EXCLUSIVE: The BBC‘s experimentation on YouTube is set to increase, as the British broadcaster tests streaming its news network on the Google-owned video service.
Deadline understands that the BBC is planning to make the 24-hour rolling news channel available on YouTube in select countries outside of the UK.
Australia is one territory under discussion, as the BBC looks to exploit the news network in places where it does not have significant commercial deals.
The strategy speaks to two priorities at the BBC. Firstly, the corporation has been exploring closer collaboration with YouTube, which has grown dramatically as a TV service since the rise of internet-connected televisions.
The BBC signed a landmark deal with YouTube in January, under which the broadcaster pledged to produce original shows on the video service for the first time. Since then, the BBC has installed former Google executive Matt Brittin as its director general, further cementing the ties.
The other reason that BBC News is experimenting with a YouTube live stream is because the corporation is attempting to increase the revenue generated by its news operations overseas.
Jonathan Munro, interim CEO of BBC News, was explicit about this on an all-staff call on Tuesday, in which he said the news network will increasingly serve global audiences.
“The evolution I’ve got in mind is that the news channel needs to point increasingly towards our global audiences because that’s where the BBC’s really delivering value,” he said, per The Daily Telegraph.
“Outside the UK, we can drive commercial revenues harder and to do that we need to make the relevant agenda of the news channel applicable to greater audiences. Every pound we get in the door from that is a pound we don’t need to find in savings.”
The BBC declined to comment on the YouTube plans.
Get our Breaking News Alerts and Keep your inbox happy.
Comments On Deadline Hollywood are monitored. So don't go off topic, don't impersonate anyone, and don't get your facts wrong.
