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#YouTubeRewind: Celebrating what India watched & shared
MUMBAI: 2016 was the year when sidekick became the superhero – yes you guessed it right – Kabali ruled the charts to become top trending movie trailer. Kapil Sharma show featuring Salman Khan got company from our very own YouTube stars of The Viral Fever playing truth or dare with dad and All India Bakchod’s honest portrayal of bars and restaurants as the top trending video’s of the year. Entertainment aside, we were also most curious to know about the GPS chip in the new 2000 rupees note.
As 2016 is coming to an end, and you know what that means….it’s time for #YouTubeRewind.
This year, more than 200 YouTube stars from 18 countries accepted our Ultimate 2016 Rewind Challenge to pay homage to the biggest videos, memes, channels, songs, and pop culture moments of the year. Keep an eye out for some pretty epic surprise guests. Oh, and we got Major Lazer to help us out with an original mix too.
We’re excited to announce the top trending videos, music videos and bollywood trailers from 2016, according to time spent watching, sharing, commenting, liking and more. From Kapil Sharma, TVF, AIB and behind the scene video of Shah Rukh Khan becoming the FAN, this year’s top trending videos represent the amazing variety of creativity shared on YouTube every day.
Collectively, the top 10 videos have 70 million views and the channels who make them have more than 45 million subscribers who tune in regularly to watch the funny, insightful, entertaining content they create/ upload, a blog posted by YouTube head of entertainment partnerships Satya Raghavan, stated.
Top trending videos:
The Kapil Sharma Show: Sultan
The Voice India Kids: Ayat Shaikh
Crime Patrol Dial 100: Andhkaar
Complete truth of Rs 2000 notes with a chip embedded in it
TVF: Truth or Dare with Dad
TVF’s Permanent Roommates: The Parents
AIB : Honest Bars & Restaurants
Life Sahi Hai: The Maid
How Shah Rukh Khan Became The FAN – Gaurav
AIB Diwas: Zakir Khan
In Music, 2016 seemed to be all about Kala Chashma with 45 million views, and ‘kar gayi chull’ and baby ‘ko base pasand hai’ taking the next slots.
Top music videos:
Kala Chashma: Baar Baar Dekho
Kar Gayi Chull: Kapoor & Sons
Baby Ko Bass Pasand Hai: Sultan
Bulleya: Ae Dil Hai Mushkil
Cham Cham: Baaghi
GF BF: T-Series
Hua hain Aaj Pehli Baar: Sanam Re
Ae Dil Hai Mushkil
Jabra:Fan
The Breakup Song: Ae Dil Hai Mushkil
In movies, Rajinikanth as Kabali went viral with Aamir Khan’s Dangal and Salman Khan’s Sultan following closely behind. The biopic of MS Dhoni featuring Sushant Singh Rajput was also a huge hit.
Top movie trailers:
Kabali Tamil Movie
Dangal
Sultan
M.S.Dhoni – The Untold Story
Shivaay
Befikre
Ae Dil Hai Mushkil
Fan
Baaghi
Dishoom
From an ads perspective, it is quite evident from the YouTube Leaderboard 2016 that several brands chose to create long format ads for a primarily digital-first audience. In fact, seven out of top 10 most watched ads in 2016 were over 90 seconds long. And audiences too were willing to invest their time and attention on ads that are narrative-driven and take a storytelling approach. #Dettolsheronkepanje was the most viewed ads for 2016 with close to 13 million views, and #Ranveerchingreturns and Amazon’s#ApniDukaan taking the next spots.
Most viewed ads:
Dettol Sheron ke Panje – #MaaMaane Dettol Ka Dhula
Ranveer Ching Returns
Amazon #ApniDukaan
Doublemint #StartSomethingFresh
Ola Micro Stories
Bajaj V – The Invincible
Makemytrip #BefikarBookKar – Taxi
#NothingDirty Anthem ft. Badshah
Amazon#MomBeAGirlAgain
Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge
iWorld
T20 World Cup ’26: India–England semi-final sets global streaming record of 619 million views on JioHotstar
India–England semi-final records 65.2 million peak streams
MUMBAI: The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 set a new milestone in global sports streaming, as the India–England semi-final drew record digital audiences on JioHotstar.
The match on 5 March registered 65.2 million peak concurrent viewers, the highest ever recorded for a live event on any streaming platform worldwide. The semi-final also generated 619 million views, making it the most streamed T20 international match in history.
The landmark audience numbers were driven largely by viewers in India, setting a record achieved within a single market, rather than through aggregated viewership across multiple countries.
The high-scoring encounter between India national cricket team and England cricket team produced 499 runs across both innings, fuelling widespread fan engagement across platforms.
According to the International Cricket Council, the digital record surpassed the previous global benchmark of 65 million concurrent viewers, set in November 2024 by another international streaming platform.
Across television and digital platforms combined, the semi-final reached more than 320 million viewers, while total watch time exceeded 23 billion minutes, making it the most watched T20 international match ever.
“This World Cup demonstrates the immense passion of cricket fans and the progress made in bringing the game closer to audiences worldwide,” said ICC chairman Jay Shah.
“This moment reflects the scale of cricket fandom in India and the technological capability required to serve hundreds of millions of viewers simultaneously.”
JioStar vice-chairman Uday Shankar, said the audience surge underscored the future of large-scale digital entertainment.
“One in every three Indians tuned in to watch the second semi-final. Delivering such an experience at scale requires the very best of technology,” he said.
The 619 million views during the match also eclipsed the 533 million views recorded during the final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.
With the final yet to be played, the 2026 tournament has already set multiple benchmarks in audience reach and digital engagement.
India will face the New Zealand national cricket team in the final on 8 March at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The match will be broadcast on the Star Sports Network and streamed on JioHotstar.
