YouTube walked into Mipcom in Cannes with a deliberate message for Europe’s broadcasters: it wants to distribute their content, not compete with it.
YouTube VP Pedro Pina and RTL Deutschland CEO Stephan Schmitter made the case in a joint session. Pina framed the platform as infrastructure, not a studio. “We as a platform are not invested in producing content,” he said, arguing that established companies still understand “what beautiful content looks like.”
The RTL case study
Schmitter said RTL had no YouTube partnership three years ago. The German broadcaster then uploaded around 200 older episodes of Cobra 11, a long-running action series that had exhausted its value in RTL’s own ecosystem.
- 123% more first video views on RTL+
- 26% more subscriptions tied to the YouTube uploads
- A younger, more male audience was drawn toward the subscription service
For streaming and media teams, that is the strategic point: library content with little domestic value can become a sampling and acquisition asset on YouTube, provided the streamer can direct that attention back to newer seasons.
Revenue share, not charity
Pina argued YouTube’s economics align with broadcasters because the platform shares more than half of its ad revenue with partners. “We cannot be successful if our partners are not successful,” he said, adding that YouTube makes nothing when content does not monetize.
He also pitched YouTube as a low-risk testing ground. Broadcasters can try an idea, and if no one watches, close it without penalty. For media planners and entertainment marketers, that makes YouTube a useful top-of-funnel layer rather than purely a competitor.
What RTL is testing next
RTL’s upcoming experiments include streaming the first five to ten minutes of a soccer match exclusively on YouTube, then sending viewers to RTL+ for the rest. The broadcaster is also expanding news uploads on the platform, following broadcasters such as the BBC.
The event runs through October 15. For ScreenStat readers, the question is not whether to work with YouTube, but which library titles and partial windows can drive subscriber growth without cannibalizing the core service.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
