BBC News channel launches on YouTube for viewers in UK and US

The BBC News channel has been made available to stream live on YouTube for viewers in the UK and USA.

The trial, which began on Thursday, has been described by BBC bosses as "a significant step" in expanding access to "trusted, impartial journalism in more places people use every day".

The move is an expansion of what the BBC has already done in other countries, with the news channel also available to YouTube viewers in Australia, Kenya, Nigeria, and Poland.

Broadening access to the service forms part of the BBC's wider strategy to reach digitally-native new and younger audiences.

The channel offers rolling coverage of international and domestic news, as well as breaking news and the latest developments in the worlds of politics, business, technology, culture and sport.

The BBC's YouTube strategy is widely seen a response to the increasing fragmentation of audiences.

The guarantees that viewers sit down and turn on their favourite channel - whatever is on it - are long gone.

Now, their TV sets take them into a world of infinite choice and the BBC (along with the UK's other public service broadcasters) knows it needs to go to where audiences are - as well as trying to entice them to its own platforms.

Thursday's development is part of the specific drive by the BBC to take its trusted news to audiences who aren't tuning in to the news channel directly or via the iPlayer.

BBC News's director of AI, innovation and growth, Anjali Kapoor, said in a statement that audiences "increasingly expect news to be available wherever they are, on the platforms they use throughout their day.

"Launching the BBC News channel on YouTube in the UK and US is an important step in bringing our trusted journalism to even more people."

She added: "It will make it easier for audiences to access live coverage of the stories shaping our world, while helping us reach new audiences in the places and at the times that work best for them."

The move is all part of the fight to combat the disinformation taking hold across social media and beyond.

But it also won't hurt in the continuing negotiations over the BBC's charter and its future funding after 2027.

This is another signal to the government that the BBC takes its mission seriously; that it is the place for trusted, impartial news and that it understands it must make that news available as widely as possible.

However, viewers in the UK, watching the channel live on YouTube, may not realise they still need a TV licence to do that.

But with no guardrails around who's watching, no ability - for now anyway - for the BBC to insist you prove you've paid the fee before you can access its YouTube channels (or its own streaming channels), it's going to be hard to enforce.

First launched on UK TV in 1997 under the name BBC News 24, the service became the BBC News Channel in 2008.

In 2023, it merged with BBC World News into one channel called BBC News, which is also available via the broadcaster's iPlayer, website and app.

Last year, broadcast regulator Ofcom revealed in its annual report that YouTube had become the UK's second most-watched media service, behind only the BBC.

One in five young viewers were going to the video sharing platform first when they turn on their smart TVs, the country's media watchdog found, while older people were also watching more of its content.

Earlier this year, the BBC announced a landmark deal with YouTube, which will see the corporation make content that is tailor-made for the video streaming service.

The new programmes will feature adverts when viewed from outside the UK, generating extra funds for the corporation at a time when its future funding model is being debated.

In July, the corporation's new director general described the traditional TV licence model as "a busted flush" and "no longer fit for purpose".

Former Google executive Matt Brittin told MPs that the licence fee is "yesterday's model".

He did not specify what he wants to replace it, but he and BBC chair Samir Shah suggested the government should reconsider a compulsory household levy, which it previously ruled out.

The BBC receives most of its funding from the £180-a-year TV licence, but the number of households paying has declined in recent years, and the broadcaster is discussing reform of the system with the government.