube channel briefly surpassed PewDiePie 's channel, to become the most-subscribed channel on the website. The channel ascended to the top position through auto-suggesting and pre-selecting itself as a subscription option upon new user registration for YouTube. [ 3 ] Between 2010 and 2019, YouTube released an annual YouTube Rewind video through its Spotlight channel. The series' 2016 installment, The Ultimate 2016 Challenge , became YouTube's fastest video to reach 100 million views, doing so in just over three days. It is also the eighth- most-liked non-music video of all time with over 3.40 million likes. Shortly after the video was released, the Spotlight channel surpassed 1 billion total video views. [ 4 ] The 2018 installment, Everyone Controls Rewind , was received overwhelmingly negatively. In just under a week after its release, it became YouTube's most-disliked video of all time, surpassing the music video for Justin Bieber 's " Baby ", and shortly thereafter became the first YouTube video to reach 10 million dislikes. The following year, YouTube Rewind 2019: For the Record also quickly garnered a notably negative like–dislike ratio as well, amassing 3.9 million dislikes within its first day of release. [ 5 ] It is currently the third-most-disliked YouTube video with over 9.6 million dislikes. In January 2014, YouTube Nation was launched on its channel, as a collaborative project between YouTube and DreamWorks Animation . [ 6 ] DWA oversaw the production while YouTube managed the sales and marketing of the series. [ 7 ] The series is a news series that rounds up information from the Spotlight channel. [ 8 ] YouTube also promotes the series through its Spotlight channel. Early in its history, the series used guest hosts Grace Helbig , Hannah Hart , and Mamrie Hart (no relation) to help propel the series and its audience. [ 9 ] Due to regularly being promoted on the Spotlight channel (now just called YouTube), YouTube Nation was able to reach the 1 million subscriber milestone within three months of its launch. [ 10 ] The series was nominated for the fourth annual Streamy Award under Best News and Current Events but lost to SourceFed . [ 11 ] After 350 episodes, the series aired its last episode on December 5, 2014. [ 12 ] On December 10, 2020, YouTube announced that Fremantle would produce Hello 2021 —a series of five localized New Year's Eve countdown specials that will celebrate notable videos of the year, and feature other guest appearances and performances. There will be separate specials for Japan , South Korea , India , the UK , and the Americas . [ 13 ] One Trillion Minecraft Views on YouTube and Counting In December 2021, One Trillion Minecraft Views on YouTube and Counting was posted to commemorate the one trillion views of Minecraft -related videos. [ 14 ] Featuring various Minecraft content creators, the video is a 3D animation based on the game. [ 15 ] Themed week events In May 2013, the Spotlight channel was being used to stream its Comedy Week event , produced by ChannelFlip . During the event, YouTube used its homepage to spotlight comedy videos made specifically for the event. [ 16 ] The video of the 2-hour kickoff event has earned 1.06 million views as of September 2014. [ 17 ] The event was met with mixed critical reception, with the particular mixture of new and traditional media personalities, as well as technical difficulties being specifically scrutinized. [ 18 ] The event was the first of its kind about being streamed by YouTube. Although it was marketed as the first annual Comedy Week event, there have been no announcements regarding a follow-up Comedy Week event. On August 4, 2013, YouTube launched "Geek Week", which was kicked off by Freddie Wong in the United States, and TomSka in the United Kingdom. [ 19 ] [ 20 ] The week was composed of themed days, which included Blockbuster Sunday, Global Geekery Monday, Brainiac Tuesday, Super Wednesday, Gaming Thursday, and Fan Friday. [ 19 ] The event was launched in conjunction with Nerdist in the US, and ChannelFlip in the UK. [ 21 ] [ 22 ] During the 2013 LGBT Pride Month , the channel was used to bring light to LGBT and LGBT pride-related information and videos. [ 23 ] Google , which owns YouTube, has been said by TechCrunch to be "a huge proponent of gay rights". [ 24 ] An article on the Official YouTube Blog was attached to the event. [ 25 ] YouTube Music Awards In November 2013, YouTube launched its first YT Music Awards presentation . Announcing its nominations in the previous month, the award show aimed to create traffic through its social media voting format. [ 26 ] The event was streamed onto the Spotlight channel, and has earned over 4.5 million views as of September 2014. [ 27 ] The event's technical difficulties and its plethora of nominations for mainstream artists, rather than YouTube artists, were at the center of overall mixed critical reception. [ 28 ] ↑ "YouTube Spotlight" . YouTube . Archived from the original on December 7, 2018 . Retrieved February 27, 2025 . ↑ "YouTube YouTube Stats, Channel Statistics" . Social Blade . Retrieved February 13, 2025 . {{ cite web }} : CS1 maint: deprecated archival service ( link ) ↑ Cohen, Joshua (November 4, 2013). "YouTube Is Now The Most Subscribed Channel On YouTube" . Tubefilter . Archived from the original on April 6, 2019 . Retrieved September 20, 2013 . ↑ "youtube Monthly YouTube Statistics" . Social Blade . Archived from the original on December 30, 2016 . Retrieved February 12, 2017 . ↑ YouTube Rewind 2019: For the Record | #YouTubeRewind , 5 December 2019, archived from the original on 2019-12-10 , retrieved 2024-03-13 ↑ "DreamWorks Animation Confirms Daily YouTube Show 'YouTube Nation' " . Deadline Hollywood . January 13, 2014. Archived from the original on April 12, 2015 . Retrieved September 20, 2014 . ↑ Wallenstein, Andrew (January 13, 2014). "New Series 'YouTube Nation' Launches Tuesday on YouTube via DreamWorks Animation" . Variety . Archived from the original on September 4, 2019 . Retrieved April 6, 2015 . ↑ Gutelle, Sam (January 9, 2014). "YouTube And Dreamworks To Launch Daily Video News Show" . Tubefilter . Archived from the original on June 16, 2019 . Retrieved September 20, 2014 . ↑ Gutelle, Sam (February 11, 2014). "Grace Helbig, Hannah Hart, And Mamrie Hart Take Over 'YouTube Nation' " . Tubefilter . Archived from the original on May 18, 2014 . Retrieved September 20, 2014 . ↑ Gutelle, Sam (April 17, 2014). "YouTube Millionaires: YouTube Nation Finds The Best Videos On The Net" . Tubefilter . Archived from the original on July 8, 2014 . Retrieved September 20, 2014 . ↑ "4th Annual Streamy Awards Nominees" . Streamy Awards . Archived from the original on September 24, 2014 . Retrieved September 20, 2014 . ↑ Spangler, Todd (December 4, 2014). "DreamWorks Animation, YouTube Pull Plug on 'YouTube Nation' Show" . Variety . Archived from the original on June 17, 2019 . Retrieved January 9, 2015 . ↑ Del Rosario, Alexandra (2020-12-10). "Matthew McConaughey, RuPaul, Storm Reid & More To Ring In New Year With YouTube In 'Hello 2021' Global Celebration" . Deadline . Archived from the original on 2020-12-15 . Retrieved 2020-12-10 . ↑ Parrish, Ash (December 15, 2021). "Minecraft crosses 1 trillion views on YouTube" . The Verge . Retrieved June 10, 2024 . ↑ Hale, James (December 15, 2021). "YouTube Celebrates 'Minecraft's' Trillionth View With Nods For Top Creators" . Tubefilter . Archived from the original on December 15, 2021 . Retrieved June 10, 2024 . ↑ Rothman, Lily (May 20, 2013). "YouTube Bets Big on Laughs with Its First-Ever "Comedy Week" " . Time . Archived from the original on June 5, 2019 . Retrieved September 20, 2014 . ↑ The Big Live Comedy Show - YouTube Comedy Week . YouTube . May 19, 2013. Archived from the original on June 9, 2019 . Retrieved September 20, 2014 . ↑ Gutelle, Sam (May 20, 2013). "Six Reasons Why YouTube's 'Big Live Comedy Show' Didn't Work" . Tubefilter . Archived from the original on April 24, 2019 . Retrieved September 20, 2014 . 1 2 "YouTube geeks out with first-ever Geek Week: August 4-10, 2013" . YouTube Official Blog . Blogspot . July 24, 2013. Archived from the original on March 30, 2016 . Retrieved September 20, 2014 . ↑ Gutelle, Sam (July 24, 2013). "Geek Week Officially Coming August 4th As YouTube Releases Teaser" . Tubefilter . Archived from the original on July 19, 2014 . Retrieved September 20, 2014 . ↑ Cohen, Matt (July 24, 2013). "YouTube Launches "Geek Week" " . Nerdist . Archived from the original on April 29, 2014 . Retrieved September 20, 2014 . ↑ Schroeder, Stan (July 24, 2013). "YouTube Announces Geek Week, Starting Aug. 4" . Mashable . Archived from the original on October 9, 2013 . Retrieved September 20, 2013 . ↑ Rudolph, Christopher (June 27, 2013). "YouTube Celebrates Gay Pride With 'Proud To Love' (VIDEO)" . Huffington Post . Archived from the original on March 11, 2014 . Retrieved September 20, 2014 . ↑ Crook, Jordan (June 27, 2013). "YouTube Celebrates Pride With #ProudToLove Spotlight Channel" . TechCrunch . Archived from the original on June 28, 2019 . Retrieved September 20, 2014 . ↑ "We're #ProudToLove the LGBT community on YouTube" . YouTube Official Blog . Blogspot . June 27, 2013. Archived from the original on April 15, 2016 . Retrieved September 20, 2014 . ↑ Spangler, Todd (October 21, 2013). "YouTube Music Awards Nominees Announced" . Variety . Archived from the original on July 1, 2015 . Retrieved September 20, 2013 . ↑ The First-Ever YouTube Music Awards (YTMA) . YouTube . November 5, 2013. Archived from the original on June 18, 2019 . Retrieved September 20, 2013 . ↑ Gelt, Jessica (November 3, 2013). "YouTube Music Awards: Eminem wins Artist of the Year ... wait, what?" . Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on March 11, 2014 . Retrieved September 20, 2013 . YouTube's channel on YouTube Google (parent) Neal Mohan (CEO) Steve Chen (founder)

Chad Hurley (founder & CEO) Salar Kamangar (CEO) Susan Wojcicki (CEO) Jawed Karim (founder) Susanne Daniels Robert Kyncl (CBO) Most-subscribed channels Most-viewed channels Multi-channel network ( list ) Official channel Original channels " Me at the zoo " PewDiePie vs T-Series YouTube Rewind 2018 2019 List of YouTube videos Most-viewed videos Most-disliked videos Copyright issues Content ID Copyright strike Viacom International, Inc. v. YouTube, Inc. Copyright strike Viacom International, Inc. v. YouTube, Inc. Moderation Elsagate Fantastic Adventures scandal Garcia v. Google, Inc. Kohistan honour killing Korean backdoor advertisement controversy Reactions to Innocence of Muslims Slovenian government incident Premium original programming original programming CNN/YouTube presidential debates KSI vs Logan Paul rematch Music Awards 2013 2015 Project for Awesome Sidemen Charity Match Social in the City Symphony Orchestra Internet Symphony No. 1 Mothership Internet Symphony No. 1 Censorship of YouTube Germany 2018 headquarters shooting Nasim Aghdam YouTube Instant YouTube Theater Creator Economy Caucus Number-one YouTube channels in subscribers YouTube channels launched in 2005 Articles with short description Short description matches Wikidata Articles with hCards Social media pages with Wikidata CS1 maint: deprecated archival service