UK broadcasters have started more wholly embracing YouTube as a distribution platform in the last couple of years. Channel 4 struck a deal to start running full episodes of some of its TV shows on YouTube back in 2022, and more recently has begun producing content specifically for the platform via its Channel 4.0 brand. ITV agreed a similar deal at the end of last year, and has begun making some of its series available on YouTube.
New data from Ipsos iris, which measures online audiences, suggests that these strategies are paying off in delivering significant extra reach and viewership. The measurement company says that ITV, Channel 4, the BBC and Sky collectively saw a significant jump in YouTube viewership in May, with nearly one in three UK internet users aged 15+ watching content from one of these four broadcasters on their mobile, tablet, or PC. Since this figure excludes connected TV, where YouTube is strong in the UK, it’s likely that total viewership would have been higher still.
