YouTube videos can be big business for top independent content creators. These are the YouTube stars who have huge online fanbases — even though most people have never heard of them.
We picked out 20 of the biggest stars, who could each be earning more than $1 million a year in ad revenue — in some cases much more.
A range of earnings estimates for each channel was provided by YouTube analytics company SocialBlade. Its estimates are placed within upper and lower limits, based on their daily views multiplied by a low cost-per-thousand impression advertising (CPM) rate of $0.60 and a high rate of $5. The range is wide to account for differences in the type of ad (including kinds of banner ads and pre-roll) and brand value. These estimates also assume that every video is monetized, which is not always the case.
Even after subtracting Google's 45% cut, these YouTube stars have got it made.
20. EvanTubeHD
$134,000-$1.32 million estimated yearly income after YouTube's 45% cut
476,000 total subscribers
443 million total views
Evan is the 7-year-old face of EvanTubeHD, a family-friendly YouTube channel where Evan (and occasionally his sister or mom) reviews toys and video games. What started as a father-son bonding project — Evan and his dad would make Angry Birds stop-motion videos for fun — has snowballed into near-celebrity status for Evan. According to a Newsweek interview with Jared, Evan's father, all of the proceeds from the channel, for which they currently have a dedicated ad-sales team, goes into investment and savings accounts for their children.
19. TheRadBrad
$137,000-$1.38 million estimated yearly income after YouTube's 45% cut
2.32 million total subscribers
756 million total views
Bradley "The Rad Brad" Colburn is a sensation in the gaming world, for his detailed and humorous video game "walkthroughs" (when he explains how to play and beat a game). He is known for his profane and hilarious outbursts, sometimes even breaking chairs when he can't beat a level in a game. Colburn got his start through the popular gaming website Machinima, which specializes in creating animated videos using video games. Colburn began making the "walkthroughs" while finishing college and working a part-time job at Best Buy. When he graduated, he decided to give YouTubing full-time a try. In the past nine months, Colburn has jumped from 700K subscribers to 2.32M and counting.
18. ElRubiusOMG
$154,000-$1.54 million estimated yearly income after YouTube's 45% cut
6 million total subscribers
582 million total views
Ruben Doblas Gurdensen is a popular Spanish video-game commentator and comedian. While he began by posting videos of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Battlefield, he has since branched out into video blogs and comedy videos. He currently lives with another famous YouTuber, MangelRogel, who encouraged him to start posting videos.
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