BBC and YouTube partner up to offer BBC short-form videos
Well, seeing as much of its content makes it on there anyway, the BBC has decided it might as well do it officially, agreeing a deal to show “short-form videos” on YouTube.
The partnership will create branded BBC “Channels” on YouTube operating under separate BBC and BBC Worldwide agreements. It means clips of new shows and specially commissioned promotional content linked to popular shows, such as Doctor Who and Life On Mars. And at launch,there will be specially- created video diaries including David Tennant and Freema Agyeman, who’ll take viewers around the set of Doctor Who; John Simm going back in time for Life On Mars; and Clive Myrie on the streets of the red zone of Baghdad.
The BBC Worldwide channel will show clips from the likes of Top Gear, Spooks, The Catherine Tate Show, The Mighty Boosh and a range of factual programmes including those presented by David Attenborough. And BBC World will offer 30 news clips per day, advertiser funded and available outside the UK only.
Mark Thompson, Director-General of the BBC, said: “This ground-breaking partnership between the BBC and YouTube is fantastic news for our audiences. YouTube is a key gateway through which to engage new audiences in the UK and abroad. The partnership provides both a creative outlet for a range of short-form content from BBC programme makers and the opportunity to learn about new forms of audience behaviour. It’s essential that the BBC embraces new ways of reaching wider audiences with non-exclusive partnerships such as these.”
