Channel 4 strikes deal to air 1,000 hours of hit shows for free on YouTube
Channel 4 is to make available 1,000 hours of hit shows from Location, Location, Location to SAS: Who Dares Wins on YouTube in the widest-ranging commercial deal the Silicon Valley giant has struck with a UK broadcaster.
Channel 4, which has struck the lucrative content and commercial partnership as it makes a last-ditch effort to stave off privatisation, is aiming to reduce its dependence on traditional TV advertising and target young audiences as a digital-first broadcaster.
The partnership with YouTube, which is used by 98% of 18- to 34-year-old internet users each month, includes Channel 4 selling advertising around the programmes, which will be available to viewers for free – the first time the Google-owned video-sharing platform has relinquished control of ad sales to a broadcaster in the UK or Europe.
The deal also potentially marks the start of a new era of commercial deals between TV broadcasters and Silicon Valley, in a similar vein to those being struck between Google, Facebook and newspaper publishers such as News Corporation, owner of titles including The Sun, Times and Wall Street Journal.
In 2009, Channel 4 became the first broadcaster in the world to make thousands of hours of programming available on YouTube. However, the deal fell apart in 2014 with the broadcaster saying that the best way to get a return on its programming investment was to focus on making its shows available only on its own online and on-demand services.
For the best part of the last decade, most UK broadcasters have used YouTube only for promotional purposes, and none have agreed a wide-ranging programming deal, with Sky and BT dabbling with free-to-air distribution to boost audiences for some pay-TV programming such as the Champions
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