Business Desk
ISLAMABAD: YouTube hosted its first-ever YouTube Brandcast in Pakistan to celebrate YouTube’s creator community, and to share the latest insights, updates, and inspiration from brands succeeding on the platform.
At Brandcast, YouTube also spotlighted how the platform is supporting the Pakistani creator ecosystem by building a reliable, multi-format platform that enables creators to build local and global communities that meet the evolving needs of their audiences
According to Google and Kantar’s Unlocking Digital in Rural Pakistan research, YouTube is the most popular online video platform in Pakistan with 62% of online Pakistanis ages 18-24 reported watching YouTube once a month or more.
In fact, out of all Pakistani internet users, 91% say YouTube makes them feel positive, 78% consider YouTube to watch their favorite shows and content, 76% learned something new from YouTube, 75% claim that content on YouTube helped them dig deeper into their interests, 73% get the video content for all their moods on the platform.
The same study found that 48% of rural Pakistanis are now online, of which 78% watch YouTube. Of those that watched YouTube, 76% say that YouTube has unique content they can’t find anywhere else.
Farhan S Qureshi, Country Director Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh, at Google, said, “YouTube is about making connections and finding a community you can call home. It’s where viewers come to learn, unwind, and connect with their passions. The platform empowers people by not only giving them a voice but also financial stability. Since the platform resonates well with people of all ages and from all areas, it is no wonder that YouTube creates deep connections between brands, creators, and audiences in urban and rural areas of Pakistan.”
At the heart of YouTube are creators, who are helping build genuine connections by delivering personally engaging content. Whether long or short form, there is something on YouTube that will fit the bill. In the first quarter of 2022, the watch time of videos grew significantly compared to the same time last year. Digital marketing videos grew by over 95%, web development videos grew by over 90%, exercise videos grew by over 80% and live television videos grew by over eight times.
The total hours of content uploaded to YouTube by channels in Pakistan from June 2021 to May 2022 grew by over 25% when compared to the same time the year before.
This healthy growth in content uploaded to YouTube includes short-form videos via YouTube Shorts which was launched in July last year. Globally, YouTube Shorts is now averaging 30 billion daily views, growing four times from a year ago. Shorts has been hugely successful in Pakistan as well, a testament to Pakistanis’ evolving preferences in how they choose to consume content.
Marc Lefkowitz, Director of YouTube Partner Development and Management (APAC) added, “We have creators developing diverse content for podcasts, sketches, automobile reviews, tech reviews, tutorials, gaming, and more. There are more than 5,400 YouTube channels with more than 100K subscribers. That’s an increase of 35% over last year. More than 350 of these channels have more than a million subscribers.
The platform intends to continue to extend its support to Pakistani creators so they can pursue their passions and build careers in a responsible manner.”
As of June 2021, the number of YouTube channels making 1 million PKR or more in revenue is up over 110%, year over year. Whether a Pakistani from a remote village in Punjab or a metropolis like Karachi, YouTube has proven to be an effective medium for communication across the languages of Pashto, Sindhi, Punjabi, Balochi, or Urdu; enabling everyday Pakistanis to turn their passion into full-time careers. NNI
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