India’s T-Series Becomes First YouTube Channel to Hit 100 Million Subscribers

Indian music and Bollywood major T-Series has been recognized by Guinness World Records as the world’s first YouTube channel to surpass 100 million subscribers.

T-Series toppled Swedish internet celebrity PewDiePie’s five-year reign as the so-called “King of YouTube” after he became the first YouTuber to reach 50 million subscribers. Over the last year, both channels were locked in a fierce battle for supremacy on the video platform. At one point in March, both had crossed 90 million subscribers within hours of one another, as the fight continued over who would eventually top the scales. PewDiePie, whose real name is Felix Kjellberg, currently has more than 96 million subscribers.

T-Series was originally established in the capital Delhi in 1983 by Gulshan Kumar and found early success releasing devotional music and top-selling Bollywood soundtracks. It also expanded into film production and its 1990 romantic drama Aashiqui became a massive hit, both at the box office and on music charts.

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Kumar was assassinated in 1997 in Mumbai where he had relocated, a case that still remains unsolved. His son Bhushan Kumar took over the company as managing director and continued to expand its operations in both music and film. T-Series launched its YouTube channel in 2006 and the company’s recent Bollywood releases include a 2013 remake of Aashiqui while upcoming titles include superstar Salman Khan’s Bharat.

This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.