ChuChu TV
{{Short description|Indian YouTube channel}}
{{Original research|date=September 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2018}}
{{Infobox YouTube personality
| logo = ChuChu TV-logo.JPG
| logo_size = 150
| name = ChuChu TV
| origin = Chennai, India
| years_active = 2013–present
| website = {{URL|http://chuchutv.com}}
| channel_handle = ChuChuTV
| channel_display_name = ChuChu TV Nursery Rhymes & Kids Songs
| genre = Edutainment
| subscribers = 94.9 million
| views = 53.8 billion
| silver_button = yes
| silver_year = 2014
| gold_button = yes
| gold_year = 2015
| diamond_button = yes
| diamond_year = 2017
| ruby_button = yes
| ruby_year = 2021
| stats_update = 6 February 2025
}}
ChuChu TV is a network of YouTube channels that creates edutainment content for children from ages 1 to 6. The network offers animated 2D and 3D videos featuring traditional nursery rhymes, in English, Hindi, Tamil and other languages, as well as original children's songs. As of January 2025, ChuChu TV is the 15th most-subscribed channel on the platform YouTube.
History
ChuChu TV's founder, CEO, and director—Vinoth Chandar—posted the channel's first video on YouTube, basing the main character ChuChu on his then-two-year-old daughter.{{Cite web |date=2017-03-28 |title=Meet ChuChu TV, India's Only YouTube Channel With a Billion Views Video |url=https://www.gadgets360.com/culture/features/chuchu-tv-youtube-channel-one-billion-views-video-1674443 |access-date=2023-12-14 |website=Gadgets 360 |language=en}} The video, based on "Chubby Cheeks", received over three hundred thousand views in two weeks.{{Cite web |date=2015-04-23 |title=YouTube Millionaires: "Cute Little Fans" Turn To ChuChu TV |url=https://www.tubefilter.com/2015/04/23/chu-chu-tv-youtube-millionaires/ |access-date=2023-12-14 |website=Tubefilter |language=en-US}} After that success, Chandar decided to invest in his channel and convinced his partners Krishnan, Ajith Togo, Subbiramanian, and Suresh to join his team.{{Cite web |last=Kohli-Khandekar |first=Vanita |date=2017-08-14 |title=How ChuChu TV is reinventing kids' entertainment |url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/how-chuchu-tv-is-reinventing-kids-entertainment-117081401937_1.html |access-date=2024-08-29 |website=Business Standard}}
Content style
The videos feature a bright art style, with cute characters dancing, singing, and playing out what the lyrics describe, under music with Bollywood{{Cite web |last= |title=The Chu Chu Mantra: Here's how one of YouTube's most successful channels made it big - ET BrandEquity |url=http://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/digital/the-chu-chu-mantra-heres-how-one-of-youtubes-most-successful-channels-made-it-big/60383925 |access-date=2023-12-14 |website=ETBrandEquity.com |language=en}} song structure, including multiple riffs between verses.
Merchandising
In 2016, ChuChu TV announced a licensing and merchandising partnership with DreamTheatre.{{Cite news|url=http://www.indiantelevision.com/mam/marketing/mam/chuchu-tvs-new-consumer-products-biz-expects-8-to-10-per-cent-as-royalty-161013|title=ChuChu TV's new consumer products biz expects 8 to 10 percent as royalty|date=13 October 2016|work=Indian Television|access-date=20 October 2018}} In 2018, ChuChu TV inked a partnership with Australian media company Moose Toys to make a line of figurines, dolls and plushes, planning to reveal them in the fall of 2019, with apparel, publishing and back-to-school ranges also planned for 2019.{{Cite news|url=https://kidscreen.com/2018/10/09/chuchu-tv-taps-moose-toys-as-global-toy-partner/ |title= ChuChu TV taps Moose Toys as global toy partner|date=10 September 2018|work=Kidscreen|access-date=1 September 2018}}
Reception
The channel gained acceptance from parents and a large audience, especially in the United States.{{Cite web |date=2017-07-02 |title=Children's edutainment channel becomes world's fastest-growing channel |url=https://www.mid-day.com/mumbai-guide/famous-personalities/article/children-s-edutainment-channel-becomes-world-s-fastest-growing-channel-18388167 |access-date=2023-12-14 |website=Mid-day |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2017-09-06 |title=ChuChu TV: Like a diamond in the Sky |url=https://www.afaqs.com/news/digital/51268_chuchu-tv-like-a-diamond-in-the-sky |access-date=2023-12-14 |website=afaqs!}} However, a backlash developed, with an average of 30%+ dislikes. Vinoth Chandar has referred specifically to the "Johny Johny Yes Papa" compilation comments as "very hateful" and claims trolls "just don't understand that [their] content is for toddlers".{{Cite web |date=2015-04-23 |title=YouTube Millionaires: "Cute Little Fans" Turn To ChuChu TV |url=https://www.tubefilter.com/2015/04/23/chu-chu-tv-youtube-millionaires/ |access-date=2023-12-14 |website=Tubefilter |language=en-US}} Parents reacted to "The Numbers Song" with the lyric, "Shoot the numbers with the gun", leading Chuchu TV to change the lyric to " Jump on numbers just for fun". Asian parents did not react to the lyric, due to different views on guns in Asia.{{Cite news|url=https://www.gadgets360.com/culture/features/chuchu-tv-youtube-channel-one-billion-views-video-1674443|title=How to Get One Billion Views on YouTube: Read the Comments and Spend Time with the Kids|work=Gadgets360|access-date=2 September 2018}}