Deadline: UK Government Should Change Law To Make Broadcaster Content Easy To Find On YouTube, Regulator Urges

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The UK government should intervene to make public broadcaster (PSB) content easier to find on YouTube, the regulator has urged, as it gravely posits that “time is running out” to save the sector.

Delivering its long-awaited Future of Public Service Media report this morning, Ofcom said the government should consider bringing forward legislation that would “ensure that PSB content is prominent on its service, and on fair commercial terms.”

“This would require significant work but would give prominence for PSB content on YouTube statutory backing,” added the regulator.

Any move would be an addition to the recently-passed Media Act, which makes it easier to find content from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 on smart TVs. This change in “prominence” laws had been the subject of broadcaster campaigns for years.

Ofcom today focused its attention on YouTube, which has become a growing priority for the traditional broadcasters who are keen to tap into the Google-owned platform, place more content on YouTube and discover top talent.

“It is important that PSBs and other content commissioners and creators see a fair return when their content is watched on third-party platforms such as Google, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook or Instagram,” Ofcom’s report went on to say.

Ofcom’s research found YouTube second only to the BBC in terms of proportion of UK viewing last year. The BBC made up 19% of viewing in 2024, according to the report, followed by YouTube with 14% and ITV on 12%. Netflix, which has made huge inroads into the UK in recent years with shows like Adolescence and Fool Me Once, was down in fourth with 8%, followed by Channel 4 on 6%.

“There has been significant growth in viewing on video sharing platforms such as YouTube, increasingly being watched on the TV now that more than seven in ten households have connected TVs,” Ofcom said. “They have a fast-growing body of user-generated and professionally produced content that covers a wide range of interest areas and is popular with young viewers and increasingly with older ones as well.”

Given its significant reach, the regulator urged broadcasters to put more of their content on the platform, finding: “Our research shows that PSB content only forms a small proportion of what UK audiences watch on YouTube and they are competing with every other content creator in the world. The PSBs will therefore need to work much harder to create content that audiences want to watch on these platforms.”

We have asked YouTube for comment on Ofcom’s recommendations.

Ofcom’s report carried six recommendations and some grave words. “If no action is taken, the very existence of the PSBs – who are the main providers of Public Service Media– will be threatened,” it said. “Time is running out to save this pillar of UK culture and way of life.”

Other recommendations to help “save” the 100-year-old broadcasting sector included more funding to “support a broad range of content,” possibly with upgraded tax credits, “urgent clarity on how TV will be distributed in the future,” “more ambitious partnerships amongst the PSBs” and “streamlined regulation which strips away any outdated unnecessary restrictions.”

The final point responded to a recent call from government that asked Ofcom and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to examine how it could be made easier for broadcasters to consolidate and partner up. Ofcom said it will “work with the CMA to do this.”

The regulator also raised concerns that broadcasters could stop becoming a “development ladder” for talent and production outfits as the UK content mix continues to change at a rate of knots.

“Broadcasters and producers have told us that there is overcapacity among smaller production companies, who are more likely to work in genres with declining demand, and that the market is now experiencing a ‘correction’ phase,” Ofcom said. “While many producers are looking to diversify, some well-established, smaller independent production companies have closed, merged with other companies, or are facing challenging circumstances.”

This topic of the ‘squeezed middle’ reared its head at last year’s Edinburgh TV Festival, leading the head of the producer trade body to accuse the broadcasters of being “callous” and “cloth-eared” over the issue.

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