Ofcom urges YouTube to boost visibility of UK PSB content, calls for legislation
UK broadcasters have welcomed recommendations from media regulator Ofcom that public service broadcaster (PSB) content be given more prominence on platforms such as YouTube.
In a 65-page report titled Transmission Critical: The Future of Public Service Media (PSM), Ofcom called for “urgent action” to protect TV programming that tells UK stories at a time when audiences are migrating to social media platforms.
Ofcom has called on the government to consider introducing legislation to ensure that PSB content is more discoverable on Google-owned YouTube.
The report says that UK broadcasters the BBC, 5, ITV, Channel 4, Scotland’s STV and Wales’ S4C are locked in a “fierce battle for audience attention” with global tech giants that are flooding the market with largely unregulated content.
Ofcom has said that viewers now spend less than half of their at-home viewing time on linear TV. Broadcaster video-on-demand (BVoD) platforms, such as the BBC’s iPlayer, account for just 9% of all viewing, much less than subscription streaming services like Netflix and Prime Video (15%) and video sharing platforms such as YouTube (19%).
Ofcom noted the viewing trend is even more stark when looking at the consumption habits of children, with 4-15s watching more YouTube content than programming from all the PSB services combined.
However, the regulator said such content does not necessarily reflect the lives of ordinary Brits, with algorithms increasingly determining what kind of videos YouTube users are presented with. Ofcom added that reliable and accurate news coverage on digital platforms is also hard to find.
The report said: “The next few years will be critical in determining the future of UK broadcasting. Without PSBs there would be significantly less UK content and there is a risk that society becomes ever more fragmented and polarised.
“It is critical that the PSBs and YouTube work together to ensure that PSB content is prominent on its service and on fair commercial terms. This is important for PSM to connect with all audiences, particularly for news, which supports democracy, and for UK children’s programming, which helps young audiences learn and grow.
“The government should consider whether this needs to be underpinned by legislation. This would require significant work but would give prominence for PSB content on YouTube statutory backing, just as the Media Act provides PSB players prominence on connected TVs and other devices.”
Senior executives at some of the UK’s most prominent broadcasters have welcomed the findings of the Ofcom report.
Jonathan Allan, interim CEO at Channel 4, said: “Channel 4 wholeheartedly supports Ofcom’s recognition that bold, forward-looking interventions are urgently required to support our country’s world-leading PSM for the long term.
“We particularly welcome the regulator’s recommendations on the need for urgent action to ensure PSM prominence across platforms, including on YouTube and how TV will be distributed in the future.
“Bold action is essential to help support Channel 4 and the UK creative industries that depend on the sustainable, long-term investment from our PSBs.”
A representative for ITV said: “Most immediately, we share Ofcom’s concern to ensure that the future of TV distribution is decided rapidly as audiences consume TV content more and more online.”
Sarah Rose
Charlie Swinbourne
Sarah Rose, president of 5, added: “We are pleased that Ofcom’s review highlighted the challenges producing specialist children’s content and called for commercially viable funding models among its recommendations. Channel 5’s Milkshake! continues to navigate those challenges to remain the only public service broadcaster offering a daily programming block which targets preschoolers with original content rooted in the UK’s Early Years Foundation framework.
“We were disappointed that the Young Audience Content Fund [YACF] was not automatically extended past three years despite its success supporting new talent and creating new British children’s IP. Revisiting contestable funding models like the YACF will be critical to ensure public service media can continue to support children’s content in the future.”
