By Andy Fry
While all eyes are on developments in the ad-funded FAST business, YouTube continues to carefully expand its activities in PayTV – a legacy business widely presumed to be on life support. This week, it added three new channels from Scripps Networks to its US-based subscription service YouTube TV. The three channels, ION, Bounce and Scripps News, join Court TV which is already available on the platform.
Chief distribution officer, Scripps Networks, Jeffrey Wolf said: “We believe our diversified portfolio of networks will help strengthen YouTube TV as a PayTV option for consumers and are excited to be part of their growth in the market. We look forward to growing our relationship with YouTube TV and their parent company Google.”
Targeted at the US audience, ION features a lineup of off-network series, original and holiday movies. Bounce features a programming mix designed for African American audiences. Scripps News, formerly Newsy, is a 24/7 broadcast news network.
YouTube TV has around 100 channels and currently puts its customer figures at “over 5 million subscribers and trialers”. This is up around 2 million since 2020 – countering the widely-held view that PayTV is a dying medium. The platform is part of a broad-based assault on the TV market by the Google-owned firm. Aside from YouTube TV, the company acts as a gateway to SVOD streaming services via YouTube Primetime Channels. It is also exploring opportunities in FAST and extending its investment in sports rights. At the same time, however, it recently cut back on its YouTube Originals programme, suggesting it is sees content aggregation as its core business as opposed to content creation (unless it is secretly planning to acquire Netflix or a studio).
