DouYu and Huya are two of the largest Chinese game streaming firms today, with their market shares totaling around 70%. The former even functions globally as Nimo TV, which is also another highly popular name among fans of the genre.
At one point, they were even going to merge under Tencent's umbrella, but that did not happen for various reasons, and they have gone back to being fierce competitors in one of the largest markets globally. Regardless, here's a look at the most popular channels on these two sites over the past month or so based on a metric that we call Peak Heat Index, which is not the number of viewers but a special indicator of the popularity of the channel/broadcast, influenced by various factors like the stream duration, total number of people who visited the broadcast, the number of videos on the channel, etc.
Most popular channels on Huya (May 26 to August 23)
Huya is primarily geared towards video game live streaming, like lots of other streaming services, and airs official broadcasts of esports competitions. Additionally, it hosts live broadcasts of other genres, such as cooking, traditional sports, and IRL.
With that in mind, it is easy to understand why the table of the most popular channels on this platform is filled with esports-related entries. The first three names are related to League of Legends, with the topper being the site's official destination for all things connected to Riot Games' MOBA.
The next handle belongs to the League of Legends Pro League, the top-level professional competition for League of Legends in China. It is followed by the official handle of League of Legends Champions Korea, the primary competition for the LoL esports in South Korea. Of course, recently, all the regional competitions that served as qualifiers for the 2023 LoL World Championship ended, including these two nations, and that is why the numbers they posted were so high over the chosen period.
Fourth is the account of former LoL professional Zz1tai, who has played for the likes of Royal Never Give Up, Invictus Gaming, and Snake Esports and enjoys a large following in his home country. Rounding off the top five is another current e-athlete in the team-based strategy game, Uzi, who turns up for EDward Gaming and has been part of the rosters of Bilibili Gaming and Royal Never Give Up.
The last five names on this top ten list consist of names that enjoy Peak Heat Indexes between 16M and 10M. It includes internet personalities, pro players, video game content creators, and the official channel for KPL, the highest league tournament of Honor of Kings — the Chinese version of Arena of Valor and the world's most-played mobile MOBA.
Most popular channels on DouYu (May 26 to August 23)
DouYu is one of the largest live-streaming services in China, and like Huya, appeals not only to the entertainment aspect but also to video game-related content. Many have called it China's version of Twitch, although it depends entirely on user tips and virtual gifts (streamers get only 30-40 percent of this amount) to make revenue, while the American behemoth uses numerous cash streams like tips, advertisements, and subscriptions to generate income in the billions.
Going along the lines of its similarity to Twitch, this site's top ten most popular channel list has lots more diversity than Huya's. In the top spot is 喵小莎, a music anchor who has gained a lot of prominence on the platform recently and has not been shy of controversies.
Second is 小布丁3, an IRL streamer known for her philosophical takes on life, and she is followed by 白鲨石头丶, which covers events and news related to CrossFire China esports. The fast-paced free-to-play title that pits two teams against each other is apparently the biggest FPS game to date in player base and esports in the country.
Coming in fourth is 是小温馨er呦, another IRL streamer renowned for dancing during many of her broadcasts. Next is 果酱Broly, who concentrates on IRL and video game streaming and is known to collaborate with other influencers from media like TikTok and Bilibili.
The subsequent five entries belong to genres like IRL, vlogging, ASMR, and esports broadcasting. What is clear from this leaderboard is that it is geared more towards entertainment and real-life streaming, with a majority of names being females who enjoy massive fan followings across China thanks to their content.
Live streaming in China is a massive and lucrative business, but with the complex rules and regulations that the government follows, not many Western media organizations like Twitch or YouTube find too much success or even have a presence in some cases. That is where homegrown sites like DouYu and Huya have come into the picture and taken over the scene, making stars out of numerous content creators and ensuring the market has remained lucrative despite the proliferation of streaming sites.