[Editor’s Note: Tubefilter Charts is a weekly rankings column from Tubefilter with data provided by GospelStats. It’s exactly what it sounds like: a top number ranking of YouTube channels based on statistics collected within a given time frame. Check out all of our Tubefilter Charts with new installments every week right here.]
Three of the five channels at the front of this week’s U.S. Top 50 are chart regulars that experienced viewership downturns week-over-week. That collective dip opened the door for a new #1 finisher.
All of the channels in the U.S. Top 50 got at least 100 million views during the final full week of April. Here are some highlights from the list:
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Chart Toppers
Justin Flom is #1 in this week’s U.S. Top 50. The magician is performing the same vertical video wizardry that has worked wonders for him ever since YouTube launched Shorts nearly three years ago. Flom is a former #1 finisher in this chart, and he returned to that position during the last week of April, when he picked up 538.6 million weekly views. Flom more than doubled his YouTube traffic week-over-week, and during a week when several other top channels declined, that boost was big enough to propel Flom into the driver’s seat.
Toys and Colors dropped back to second place in the U.S. Top 50. One week after sitting at the front of our star-spangled ranking, the kid-friendly hub stayed in the top five after counting 416.3 million weekly views. Toys and Colors now has 62.7 billion lifetime views and 54.6 million subscribers. No other channels in the U.S. top five is even halfway to those numbers. Toys and Colors’ big stats are evidence of its adaptability. The YouTube game has changed considerably, but this channel is still flying high.
Another channel with experience in the #1 spot is ranked third in this week’s U.S. Top 50. MaviGadget started the year as one of the hottest channels on YouTube, earning several chart-topping finishes in the process. Though the tool-focused hub has fallen off the torrid pace it set for itself, it is still one of the biggest draws on Shorts. By picking up 408.3 million weekly views, MaviGadget slotted in just behind Toys and Colors in the U.S. Top 50. It has a chance to reach 25 billion lifetime views by the end of May.
Zack D. Films followed up his best-ever performance in the U.S. Top 50 with another top-five finish. He reached fourth place in our all-American ranking during a week when he collected 397.9 million weekly views. Compared to his previous total, his YouTube viewership went down by 22%, but it was still high enough to cross two major milestones. Zack D. Films now has more than 11 billion lifetime views and more than 10 million subscribers on YouTube.
Family Games Media rounds out this week’s U.S. top five. As its name implies, this channel uses all-ages challenges to draw in fans on Shorts. It counted 379.9 million views during the week that was.
Top Gainers
The channel in this week’s Top Gainers section really likes Rick and Morty, but as far as I can tell, it has no affiliations with the show or distributor Adult Swim. Instead, it’s using the popularity of adult animation to promote a chat-based product.
The face of the channel in question is Tim Westerfield, a glasses-clad personality with a knack for pop culture aggregation. On YouTube Shorts, Westerfield shares some of the most memorable and hilarious scenes from Rick and Morty‘s seven-season run. The 14 Tim Westerfield Shorts with the most views all feature Rick and Morty characters: There’s Churry the churro, the President of the United States, and (of course) Pickle Rick.
I don’t know if the Rick and Morty rights holders have taken a look at Westerfield’s channel, but based on the traffic it’s getting, it might be worth a look. During the last week of April, Westerfield added 126.1 million weekly views on his primary YouTube hub. That was good for a 27% week-over-week increase that pushed him from 59th place up to 35th in our U.S. Top 50. He finished just ahead of chart regulars like That Little Puff and Omar Raja.
So what is the purpose of Westerfield’s array of comedy clips? Obviously, the views are nice, but the creator of this channel is also drawing attention to Oasis, an upcoming product that purportedly allows users to chat with pop culture characters like Rick Sanchez. Right now, Oasis visitors can only reserve a spot on the platform, but the website is all over Westerfield’s channel, so a bigger launch may soon be in order. Is Oasis promotion worth the rights management headache that could come from all of these TV clips? I guess, like Pickle Rick, Westerfield will just solve those problems as they arise.
Channel Distribution
This week, there are 38 YouTube Shorts channels in the U.S. Top 50.
