The final Edinburgh TV Festival before its move to Manchester was dominated by concern over the pressures facing British television, particularly YouTube’s growing influence and the shrinking commissioning market. Industry figures debated whether traditional public service broadcasters can compete with the platform, while acknowledging that YouTube’s audience now makes it an unavoidable part of the UK broadcasting landscape.

The festival also highlighted continuing scrutiny of contributor welfare after recent reality-TV controversies, with broadcasters and Netflix stressing that duty of care is central to their productions. For independent producers, commissioning opportunities appeared limited: Channel 4 said decisions were slower while it recruits a new programming chief, and Channel 5 said it could fund only a few programmes at £400,000 an hour but many more at around £35,000.