Why Will BBC YouTube Move Raise Production Standards?

The development of the internet and the rise of social media have created a huge range of new opportunities to get a message across, whether the aim is to create entertaining content, push a particular point of view or to advertise goods and services.

For many, a site like YouTube offers a wonderful opportunity to reach others. Sometimes it can be the stuff of weird and wacky conspiracy theories or simply a platform for opinions on current affairs, while other growth areas include sport-themed fan channels.

However, the more established YouTube has become, the more it has become a conduit for more mainstream content with more professional production.

Among them are podcasts like The Rest is History, or radio stations like Times Radio, which offer visual content, even if that is sometimes a talking head in the manner of a TV interview rather than a radio broadcast.

This more professional approach to YouTube content may be seen as a coming-of-age moment for the platform, replacing low-quality, cut-and-paste content with clear sound and pictures, as well as strong special effects and animation when needed.

What Is The BBC’s YouTube Plan About?

If any confirmation were needed of how much things are changing, it has come with the news that the BBC is now to start producing videos for YouTube.

That the oldest broadcaster in the world should be involved is not necessarily a game-changer, but it should accelerate the trend further towards professionalism built on high standards and consistent production values.

It is not that the BBC is a total stranger to YouTube, as it has previously used the channel for trailers and short clips, but this was a means of drawing people to its full-length content on TV. Now, YouTube itself can be the platform for the whole piece of content.

From the BBC’s perspective, this offers several advantages:

• It is a means of ensuring it can produce content via platforms used by more young people, helping it preserve its status as a prime source of news and entertainment.

• It is well timed after last year saw views of YouTube in the UK overtake those of the BBC’s platforms for the first time, in line with the general trend for social media to be the prime source of news

• The move allows the BBC to get advertising revenue because it is using another platform

How Can Smaller YouTube Content Producers Respond?

This also means homespun, low-quality production risks being increasingly marginalised on YouTube and views being lost to the big broadcasters. To counter this, the solution could be to work with professional video production companies to produce higher-quality content.

That can mean practical elements like better equipment and studios to improve sound and picture quality, skilled editing to smooth out the rough edges, plus the knowledge and understanding to spot errors that might otherwise go unseen.

For example, some video makers might put an erroneous caption on a video and later add in a correction. That may prevent them from getting hammered in the comments by someone who spots the error, but it also draws attention to a mistake that good editing could eliminate.

The fact that being on YouTube will enable the BBC to earn advertising revenue is not just a boon for the broadcaster at a time when its funding model is hotly debated and set for a formal review next year. Advertisers may also be very happy with this.

A key reason for this is that being able to see their ads attached to highly-viewed content will help them to gain the exposure they will be paying for. The same will not apply to low-quality content.

Can Small Content Producers Still Find A Niche On YouTube?

To an extent, there may always be a place for homespun content on YouTube, coming from vloggers who can make up for shortfalls in quality with a high level of authenticity, for example, by being able to visit locations or tap into experiences that highlight reality.

That may work well for something like a mountain hike or a tourist trek off the beaten path, but even here, there is something to be gained from good picture and sound quality, as well as accompanying content like graphics of maps.

YouTube started as a platform that allowed anyone to share any video and this can still happen. It may seem that now, as major broadcasters get involved and algorithms play a role in driving traffic, many will be squeezed out.

However, the very factor that has prompted serious broadcasters to use YouTube, the fact that the platform is now so popular, should itself provide an incentive for all content producers to raise their standards.

If you do not have the resources to do this by yourself, the alternative is to find studios and editorial facility providers that you can work with to achieve this goal.