MIPCOM: ABC Australia has greenlit new Hugo Weaving drama The Great White – the first to come out of See-Saw Films since Mediawan bought the business earlier this year – while France's M6 has ordered new Mediawan competition format The Heirs of Monte Cristo.

MIPCOM: YouTube has partnered with some of Europe's biggest TV production and distribution groups for the launch of a new tool in the UK and Germany that will allow them to better surface full episodes and seasons of their shows.

As its 20th season debuts in the US with a day-and-date release schedule an hour after the show airs on UK broadcaster Channel 4, Taskmaster’s YouTube channel has now topped one billion views. However, the show's online success has not been part of any grand strategy, as Avalon founder Jon Thoday tells C21.

As YouTube boomed through the second half of the noughties and beyond, digital pioneers within traditional TV production companies quickly spied an opportunity, with All3Media incubating Little Dot Studios and Endemol Beyond and ChannelFlip informing Banijay’s present strategy.

After devising 'the world's first interactive drama,' Luke Hyams rose via Maker Studios and Disney to lead YouTube Originals across the EMEA region before making Netflix hit documentary The Sidemen Story through his own company, Pangaea.

René Rechtman is an internet entrepreneur whose most recent venture, Moonbug, was bought by Candle Media for US$3bn. He tells Jonathan Webdale how YouTube has been integral to his story and the transformation of the global entertainment business.

Patrick Walker was YouTube content partnerships chief across the EMEA region during its earliest days under Google – a key member of the team trying to persuade traditional media to embrace the platform – and an investor in multi-channel network Base79. Now working as a strategic advisor to another YouTube-centric start-up, Electrify Video Partners, he tells Jonathan Webdale where he believes the industry is heading next.

In the second instalment of a two-part introduction to our series of articles exploring the evolution of YouTube’s relationship with TV, C21 investigates the twists and turns of its original programming strategy and how, while it may no longer commission shows, it invests more in non-sports content than Netflix.

YouTube celebrated its 20th anniversary this year and, under parent Google/Alphabet, has extended its lead as the world's biggest video viewing platform, initially reviled by TV but today embraced as the number one place for audience engagement. In this first instalment of a two-part introduction to a special series of articles, C21 investigates how YouTube set about building bridges with media companies and the emergence of multi-channel networks.

CONTENT WARSAW: Distributors have urged countries in Central and Eastern Europe to work together more closely to support local productions and give them a better chance of global success, Content Warsaw delegates heard yesterday.