UK lawmakers ready to force YouTube and TikTok to promote BBC content

The House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee told Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy on Friday (18 September) that the Government should legislate to guarantee prominence for BBC content on video-sharing platforms if voluntary deals fall short.

The committee set out its position in a letter to Nandy ahead of the Government’s BBC Charter Review White Paper, which is due later in 2026.

It said the media White Paper should define the minimum outcomes expected from agreements between public service broadcasters and major video-sharing platforms.

The committee said the Government should set a deadline for achieving those outcomes and instruct Ofcom to assess progress. It added that if voluntary arrangements prove insufficient, the Government should be prepared to legislate for platform-appropriate prominence and accountability requirements.

“We are not convinced that voluntary agreements alone will provide a consistent and sustainable solution,” the committee said in its letter.

Broadcast TV reached 92% of people in the UK each week in 2015, compared with 54% in 2025, according to Ofcom.

Video-sharing platforms accounted for 44% of in-home viewing among 16 to 24-year-olds in 2025, while children aged four to 15 watched an average of 61 minutes of YouTube a day.

The BBC announced a partnership with YouTube in January 2026 under which it will make content specifically for the platform, aimed particularly at younger audiences.

BBC Director-General Matt Brittin told the committee the broadcaster must “go where the audience is” and be present on a portfolio of platforms, including Spotify, Netflix and TikTok.

The committee said being present on a platform does not mean audiences will find the content. Ofcom found that just 6% of the top ten results for a sample of popular news-related searches on YouTube came from public service broadcasters.

Witnesses told the committee that the Media Act 2024 left a gap in the rules. Magnus Brooke, group director of strategy, policy and regulation at ITV, said the protections it gives public service broadcasters on smart TVs and streaming sticks do not apply to the major video-sharing platforms.

Brooke proposed “parallel guarantees” for platforms based on prominence, inclusion and fair value. He also warned that the share of advertising revenue kept by third-party platforms could become unsustainable for commercial broadcasters over time.

The Government’s Watch this Space Green Paper, published in June 2026, said it is consulting on measures to ensure public service content is “prominent, discoverable and promoted” on third-party platforms. Its preferred approach is industry-led voluntary agreements, with legislation held in reserve if those fail.

Technology industry groups pushed back on the idea. The Chamber of Progress and the Computer & Communications Industry Association argued in consultation responses that forcing platforms to prioritise government-picked channels could reduce consumer choice, crowd out independent creators and lead users to skip or block promoted content.

Jordan Schwarzenberger, chief executive of Arcade Media, asked the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee in June why the BBC should receive “a leg-up on a private platform like YouTube”.

The committee said the BBC’s next Charter should support both its own services and third-party distribution. It added that platforms such as YouTube cannot substitute for BBC-owned services, which give the broadcaster control over how its content is presented, access to audience data and a direct relationship with UK viewers.

The committee asked the Government to respond to its recommendations within one month.

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