In a deal likely to raise some eyebrows in UK, BBC has done a more-than-trivial clips licensing deal with YouTube. Three YouTube channels - one for news and two for entertainment - will showcase short clips of BBC content, and the corporation will also get a share of the ad revenues generated on these channels.
These are non-exclusive and set to run for several years.
—The main BBC entertainment channel will be a “public service” proposition, featuring no ads, but meant to drive people to BBC’s own websites.
—BBC Worldwide: The second entertainment channel will feature self-contained clips - about three to six minutes long - mining popular programmes in the BBC’s archive. These will have pre-roll ads, and controversially these ads can be seen in the UK.
—The news channel, which will be launched later this year, will show about 30 news clips per day. These will have ads, and for that reason, these clips can be seen outside the UK only.
BBC digital head Ashley Highfield said the BBC would not be hunting down all BBC-copyrighted clips already uploaded by YouTube members - although it would reserve the right to swap poor quality clips with the real thing, or to have content removed that infringed other people’s copyright, like sport, or that had been edited or altered in a way that would damage the BBC’s brand.
Telegraph: the channel would not represent a significant cost to the licence fee payer. The video diaries will be made pursuant to existing contracts with the talent involved, he added.
Guardian: In terms of how much and what types of advertising would be run around the commercial BBC content, Chris Maxey, the partnership development director at YouTube, said that “no pre-determined line” had been drawn.
At launch, the BBC-branded pages will only run with standard banners, however Patrick Walker, the head of video partnerships for Google EMEA, said that other forms of advertising would be introduced over time.
More details in release.
Related: BBC-Video-On-Google Talks; NYC Ad Sales Offices; Top Gear U.S. Site.