The must-read list of YouTube channels is out. Thanks to the view-counting on YouTube, we now know how many people watch them and where they rank alongside their competitors. Invaluable for people in gun and shooting marketing, the list includes top tens and links to much more detail on the Fieldsports Channel website, plus details of current sponsors of many of the channels, and the channel’s contact details.
Fieldsports Channel maintains the list via the ranking system developed by Socialblade. It tracks nearly 500 channels from across the gun and shooting trade.
Overall winner is knife company Cold Steel, which makes videos about knife use. Second place goes to Realtree, which has been at the forefront of sponsored hunting video creation since its first shows went out on ESPN more than a quarter of a century ago. And third place goes to the top of the American hunting channels, Kendall Gray.
Top of the European hunting channels is Potterek81 Hunting and top of the Hunting channels from Down Under goes to Bolt Action Productions. Airgun channels winner is AirArmsHuntingSA. Survivalist/Prepper/Bushcraft channels winner is Wranglerstar.
Despite a year of ups and downs from YouTube, the rankings are similar to last year, with Demolition Ranch taking first place among the Gun channels. Meanwhile, in 2018, Hickock45 became the first channel to exceed 1 billion views.
The gun and shooting trade is making a greater effort than ever before to present its products on YouTube. Category winners are:
- Optics company winner: Ultimate Night Vision
- Shooting/gun accessories company winner: Primos Hunting
- Airgun manufacturer/distributor winner: Replica Airguns
- Ammunition manufacturer winner: Hornady
- Bowhunting business winner: Hoyt
- Firearms manufacturer/distributor winner: Holland & Holland
- General hunting/gun retailer winner: Brownells
- Knifemaker winner: Cold Steel
- Hunting apparel business winner: Realtree
All of these companies score highest for the potential of their channels, according to Socialblade.
“YouTube is now the go-to place for hunting/shooting TV viewers,” says Fieldsports Channel presenter Charlie Jacoby. “In the USA, a show on Outdoor Channel can claim to reach around 6 million viewers. Any YouTube channel with 150,000+ subscribers and a regular output of films will reach more viewers. And lead times on films can be hours on YouTube compared to months on the cable/satellite channels, which makes YouTube the obvious place to launch products.”
Click here for a full breakdown of the figures. Read the PDF here:
2019 Hunting TV ranking on Scribd
