YouTube praises UK creativity; pushes back on “forced prominence”
As the main keynote at the Edinburgh TV Festival 2026, YouTube’s European and Middle East Chief Pedro Pina emphasised the strength and resilience of UK creativity.
Giving the MacTaggart Lecture, Pina said, said the UK was entering another Golden Age of Television. “How ironic that during a time when so many say British TV is dying, we have seen some of the best British TV shows of all time. Shows which create cultural conversations on a scale most online creators can only dream of.”
He pointed to the “amazing British TV the so-called ‘streaming revolution’ has already given us” like Baby Reindeer, Rivals, Chernobyl, Slow Horses, Line of Duty, and Derry Girls.
“Let’s not sugarcoat it," he warned. “Things will have to change because the playing field TV once dominated has changed. The steady revenue streams and booming budgets that were built upon the central position TV once held cannot be relied upon. TV jobs are changing and new skills are now necessary. But if the fear is that the proliferation of creators and platforms will destroy British TV as such, then the history of this medium proves the very opposite is true.”
Threatening cultural production democracy
Pina described a “goldmine” of homegrown creator talent. More than 17,000 UK YouTube channels have over 100,000 subscribers. More than 2,000 have audiences in the millions. Most strikingly, over 80% of UK content is viewed outside the UK. He also claimed that YouTube supports more than 45,000 full-time equivalent UK jobs, contributing over GBP2.2 billion to the British economy.
“In other words, Britain’s global reputation as a creative powerhouse is alive and kicking. So, if the TV industry can adapt once again to changing audience habits and to today’s media landscape, a new Golden Age is the UK’s for the taking.”
However, he fired a warning shot to UK public service broadcasters and the UK government that YouTube would resist attempts by them to “force prominence” in the platform’s algorithms to PSB content over other creators.
“YouTube is a democracy of cultural production,” he said. “Anyone can find an audience. Forced prominence would impair the public interest, by unfairly shifting focus from independent creators and production companies, and by recommending that all our viewers watch the same things, disregarding personal taste.
If this becomes law, many UK-based creators and production companies will see their livelihoods threatened. UK viewers will have to wade through content they may not want, which in itself could undermine the trust that UK public service broadcasters have built up.”
Related Articles
The UK is positioned to lead in creative AI and legal frameworks, according to senior figures from across the UK's television and creative industries at the Edinburgh TV Festival.
26 Aug 2026
According to UK regulator Ofcom in its annual report, YouTube has become the UK's second most-watched media service, behind only the BBC. One in five viewers aged four to 15 years go to the video sharing platform first when they turn on their smart TVs, it found, while older generations aged over 55 are watching nearly twice as much YouTube as they did two years ago.
07 Aug 2025