Google purchased YouTube on October 9th, 2006 for $1.65 billion (USD) in stock. At the time it was a massive payday for founders Chad Hurley and Steven Chen. Now, ten years later, YouTube is still the king of user-generated video, serving hundreds of millions of hours of video every day.
To celebrate 2016, YouTube has released ‘YouTube Rewind 2016,’ which highlights the most watched videos from the year. Topping the Canadian viewed list is the LipSync Battle on Spike with Channing Tatum and Beyonce’s “Run The World (Girls)” vs. Jenna Dewan-Tatum’s “Pony.” The top music video of the year goes to Rihanna with Work. The top watched movie trailer, meanwhile, was Suicide Squad, which was filmed in Toronto.
Nicole Bell from YouTube Canada said, “This year’s list of Top Trending Videos shows the breadth of content that Canadians are watching. From sports trick shots, to education videos, to comedy and pranks, Canadians are heading to YouTube to laugh, to learn and to be entertained like never before.”
From a specific Canadian moment, Google notes that Canadians flocked to watch CBC’s livestream of the Tragically Hip’s final concert. The concert set a Canadian record, and was also viewed in 188 countries around the world. Following the recent death of Leonard Cohen on November 10th, Canadians watched his performance of Hallelujah in record numbers.
Canadians also tuned in to watch the first US presidential debate between Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump. Canada was the top country outside of the U.S. that tuned into the debate on YouTube and saw nearly 2 million concurrent views around the world, which is reportedly 14 times more live views than the debates in 2012.
In 2016, Canadian YouTube creators saw their stats increase as 199 channels reached the 100,000 subscriber milestone, 42 hit the 1 million mark, and Lilly Singh, a YouTuber in Toronto, hit the massive 10 million mark.
[source]YouTube[/source]
