{"id":596873,"date":"2026-08-26T19:52:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T19:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/596873\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T19:52:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T19:52:09","slug":"youtubes-pedro-pina-platform-can-help-u-k-tv-4-million-pledge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/596873\/","title":{"rendered":"YouTube’s Pedro Pina: Platform Can Help U.K. TV, $4 Million Pledge"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tPedro Pina<\/a>, YouTube<\/a>\u2019s vice president for Europe, Middle East and Africa, used this year\u2019s James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival<\/a> to challenge the narrative that the platform is a villain in British television\u2019s decline. Instead, he argued that it is increasingly feeding the sector with talent, audiences and revenue \u2014 and backed that pitch with a fresh \u00a33 million ($4 million) commitment to the U.K. industry.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe speech comes at a crucial moment for YouTube in Europe, as the European Commission reviews the rules governing the audiovisual sector and considers how to create a more level playing field between traditional media groups and newer digital serices. The process has put renewed focus on whether platforms such as YouTube should face more of the obligations imposed on broadcasters and streaming services, including requirements around investment in European content.<\/p>\n

\n\tNetflix has been among those pressing the case that YouTube should no longer be treated as a different business. Co-CEO Ted Sarandos argued in Brussels<\/a> earlier this year that YouTube had become a \u201cstraightforward competitor\u201d to streaming services.<\/p>\n

\n\tAgainst that backdrop, Pina\u2019s speech asserted the platform should be regarded as a partner to television, rather than a tech giant extracting audiences and value from it.<\/p>\n

\n\tPina described the prevailing account of the industry\u2019s predicament as a \u201cwell-scripted tragedy,\u201d with British television as the fallen hero and online platforms as the obvious antagonist. \u201cIt\u2019s a powerful story. An emotive story,\u201d Pina said. \u201cThe trouble is that it is not true.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe $4 million will be invested over the next three years in supporting new entrants and re-skilling mid-career professionals. YouTube will also expand its partnership with the National Film and Television School, with capacity on its sponsored Creator Incubator set to increase tenfold.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe executive, who was born in Portugal but said he was raised on British television, drew a parallel with the invention of photography and how it disrupted the world of painting, ultimately benefiting it. \u201cFar from destroying visual art, photography helped it mature as a medium,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n\tHe suggested that YouTube and traditional television are now experiencing something similar, and urged producers and broadcasters to just \u201cfocus on the things TV does best.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tPina also said Britain may be on the cusp of a third golden age of television, and argued YouTube is one of the key driving forces behind this upward trend, pointing to a wealth of creative talent and rising audience demand. <\/p>\n

\n\tPina framed both previous television \u201cgolden ages\u201d as products of disruption rather than stability. The emergence of television forced Hollywood to adapt in the 1950s, while the proliferation of cable and satellite channels in the \u201980s and \u201990s prompted fears that fragmentation would undermine quality.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIn reality, more competition meant more appetite for risk, and more space for new voices,\u201d he said, citing \u201cThe Sopranos,\u201d\u00a0\u201cThe Wire\u201d\u00a0and\u00a0\u201cBreaking Bad.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tYouTube talent have also been poached by TV producers who see that the platform is \u201ceffectively a database of up-and-coming talent.\u201d He cited Nella Rose and Amelia Dimoldenberg becoming primetime TV fixtures, George Clarke appearing on\u00a0\u201cStrictly Come Dancing\u201c\u00a0and Angry Ginge winning\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m a Celebrity,\u201c alongside filmmakers who began their careers on YouTube.<\/p>\n

\n\tHe said 75% of U.K. creators who say they have a career in media and entertainment began that career on YouTube.<\/p>\n

\n\tPina also said YouTube supports more than 45,000 full-time-equivalent jobs in the U.K., and contributes more than \u00a32.2 billion ($2.9 billion) to the U.K. GDP.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile the platform has been called out for not commissioning content, Pina pointed the benefits of its revenue-sharing model. \u201cYouTube shares, video-by-video, more than half of advertising revenue with creators,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n\tHe also cited collaborations with broadcasters, such as the BBC, whose\u00a0\u201cGavin & Stacey\u201d\u00a0clip has accumulated millions of views across BBC Studios, BBC and BritBox YouTube channels.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs YouTube faces heightened scrutiny in Brussels, the lecture also had some lobbying purposes. Pina attacked proposals for \u201cforced prominence\u201d for public-service media on platforms such as YouTube, warning that such measures could disadvantage independent creators and production companies. He said audiences already move between broadcast, streaming and online video organically.<\/p>\n

\n\tFor Pina, the greater danger is an industry becoming too defensive to adapt. \u201cA story is unfolding before our eyes. It is not a tragedy,\u201d he said. \u201cYouTube is not the villain\u2026 This next chapter of British television will not be a tragedy. It will be an epic.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pedro Pina, YouTube\u2019s vice president for Europe, Middle East and Africa, used this year\u2019s James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":596874,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[269870,146,85,46,269951,411,678],"class_list":["post-596873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-edinburgh-tv-festival","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-pedro-pina","tag-tv","tag-youtube"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=596873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596873\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/596874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=596873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=596873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=596873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}