The BBC is set to produce content for YouTube under a landmark deal with the Google-owned platform, which is increasingly challenging the dominance of traditional television networks.
The BBC is preparing to make original shows for YouTube, which could then later switch to iPlayer or BBC Sounds. The hope is that this will ensure the BBC meets young audiences where they consume content, helping the corporation maintain its relevance for a future generation of licence fee payers.
The YouTube deal was first reported by the Financial Times, but was confirmed to Deadline by a person briefed on the plans, which could be announced as early as next week. The BBC declined to comment.
The British broadcaster does not currently produce bespoke series for YouTube, but has maintained a presence on the platform for more than 20 years. The BBC’s main account, which has 15.3M subscribers and 11.9B views, mainly hosts trailers and clips from shows such as The Traitors.
BBC News has existed on YouTube since 2006 and can often post longer videos. The channel has 19M subscribers and 6.6B views.
It is not clear how the BBC will manage any commercial arrangement with YouTube for original series, or how the content will be funded. The BBC does not carry advertising in the UK, but the Financial Times reported that it could monetize YouTube originals overseas, bolstering licence fee income in the process.
There are skeptics internally at the BBC. Some believe that the corporation will not be able to profit from any investment on YouTube. “Ultimately, they’ve done this because the youth audience is there — not because it will make any money,” said one person familiar with the BBC’s thinking.
The potential deal comes after Deadline revealed earlier this week that YouTube had overtaken the BBC on a key measurement of audience reach. In an unprecedented moment, YouTube reached 51.9M viewers in December, more than a million ahead of the BBC’s equivalent figure of 50.8M, according to UK ratings body Barb.
It is a nuanced picture, however, and Barb’s figures offer just one measure of reach. On others, the BBC remains comfortably ahead of YouTube, but for the broadcaster to be supplanted on even a single metric is notable, given its decades-long dominance in Britain.
The BBC’s potential partnership with YouTube also comes at a time when UK lawmakers are exploring an intervention to address the Google-owned platform’s startling growth.
In a keynote speech at the Royal Television Society’s Cambridge Convention last September, culture secretary Lisa Nandy said the government is prepared to change legislation to ensure that YouTube carries public service content prominently. YouTube said this would be “premature” at a time when it is talking to public service broadcasters about partnerships.