YouTube News

Pedro Pina opposed UK Media Bill on public broadcaster picks

YouTube's EMEA vice president delivered the MacTaggart Lecture as Nielsen ranked the platform first on TV screens.

Pedro Pina used the 2026 MacTaggart Lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival to oppose a UK Media Bill, Tubefilter reported. YouTube's vice president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa said the measure would require the platform to recommend more videos from official British broadcasters.

Month after month, YouTube holds the largest market share on TV screens in Nielsen's The Gauge, the streaming traffic tabulation that has unsettled traditional broadcasters in the UK.

Legacy broadcasters occupy priority channel positions on British TV sets and must follow Ofcom broadcast standards. On YouTube they compete for attention through recommendation algorithms like any other upload.

Pina argued that steering viewers toward established broadcast hubs would stifle independent creators, naming Amelia Dimoldenberg and Angry Ginge as personalities who have broken through without legacy-TV backing.

He said YouTube should keep weighing all content equally rather than granting public broadcasters preferential treatment in recommendations.

"In reality, more competition meant more appetite for risk, and more space for new voices," Pina said.

In a blog post, YouTube said Pina framed broadcasters and digital platforms as allies, citing joint ventures with the BBC, ITV and Channel 4. He closed the address with: "This next chapter of British television will not be a tragedy. It will be an epic."