Why the BBC’s Move Onto YouTube Matters

Over the past year, YouTube has dominated media industry headlines. They’ve been buying up sports rights, developing their TV offering, and now they’re partnering with Britain's most loved broadcaster, the BBC.

If YouTube and the BBC were celebrities, YouTube would be Liam, and the Beeb would be Noel. Both of them are talented, but have very different personalities. The BBC is older, more considered, super-credible, experienced and widely respected. YouTube on the other hand is the bad-boy of the industry, it’s a bit scruffy sometimes, it’s younger, very noisy, and more commercial. It’s that last point that really matters though.

You can be cool, you can be credible, but ultimately you need to have a commercial plan, and sometimes that means putting aside your differences and planning a joint sell-out performance.

Last week, in the wake of the highly-talked-about-on-LinkedIn news that BARB (the UK’s official body for measuring TV data) announced YouTube had overtaken the BBC for audience reach, we saw these two media mammoths announce a landmark deal. The VVC is lining up a partnership with YouTube to make original programmes for the first time.

But what does that really mean for you, and the rest of the marketing industry? Someone’s obviously going to mention it to you, so here are some key points for you to sound smart and funny at the same time while talking about this over a flat white:

TV media has evolved and this is perfect proof

We need to stop pretending that YouTube is lesser, or that it’s totally different from traditional TV. People are watching an insane amount of YouTube on their TV devices, and creators (not just Mr Beast or the Sidemen) are investing in proper production for YouTube content now. Channel 4 have been making originals for YouTube for a while, and our clients at Channel 5 have seen spikes in viewing numbers since posting full episodes on their channel (because those episodes are consumed on televisions!)

Platform led content has changed viewing habits

If you’re in your 30s or 40s and from the UK it’s likely that you remember when Saturday night TV was a thing, bringing us all sorts of entertainment from the X Factor, Gladiators, Blind Date and Take Me Out (with Paddy’s famous phrase 'no lighty, no likey'). We don’t watch TV like this anymore though - we’re all caught up on catch up services, and there’s an on demand service for everything. YouTube’s not the reason for this, but it’s certainly benefitting from it: you can watch whatever you want, whenever you want, wherever you want to, on any device.

YouTube democratises audiences

YouTube allows content to find a home. Think about this from a niche point of view - say you’re a gardening brand, and you sell a lawn fertiliser. In the past, if you wanted to reach your audience you would have spent thousands and thousands on a marketing campaign, with a big sponsorship around the few TV shows about gardening. And it was still a gamble. Nowadays you can buy that audience directly via Google, and ensure that you’re getting in front of people who love gardening, regardless of how many views there are on the content - because it’s down to the user's personal choice.

If they can do it, you can do it

If you work at any brand, seeing the BBC lean into YouTube should be the nudge you need to consider doing it yourself. Regardless of the business you work at, seeing one of the most important (and oldest) pillars of modern British culture develop a landmark strategy for YouTube is a sign that YouTube is here to stay. If the BBC can get this right, it’s going to be an incredible discovery engine for their content, and open up brand new fandoms, all whilst expanding its reach outside the UK.