Pedro Pina, YouTube’s vice president for Europe, Middle East and Africa, used this year’s James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival to challenge the narrative that the platform is a villain in British television’s decline. Instead, he argued that it is increasingly feeding the sector with talent, audiences and revenue — and backed that pitch with a fresh £3 million ($4 million) commitment to the U.K. industry.
The 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.
Netflix 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 earlier this year that YouTube had become a “straightforward competitor” to streaming services.
Against that backdrop, Pina’s speech asserted the platform should be regarded as a partner to television, rather than a tech giant extracting audiences and value from it.
