YouTube Rewind: Honey Singh, Gangnam Style rule charts in India

While Korean Pop sensation Psy took the world by storm with his horse dance in Gangnam style on Youtube, here in India Yo! Yo! Honey Singh ruled the charts for most watched video in 2012, Youtube has revealed.

In a press release, YouTube said that K-Pop artist Psy came second only to Punjabi rapper Singh’s vibrant song ‘Brown Rang.’ The report said that this year had been huge for YouTube both in India and internationally. “We’re beginning to see amateur filmmakers and video enthusiasts exploring their talent on YouTube in India,” said the report.

Yo! Yo! Honey Singh and Gangnam Style are YouTube’s most watched videos in India for 2012

Bollywood predictably ruled the charts of the trending and most popular videos with Salman Khan – Katrina Kaif starring song ‘Mashallah’ from Ek Tha Tiger was the most popular Bollywood song, besides songs from Shah Rukh Khan starrer Jab Tak Hai Jaan and Cocktail.

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Some of the most subscribed channels too are affiliated with Bollywood, the report shows. T-Series, YRF, Eros Entertainment and Rajshri were all in the top five subscribed channels in India for this year. Regional channels like TeluguOne also figured in the list, throwing the spotlight on the rich regional content on YouTube.
YouTube has gone mainstream with Indian audiences, says the report, with users watching sporting events and popular serials online. Some of the most watched TV shows on YouTube included Sony’s Bade Acche Lagte Hain, CID, Kahani Comedy Circus Ki and Crime Patrol. SAB’s comedy caper Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chasmah came in a close second to Bade Acche Lagte Hain.

“This year, we looked not just at views, but also shares, searches, likes and responses to identify the 10 videos that everybody was talking about in 2012.  On YouTube people don’t just view a popular video, they remix, share, and parody, building a fan community that extends far beyond the watch page. We took all of this into account to ensure we truly captured the ‘watercooler moments’ of the year,” said YouTube adding that they took account views, reach, and engagement into consideration while making these lists.

YouTube recently revamped the look and feel of its web interface. In an official blog post yesterday, the popular video viewing platform shared that considering people come to YouTube to watch the videos they care about, it is important then that it stands out. In the new look that YouTube now embodies, users will notice that the most crucial elements are placed at the front and centre while viewing a video. The video itself is placed right at the top of the page, whereas the subscribe button, social actions and video information are put together combined below the player.

Users can view the playlists that are available to the right of the video, allowing them to browse through while watching. The cleaner, simpler look, shares YouTube, has been spread across the entire site. YouTube shared further that those using YouTube have been active at subscribing to the channels of their choice. Giving a slight recap, the post shared that last year YouTube started making it simpler for users to subscribe to the channels of their choice by introducing a Guide on the homepage. Explaining the ways of the Guide, the post added that once a user adds subscriptions to their Guide, they organise the site around their preferences, available for their viewing on YouTube. The next step in this direction is bringing to users their subscription-filled Guide across the site and all devices.