In the UK we have the venerable BBC which is struggling with the revenue model, cost of broadcasting and much else. I am not a fan but I think that under new leadership they could do the disruption.

In what way?

Youtube is not social media. Nobody makes new friends whilst on YT. However, broadcast TV in the olden days before satellite TV and video recorders provided a shared conversation for the whole nation. You could spark up a conversation by asking a friend if they saw something on the TV during the previous evening. Nowadays people say DON'T TELL ME, I HAVEN'T WATCHED IT YET with no further conversation possible without changing topic.

A video platform could build community by letting people know if their friends and family have enjoyed watching the same programmes. Also possible is a mechanism whereby you can have a schedule made just for you. I have two YT faves, one which is fun (parasocial relationship) and another which is intellectual. If it is early in the evening and I am possibly relaxing with food then I will want the former, not the latter. On a daily basis I could have what we had in the olden days, light entertainment in the early evening and stuff that requires some brain cells later.

Revenue is always interesting and the state broadcasters in the English speaking world might as well pool resources and supply content people enjoy as soft propaganda on a free basis with no adverts. If the CDNs are in place with everything cached with a little bit of P2P, the cost model for delivery could be improved on.

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PaulDavisThe1st 4 days ago | parent | next [-]

> A video platform could build community by letting people know if their friends and family have enjoyed watching the same programmes.

The answer is "no", which is why YT is so amazing

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dghlsakjg 4 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I don't know what their licensing deals look like, but they should sell subscriptions in foreign countries.

I pay $5cad/mo to get ad free access to the CBC catalog. I would gladly pay the same or even double for the BBC catalog or iPlayer (whatever its called).

	▲	OJFord 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		They don't even offer that in the UK. Madness, imo, but true. (iPlayer is free if you're a licence fee payer, but it's nothing close to the full back catalog, it's more like an 'aired recently' DVR with a tuner for every channel. Wouldn't at all be surprised if it's not even everything current though.) (The Britbox joint venture with ITV was arguably closer to that, but still not, a curated collection.)

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pjc50 4 days ago | parent | prev [-]

BBC are going in the opposite direction by locking down BBC Sounds/iPlayer against overseas users, presumably for licensing reasons.

> Youtube is not social media.

But it is (as you point out) parasocial media.