Television seems more than ever to be a waste of time. The
BBC, with the licence fee frozen and Daily Mail readers and the Government
constantly asking for ‘value for money’, and ITV, with its shortfall in
advertising revenue, are on heavy cost-cutting drives. They are dispensing with
the great majestic buildings that symbolised television’s influence during
post-war Britain –Television Centre in White City and the Granada Studios on
Quay Street in Manchester are being replaced by essentially one building in
Salford, supposedly more efficient and more suited to the television of today. We
return to Alexandra Palace and the modern equivalent of the constant big band
music that used to play endlessly on just one channel. This is a symbol for
television – it has accepted defeat, just as radio did in the 1960s at a time
the number of viewers watching Coronation Street dwarfed that of The Archers. The
Internet is on the march to dominance.
Just as people treated television with suspicion, the same
is happening with this growing medium, or more specifically, YouTube. The
newspapers’ views on the internet is one of ridicule and yet of fear. They find
it ludicrous that someone unknown to middle-age journalists has so many
followers. Yet this was probably the same with Cliff Richard, the Sex Pistols,
riding on the waves of cultural change, to the bemusement of the elders of
society.
I’m sure many of those in middle-age have their presupposed
ideas of the types of videos on YouTube: that it’s You’ve Been Framed on
demand, that it’s full of uninteresting people talking about their trips to the
supermarket or being unfunny. I say this to those who have this mentality –how
you are wrong. YouTube is big business now, with a hierarchy that mimics that
of television, the numerous fanbases who devote hours to the life of another
person, and the huge sums of money that are being made online.
For me, it’s truly fascinating – not only is the way that we
entertain ourselves is evolving, but also the source itself. To call YouTube a
community is no longer a case. YouTube is the stage, the studio – it’s almost
like those great days of music hall. The modern equivalent of the bill is the
homepage. Clicking the most popular button is like viewing the headline acts.
Whereas Bruce Forsyth and Des O’Connor were topping the bills in the fifties,
we have AmazingPhil, Danisnotonfire and Charlieissocoollike among the many
myriad of obscure usernames that are known universally amongst the youth of
today – like the two names in music hall, Phil, Dan and Charlie are royalty in
YouTube terms. Just as Brucie and Des had girls screaming at the stage door,
Phil and Dan attract several thousand views and likes.
If we think of these YouTube stars as lonely and outcasts,
for whom the internet is their only friend, I urge you to go to a gathering,
where sometimes thousands of fangirls and boys make it their objective to get
up close and personal with their favourite personalities from the web. And just
as these people are subscribed to their channels to make sure they don’t miss a
beat, they will turn up in droves to get an autograph, or a hug, or a photo.
Notice the intimacy compared to television personalities – after all, in
comparison to being at a stage door, security is minimal. But then again, I’m
sure as possible that a hug will result in a lifetime dedication to their
favourite YouTuber.
Will this change? I’m not sure, but things are changing. The
‘Summer in the City’ gathering was organised partly by Channel Flip, a company
that specialises in producing videos specifically for web users, in the same
way that TalkBack Thames produces programmes for the BBC, or how the BBC itself
produces programmes. What is more, YouTube carries advertising. What was once
seen as a community for sharing is now clearly a business for Google, its
owner. Just as television is a business for News Corporation or the BBC’s
commercial arm.
Nevertheless, whilst the BBC and all other television
companies try to provide variety, mainly now than ever through adding channels,
it will be beaten constantly in this regard by the internet, for its ability to
cater for an audience without the money involved or the facilities, the latter
property represented nicely by that all too common backdrop in YouTube videos -
bedrooms.
If we study the evolution of media very vaguely, we see that
radio provided the foundation for the operation of the television industry (listen
to Radio 4, and then watch BBC1 – the presentation is similar). Radio is not as
popular as television. And now YouTube is learning from television and the idea
that this evolution is coincidental would be an unwise judgement.
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