- TV companies are helping to feed youtube growth in the long shape.
- Some are distributing full length episodes and even making original for the French platform.
- Companies like Channel 4 of the United Kingdom and Fremantle are finding new audiences and income there.
Many television companies have stopped trying to fight YouTube and instead are embracing its rise.
TV has become the best place people look at Youtube in SH.BA, beating mobile and desktop. And increasingly, Hollywood is giving shows for viewers to watch there.
“Long -term content is now pressing on YouTube,” said media industry analyst Evan Shapiro for Business Insider. “The leading media companies are relying on it by programming youtube with their existing TV libraries in long forms.”
This content ranges from full -length episodes and films to original shows made for the platform.
Companies in the TV reality and the playing space of the games have been particularly active.
British broadcaster ITV recently reached a deal with YouTube to post hundreds of hours known as “Love Island” and “I am a celebrity” on the platform.
Fremantle production company, known for its long and known formats as “Pricemim is right” and “too to be treated”, has been expanding its presence on YouTube over the past few years and now has 1,500 channels in YouTube and 32 billion views across YouTube and Facebook combined. The unspoiled production giant Banijay has 75,000 hours of full -length show such as “Big Brother” and “Master Chef” on YouTube. And over the past year, Channel 4 in the UK has increased its division of full -length episodes of lifestyle and documentaries on YouTube.
Movements from media companies have gone beyond the content of living.
Warner Bros. Discovery this month began to decide “last week tonight with John Oliver” episodes on YouTube the day after broadcasting to HBO and Max. Previously, viewers had to wait four days to catch new episodes on YouTube. WBD has also made older, full -length films available on YouTube for several years and recently transferred them to its channel from free movie and TV shows on YouTube to improve their visibility.
In another sign of the undeniable Youtube extension, some companies have even begun to make original shows for the platform.
Nickelodeon of Paramount Global just made its first series animated for YouTube, “Kid Cowboy”, and said it would have more to come.
Fremantle has decided to start making the originals for YouTube as well. It has two original shows in production, including a comedy’s podcast, “High in the Sky”, where Riffs hosts in conspiracy theories, and some in the pipeline.
“About 18 months ago, we decided we had to try the future,” said Brian Lovett, head of the content strategy for the original Fremantle products. “Cable, transmission, transmission, are a large part of our business, and we do it really well. But what else can we do?”
John Oliver in the “last week tonight”. Hbo
YouTube has become more difficult to ignore
While YouTube has cemented herself as a destination on TV screens, it has changed the conversation about the Hollywood platform. YouTube is not just seen as a place for short clips, created by users.
The Streaming Digital Data Analysis Company I discovered that videos lasting 30 minutes or more accounted for 73% of total viewing on the Platform in October 2024, with 8% from a year earlier.
Viewing the long form on YouTube is increasing. Digital
YouTube is not the only game in the city when it comes to free broadcast TV. Publishers are also distributing full -length movies and TVs on other free video platforms such as Roku Channel and Fox’s Tubi. Some have even experimented with Tiktok, which now allows videos for up to 60 minutes long. But industry interiors generally say Youtube is the biggest opportunity because companies can easily upload video there, control their publication strategy and reach a wide audience.
YouTube’s appeal differs somewhat from publisher to publisher.
Children’s media companies like Nickelodeon know YouTube is increasingly the choice platform for their essential audience.
In the case of “last week tonight”, a person acquainted with the decision said the call to climb YouTube points was taken to please Oliver. They added that the delay of release on YouTube had not helped view the show on its WBD channels anyway. This person demanded anonymity because they were not publicly authorized to discuss the strategy; Their identity is known for BI.
For companies like Fremantle and WBD, with large catalogs of older shows and movies, YouTube can discover viewers’ pockets for even the warmest shows.
“These are 10-year shows that were extremely popular,” lovet said. “Be able to transmit them in a [free, on-demand streaming] Channel gave them a whole new stream of income. This is pretty passive income. “
YouTube can also help a show find an audience that lost it on TV.
Channel 4 decided “big houses with Hugh Dennis”, where the comedian gets viewers inside the big houses, on YouTube after falling elsewhere. The public went bonkers for her on YouTube, and then the look at the broadcast was withdrawn.
YouTube can offer new income for advertising and viewers but may be complicated to navigate
Replacing full -length content successfully on YouTube is not always fast or easy.
The shows are often complicated in a node of local and foreign rights, preventing manufacturers from removing them directly on YouTube. It can also take a while to understand how to pack old shows so that they come down with viewers.
Channel 4 tested for months to set up its strategy. The company revealed the oath words to avoid youtube’s age restrictions and worked to nail the titles, figures and keywords so that the platform algorithm displayed the videos. And had to cure its large amount of material for a YouTube audience. She realized that the “blue light” emergency services about the police and the rescue of the ambulance played well with viewers, for example.
In YouTube publication, media companies should also be calculated with the possible loss of licensing or audience revenue. That is why viewers tend to see older YouTube shows that are less valuable to other platforms.
“I would be surprised if any legacy media business would not be nervous about it or there would be an existential crisis,” said Matt Risley, managing director of 4studio in Channel 4. “We discussed it long.”
Despite this, many media companies, including Channel 4, think they are receiving a significant revenue of YouTube advertising and reaching a new audience.
Risley said that, as a premium publisher, the broadcaster is allowed to sell his advertising on YouTube. He said Channel 4 makes up to five times the advertising rate he would get if YouTube was to sell advertising in a program, and that publication across YouTube and other social channels combined is now a business with eight figures for company.
“This is a way to create a much longer tail for our content,” said Matt Creeasey, EVP of Sales, Buy and Coproductions for Banijay’s rights. “And advertisers are also moving to YouTube.”
Other companies get another solution
Netflix chose YouTuber Mrs. Rachel popular. Netflix
Disney has made available some of his YouTube shows, such as “Bluey”, which was the main preschool channel on the platform in 2024, for digital I.
But don’t expect media giants like Disney or nbcuniversal, who have spent billions to build their transmission services, to extinguish a large part of their full -length YouTube catalogs at any time soon.
And Netflix and Amazon, with deep pockets and large audiences, have taken a different access to YouTube than some traditional TV rivals. These companies are now licensed or performing with popular youtubers for their platforms.
That is, some media executions say they only see the interaction between YouTube and the paid services of increasing broadcasting while the industry matures.
“YouTube audience and power is undeniable,” lovet said.
After all, the distribution of content to the various audiences has been a major pillar of the media for years. Some Hollywood companies have recently returned to the licensing game in a large way while looking for money, as they keep their content to empower their broadcasters. Valuable shows such as “Sex and the city” of HBO and Disney’s “Anatomy of Gray” have returned to Netflix, for example.
Can they one day go to YouTube?