YouTube has, for a long time, been the king of short-form content. And despite various pretenders to its crown, this looks likely to remain the case. But what about long-form content? Which is currently the domain of services offering premium content such as Hulu (in the States) and the BBC iPlayer (in the UK).
The Long and Short Of It All
There has been speculation for a long time that youTube is going to roll-out a redesign which focuses more on long-form content such as episodes of TV shows and movies rather than the mostly user-generated short-form content which has been the site’s bread and butter since it began.
The reason for this is purely one of money. As traffic-worthy and entertaining as short-form content is, it rarely makes any money. Mainly because it’s almost all user-generated and unable to be monetized. Whereas long-form videos, premium content acquired through deals with third-party media companies is ripe for monetizing.
More Long-form On Way
YouTube’s efforts to secure long-form content have been patchy so far. It has managed to grab some independent films, and episodes of classic television shows such as Star Trek: The Original Series. But only a fool would think that these alone could turn YouTube into a site as revered and renowned for long-form content as Hulu is.
However, according to The Telegraph, YouTube could soon acquire full-length BBC shows such as Top Gear and Torchwood. Unlike with the iPlayer, these episodes of fairly-recent shows will be available for an open-ended period of time.
Online Video Gold Rush
YouTube and BBC Worldwide have had a deal in place since 2007 which sees clips of BBC shows appear on the site. That arrangement has now been renewed but both parties are thought to be keen to extend and expand the deal to include full shows as well as the short clips. A similar deal has already been struck in North America and the UK and other territories could now follow.
Alongside talk of this deal is one which could see full-length content from ITV and Channel 4 also making its way onto YouTube. TV.com is also thought to be making similar advances towards the big British broadcasters in light of the collapse of Kangaroo. With a Hulu UK being rumored for a September launch, the rush to provide British viewers with premium long-form content is definitely on.
Conclusions
The problem for YouTube, on both sides of the Atlantic, is that it’s so well-known for hosting clips of dogs riding skateboards and babies being cute that switching to long-form content isn’t going to be easy. Hulu and the BBC iPlayer work on that score because they were set-up in that way, not having to switch priorities after building up huge audiences drawn in by different content.
But that doesn’t mean YouTube shouldn’t try to evolve. After all, it’s going to have to if Google wants to make any serious money out of the site.
