BBC and YouTube strike deal

The BBC and YouTube have struck a deal that will allow clips of BBC programmes to be shown on the video sharing site.

YouTube, owned by Google, will not only show archived clips but will include features from three television channels: BBC, BBC news and BBC Worldwide.

The BBC channel, which will be entertainment based, will carry no ads and will play 'teasers' and 'behind-the-scenes' footage which will hopefully drive users to the main BBC website.

BBC Worldwide, also entertainment based, will show archived clips from popular programmes. This channel will show ads.

The final channel, BBC News, will host 30 news clips a day but will only be available to users outside of the UK, for advertising reasons.

Copyright issues

YouTube, launched in 2005, has been constantly plagued by copyright and piracy issues, though many other large media corporations in the States have jumped on the bandwagon and signed similar deals to the BBC.

Online viewers

Some see this revenue-spinning deal as controversial as the BBC is a public-funded service. However, others argue that it's a shrewd move towards breaking into the online viewing market. As more and more people are switching from traditional TV sets to watching films and programmes in front of the computer, the BBC feels that it needs to be at the forefront of this social change to maintain its popularity.