Pakistani YouTubers earning millions from channels

The earnings of popular Pakistani YouTube channels recorded a growth of more than 140 per cent to over Rs1 million on a year-on-year basis.

YouTube hosted a virtual Pakistan creator roundtable attended by media persons and the brains behind the four renowned Pakistani YouTube channels; Ducky Bhai, Something Haute, Sistrology and Street Food PK.

The discussion began with the Country Director of Pakistan at Google, Farhan S Qureshi, sharing valuable insights with content creators and the media.

“Over 55 per cent of the viewership of Pakistani YouTube channels comes from outside the country. The number indicates that the content created by Pakistani YouTubers is highly popular all across the globe,” he said.

The overall growth of 35 per cent was recorded on a yearly basis as more than 300 channels now have more than 1 million subscribers. Additionally, over 4,500 YouTube channels now have more than 100,000 subscribers, registering a growth of 45 per cent, he added.

During the panel discussion, the content creators shared the stories of their YouTube journey as to how they started it off, how they managed to build a community, how the platform changed their lives and where they stand today.

Saad Ur Rehman, popularly known as ‘Ducky Bhai’ , recalled that he started his YouTube channel five years ago. “I used to make gaming and tech-related tutorial videos. I used to ask shopkeepers and friends to lend me their gadgets so I could record videos on them.”

“I learnt to edit, created ‘Ducky Bhai’ and things changed. It grew to podcasts, Vlogs and ‘Ducky Extra’,” he added.

Dr Iqra Kanwal, the owner of the highly popular YouTube channel Sistrology, said that the channel had initially witnessed a slow growth until she switched to vlogging. “Things have changed for good now,” she added.

Something Haute’s Aamna Haider Isani who quit her job to focus more on the content creation on YouTube shared that despite her being not tech savvy, her channel garnered good viewership, encouraging her to post more videos.

She said that she was absolutely overwhelmed when over 50 people turned up to meet her at a meet-up session in DC, United States.

Zia Tabaruk, the man behind the Street Food PK, also called it a day at his professional job despite his family’s reservations and switched to YouTube.

That people are now shifting to YouTube to earn reflects a shift in the mindset of the general public. It is no surprise that the video-streaming platform has managed to get the attention of the masses who are now looking to build a community of their own on the platform.

The creators were of the opinion that there is still much potential and space in the Pakistani market for new YouTubers who can make content and earn a living.