More YouTube Channels Shifting to Political Content Recently
Following the December 3 Martial Law Incident, reports that far-right and conservative YouTubers have seen a significant increase in income are fueling a rise in political issue-focused channels.
According to analysis by YouTube analytics platform Playboard on January 30, Channel A, which abruptly shifted to political content at the end of last year, had around 58,000 subscribers as of January 24, more than doubling its subscriber count in just one month. Between January 1 and 21, Channel A earned approximately 23 million won in Super Chat (donation) revenue over three weeks. Previously, Channel A had uploaded videos related to domestic travel, but even with 7 to 8-hour-long live streams, views rarely surpassed 1,000. However, a live broadcast of an anti-impeachment rally held near Gwanghwamun, Seoul, on December 29, 2024, garnered over 6,000 views. Since then, Channel A has streamed live broadcasts from locations likely to attract the interest of President Yoon Suk-yeol's supporters. As a result, a live broadcast of a protest in front of the Constitutional Court on January 19, 2025, surpassed 260,000 views.
Channel B, launched on December 26, 2024, gained about 20,000 subscribers by January 24, 2025. The rapid growth of this new channel is largely attributed to the upload of 300 short videos, each under one minute, within a month. Channel B also occasionally streams live from rallies attended by President Yoon's supporters. In its introduction, Channel B expresses support for President Yoon and publicly shares its bank account number as a "voluntary donation account."
Channel C, which has been active since 2016, previously uploaded videos on various topics but has recently focused its content on "defending the Republic of Korea." The trend of leveraging political turmoil is also observed among progressive YouTubers. Channel D, which consistently uploads videos related to the opposition party, has recently been following President Yoon's movements and streaming live broadcasts.
According to Democratic Party lawmaker Jung Il-young's analysis of Playboard data, as of November 2024, among the top seven far-right YouTube channels by Super Chat revenue, six saw their Super Chat income increase by 2.1 times within a month. All seven channels were also reported to be generating additional revenue through direct donations to bank accounts. Notably, five of these channels were collecting donations through personal bank accounts, according to Jung.
On January 14, 2025, one YouTube channel live-streamed President Yoon's arrest by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) on charges of leading an insurrection. On that day alone, the channel received over 1,000 Super Chats, totaling 26,141,889 won, the highest daily Super Chat revenue recorded worldwide on that date.
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