ISLAMABAD: Popular video-streaming platform YouTube hosted a virtual Pakistan creator roundtable on Wednesday where the brains behind some of the country’s most popular channels shared their experiences and journeys.
YouTube is one of the most popular video platforms in Pakistan and around the world. Over the past couple of years, Pakistan has seen an increase in the number of vloggers who have amassed a sizable following on the platform.
“Over 55 percent of the viewership of Pakistani YouTube channels comes from outside the country,” Farhan S. Qureshi, Country Director of Pakistan at Google, said during the roundtable that featured the creators of popular accounts ‘Ducky Bhai’, ‘Something Haute’, ‘Street Food PK’ and ‘Sistrology’.
“The number indicates that the content created by Pakistani YouTubers is highly popular all across the globe.”
Qureshi said over 4,500 YouTube channels across Pakistan had managed to garner more than 100,000 subscribers, registering a growth of 45 percent. He said popular Pakistani YouTube channels were now making over Rs1 million annually recording a growth rate of more than 140pc year-over-year.
Saad Ur Rehman, popularly known as ‘Ducky Bhai,’ recalled how he first started out on YouTube, borrowing gadgets from shopkeepers and friends to make videos on gaming and tech.
“I learnt to edit, created ‘Ducky Bhai’ and things changed. It grew to podcasts, Vlogs and ‘Ducky Extra’,” he said.
Zia Tabaruk, the man behind the popular YouTube account Street Food PK which has over 980,000 subscribers, left his job to pursue vlogging on the video platform. His reviews of Pakistani cuisines paid off eventually.
“Not only did the decision pay off for him financially, but Tabaruk now gets to be as creative with his videos as he wants,” YouTube’s statement read.
