BBC set to produce bespoke content for YouTube for the first time
The BBC is to produce bespoke programmes for YouTube as part of a landmark deal between the Google-owned platform that is set to be confirmed later this week.
The partnership will see new content made for YouTube that will also run on the BBC’s streaming services iPlayer and Sounds, according to the Financial Times.
It comes after the latest figures from the Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board (BARB) showed YouTube is cementing itself as one of the most-watched services in UK households.
A formalised partnership between the BBC and YouTube would come after the UK pubcaster’s engagement with younger audiences has improved in part due to growing its presence on YouTube beyond clips, according to UK media regulator Ofcom.
Having seen commercial arm BBC Studios use YouTube to exponentially grow the reach of brands such as Bluey, BBC Children’s has begun uploading full episodes of shows to the CBeebies YouTube channel as a way to funnel preschoolers and parents to iPlayer.
The BBC’s chief content officer, Kate Phillips, said last year that this strategy may soon be broadened to include content for older audiences, as well as children, on YouTube.
The Financial Times report, citing people close to the talks, said the shows made for YouTube would be similar to those made for youth-skewing brand BBC Three.
Unlike commercial PSBs ITV and Channel 4, which get ad-revenue from their increasingly comprehensive presence on YouTube, the ad-free BBC would not receive any financial return from being on the platform domestically, although its overall viewing figures would likely get a boost. Subject to rights negotiations with producers, it could benefit from YouTube ads placed around the content outside of the UK.
The anticipated deal between YouTube and the BBC has not been met with unanimous approval with the UK pubcaster, as some question the long-term impact of beefing up the Beeb’s presence on YouTube.
This trade-off would not be worthwhile, according to a BBC insider C21 spoke to last year, because the perception among the audience about the BBC’s content being on YouTube is that the platform would get the credit if they were enjoying it, regardless of the BBC logo being present.
This could act as a disincentive for viewers to pay the BBC licence fee, therefore undermining the entire funding model for one the world’s most enduring media companies.
The BBC may start to put episodes of a new show on YouTube here and there to promote it and drive viewers to iPlayer, added the insider.
This came after industry figures urged the pubcaster to throw caution to the wind and embrace YouTube wholeheartedly, with Avalon boss Jon Thoday making the radical suggestion that the BBC could free up funding for content by moving its channels to YouTube.
More recently, in a development that will be covered in this year’s annual report, the BBC partnered with TikTok to promote The Celebrity Traitors, a strategy designed to engage younger audiences and drive awareness of the show on BBC iPlayer
Meanwhile, more and more TV talent is bypassing commissioners by going straight-to-YouTube with their content, with the likes of Harry Hill and And and Dec last week announcing their own plans for YouTube and social media platforms, buoyed by the popularity of video podcasts.
