
The Explanation
The Media Show: Is YouTube the new TV?
Up next
27 August 2026
Available for over a year
A special show from the Edinburgh TV Festival, where some of the industry’s biggest players have gathered from around the world to debate the future of television. YouTube now has 2.7 billion monthly active users, watching more than a billion hours of video every day, and many in the industry are asking whether it has become “the new TV”.
Alison Lomax, Managing Director of YouTube UK and Ireland, gives the platform’s perspective on its growth, its algorithm and its relationship with creators. Claire Mundell, Managing Director and Creative Director of Synchronicity Films, Richard Cowles, CEO of Lifted Entertainment, and Jamie MacDonald, Head of Originals at After Party Studios, give their perspectives on the state of the industry and what could be coming next.
Presenter: Ros Atkins
Producer: Lisa Jenkinson
Content Producer: Lucy Wai
Assistant Producer: Laura Cain
Researcher: Ruth Waites
Sound: Sean Mullervy and Ben Andrews

