BBC to show programmes on YouTube in landmark deal

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The BBC is set to announce a major content deal with YouTube to make programmes for the platform for the first time, marking a landmark shift in the broadcaster’s relationship with a US tech platform stealing its audiences.

The BBC will begin to make bespoke shows for YouTube, which will subsequently be featured on the British broadcaster’s iPlayer and Sounds platforms, according to several people close to the talks. The deal could be announced as early as next week.

The BBC will be able to generate more money from the move by showing advertising against the new programmes when shown outside the UK. This will bolster income from the licence fee, which provides the majority of funding for the corporation. In the UK, the BBC does not raise money through advertising for its public service broadcasting content, even on third-party platforms.

The decision to produce shows to premiere on YouTube will mark a major departure for the publicly funded corporation, which has so far stressed the importance of its own iPlayer streaming platform alongside traditional channels such as BBC One and BBC Two.

The broadcaster has previously used YouTube, which is owned by Alphabet, mostly for trailers and clips to promote its shows in the UK.

The deal represents an effort by the BBC to attract and retain younger audiences. It also underscores the difficulties of many traditional broadcasters in competing with the deep pockets of US streamers such as Netflix and Disney, as well as YouTube.

People close to the talks said shows made for YouTube would be focused towards younger audiences — which increasingly rely on YouTube as their primary source of TV content — such as those typically made by BBC Three, as well as children’s programmes and sports-focused content.

News formats will also be developed to be shown over YouTube, said one person familiar with the situation, as part of an effort to help counter the amount of misinformation and disinformation spread by fake news over social media.

The deal comes as the BBC is fighting a $10bn defamation lawsuit from President Donald Trump over allegedly misleadingly editing his speech from January 6 2021, the day rioters stormed the US Capitol building.

The agreement is expected to cover both the domestic public service broadcasting arm, as well as formalising existing relationships with its commercially focused BBC Studios.

A limited amount of older series may also be available to be shown on YouTube, people familiar with the situation added, but this was not the focus of the deal.

In December, the number of people watching YouTube in the UK overtook the BBC’s combined channels for the first time, according to rating agency Barb. Close to 52mn people watched YouTube on TVs, smartphones and laptops in December, compared with the almost 51mn who watched the BBC, based on viewers who watched for more than three minutes.

Younger viewers also now typically use the YouTube app on internet-connected TVs, making the service a more direct competitor with traditional linear broadcasters.

Many media executives believe that further partnerships or even consolidation is inevitable. Netflix has struck a deal with French commercial broadcaster TF1 to carry linear and on-demand content, while ITV and Disney carry each other’s streaming services. 

In the UK, ITV and Comcast’s Sky are expected to argue that the strength of platforms such as YouTube is why competition authorities should give their proposed £1.6bn merger the green light.

BBC executives have already said that they will need to build partnerships with other public-sector broadcasters to compete with global streamers, from sharing back-office services to floating more extreme ideas — such as the merger of BBC channels and Channel 4. 

The BBC and YouTube declined to comment.