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On March 21, YouTuber Bhuvan Bam posted a video busting myths around Covid-19. Through three of the many characters he has created for his BB Ki Vines, he cheekily takes on family WhatsApp groups for the wrong information they spread. “Mummy, Jaadu ho kya? Agar dhoop sekne se andar ka virus nikal jaata toh sab log sadko par hote (Mummy, are you Jaadu? If sunlight could eliminate the virus, then everyone would be out on the streets),” he says in the video, alluding to the alien in Koi... Mil Gaya that survives on sunlight.

But unlike most of Bam’s videos that easily cross the 10 million mark within days of upload, this one remains under the mark even after a month. “Maybe because there was a lot of similar content being created around the virus almost by everyone,” says Bam. Before the lockdown was announced, he thought that it would be the best time for him in terms of content creation, but he has not been able to create as much as earlier, says the YouTuber with one of the highest number of subscribers in India—17.1 million.

But there is a silver lining. According to a report by Mindshare India and Vidooly, there has been a steep increase in digital content consumption during the lockdown. Google-owned YouTube has seen a surge of 20.5 per cent in subscribers. A lot of newer viewers are discovering Bam’s content. “It includes a lot of uncles and aunties,” he says, laughing.

The pattern of consumption on YouTube is amusing. Ashish Chanchalani, with 17.5 million subscribers, can vouch for that. In one of his videos, titled Lockdown With Parivar, he makes random conversations with a friend. The video got more than 21 million views. In another, he taps into the growing popularity of Ludo over the last few weeks. The 49-second video almost went viral. “It was such a surprise. I hadn’t thought it would do so well,” he says. While he says his “business” is doing well, there are challenges, like lack of equipment. “It has taken me back in time, when I had just started making content for YouTube,” says Chanchalani.

Agrees Prajakta Koli aka Mostly Sane, who says that she has made her “least produced video ever” in these times. Thoughts of Your Fridge, a simply shot video with the camera placed inside the fridge, revolves around the idea of what a fridge would say if it could speak. “There was no mic or other equipment. I am back to basic,” says Koli, who has more than five million subscribers. “But it’s been a lot of fun.”

It is not all hunky dory though. American YouTuber Bradley Burke (SwankyBox) tweeted his concerns over how the earning per thousand views (around $80/thousand views) on YouTube has dipped over the last few weeks with suppressed advertising revenue.

But Gurpreet Singh, COO and cofounder of One Digital Entertainment that manages over 3,000 content creators, says that the earnings of a lot of YouTubers with a considerable subscriber base are not limited to just YouTube. “Their source of revenue also comes from their engagement on platforms like Instagram, TikTok and other places,” he says. He adds that while sectors like travel and tourism may have cut their advertising budget, a lot of other sectors have reached out for tie-ups with YouTubers—mostly for marketing of essential items, like Lifebuoy and Dettol.

Singh also says that there has been a sizeable spike in subscribers because the number of uploads have picked up. A case in point is Chanchalani, whose regular videos have got him seven lakh new subscribers in this period, surpassing Bam’s subscriber base.

Gaurav Taneja, a pilot-cum-YouTuber, was not sure if he would be able to create videos in these times. When he started putting up moments with his family in Kanpur where he was quarantining, people responded positively. “I think it gave them a sense of home and nostalgia,” he says. A few days into the lockdown, he had fever, started throwing up and had dry cough as well. Fearing it could be Covid-19, he went for a test; it came back negative. He captured the entire experience on camera, and his videos led to a lot of interaction. “I have realised that if you have interesting stories to tell, you don’t necessarily need a foreign trip to get viewers on your channel. There are many ways to do it,” he says.

And, more creators are joining in. Then there are actors like Alia Bhatt and Jacqueline Fernandez, who already have YouTube channels. Other actors may follow suit. Would it be a matter of concern for existing YouTubers? “Hardly,” says Sejal Kumar, who started her channel in 2014 with videos on fashion and music. “If anything, it would bridge the gap. It would merge two spaces without any differentiation like a YouTube creator or a Bollywood star and would lead to more collaborative efforts. In the end, we are all here for the same thing—interesting content.”