YouTube has a message for the TV industry: We are friends, not enemies.
In a speech at the Edinburgh TV Festival on Wednesday, Pedro Pena, YouTube’s vice president for EMEA, said the video-sharing platform was not “evil” to the traditional streaming business.
Pena also took aim at the UK government’s plan to introduce new laws forcing YouTube and TikTok to promote public service content. He described the proposals as “coercive prominence” that would “harm the public interest” and harm the livelihoods of content creators.
“There is a story unfolding before our eyes. It is not a tragedy. As I hope I have shown you tonight, YouTube is not the villain,” the YouTube CEO said, while delivering the James McTaggart Memorial Lecture, one of the biggest speeches on the UK industry calendar.
“The thing about tragedy, as Aristotle taught us, is that the tragic hero is responsible for his own downfall. It is not the evil villain who determines the hero’s fate. It is arrogance: it is pride. For the major television organizations in this country, changing audience habits is an opportunity, not a threat. The question now is whether we will seize this opportunity.”
Pena, who has worked at YouTube for the past five years and is a British citizen, acknowledged that YouTubers now consumed the service through television (Oxford Economics found that 87% of Britons watch YouTube on their TV), but insisted this was “complementary” to broadcasters such as the BBC and Channel 4.
Speaking about the evolution of art, from sculpture to photography, Pena explained: “If we take a long look at human culture, we find no reason to believe that online video will replace television as a form.”
Not all TV executives see it that way, not least because YouTube is upending the normal order for TV viewing in the UK, where it overtook the BBC in a key measure of audience reach last year, according to an analysis by Deadline.
Pena spent most of his 17-page speech playing hype man for British television, extolling the virtues of hit songs including Traitors (A favorite water cooler discussion topic at Google’s office), Gavin and Staceyand Great British Bread.
He said: “How ironic that at a time when many say British television is dying, we have seen some of the best British television ever. Shows that are creating cultural conversations on a scale that most online creators can only dream of.”
Instead of YouTube’s threat, Pena claimed we were on the cusp of a “third golden age of television.” Passionate about his subject, he said television had an “unparalleled power” to bring viewers together, and said broadcasters had the “institutional heft” that allowed them to create hits such as The crown. He added that the coordinated timelines encourage “sharp writing and economical storytelling.”
Pena also couldn’t resist pointing out that TV companies are squeezing out YouTube talent. “For the most part, the creator ecosystem used to sit in parallel with traditional media. But about a decade ago, TV producers saw an opportunity. They saw that YouTube was effectively a database of up-and-coming talent, and noticed that TV was starting to poach top creators and shows.”
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Meanwhile, the BBC tends to use YouTube to reach younger audiences, as well as broadcasting its news services outside the UK. This union has been strengthened by the BBC’s appointment of former Google executive Matt Brittain as its director-general.
“Partnerships like this are really the way forward for UK television. They represent a business opportunity for producers and broadcasters, and a major boost to national soft power. We believe it is important to protect Britain’s world-renowned cultural exports,” Pena said.
In the final part of his speech, he touched on the UK government’s plans to ensure public media exposure on YouTube. Ministers believe this will reflect changing viewing habits, as well as combat the wave of misinformation and disinformation on online services.
“I share the concerns expressed about democracy and the public interest,” Pena said. “But YouTube is a democracy by definition. A democracy of cultural production. Anyone can find an audience.”
“Forced prominence would undermine the public interest, by unfairly shifting focus from independent creators and production companies, and by recommending that all of our viewers watch the same things, regardless of personal taste.
“If this becomes law, many UK creators and production companies will see their livelihoods threatened. UK viewers will have to wade through content they may not want, which in itself could undermine the trust built by public broadcasters in the UK.
“Forced prominence will not help anyone succeed – not new independent talent, not viewers, and certainly not mainstream media. Instead, it will have the unintended consequence of jeopardizing the pipeline of new talent, by undermining the creator economy, which contributes so much to the UK’s soft power.”
Pena follows in the footsteps of other prominent media figures in giving the MacTaggart Lecture, including James and Liz Murdoch, CNN chief Mark Thompson (then working at the BBC), and Louis Theroux.
