Amol Rajan said he is leaving News for a new project on YouTube and that the and News will get smaller at an accelerating rate. He linked the move to wanting to go where the action is, after saying he did not want to be behind the curve.
On the Political Currency podcast, Rajan said: "I’ve worked for 20 years in the media," adding: "I had a wonderful 10 years in newspapers, a wonderful 10 years in TV and radio and I’ve always been a bit behind the curve, basically." He also said: "the and News is in the years to come going to get smaller at an accelerating rate, and I want to go to where the action is, and that’s YouTube."
Radio 4 and YouTube
Rajan, the outgoing Today programme presenter, said Radio 4's Today programme was "the last big mass-market news programme." That sits alongside his decision to move to YouTube, where he said he wanted to "unleash my inner entrepreneur" in the creator economy earlier this year.
The has already said it is making savings of £500m over the next two years. It is also facing the falling value of its licence fee funding and more people opting not to pay it, while the wider market keeps pulling attention toward YouTube and TikTok.
savings and reach
Rajan’s warning lands against a that is already cutting costs and adjusting its output for digital platforms. The has also announced a new partnership to produce content dedicated to YouTube, a sign that its response is not only to cut spending but to place more of its work where audiences now spend time.
Matt Brittin has made reaching younger audiences one of his top priorities. Pedro Pina, in the keynote MacTaggart lecture at the Edinburgh TV festival, said YouTube is "not the villain" set to destroy the TV industry and argued broadcasters could flourish alongside new digital platforms.
Pina also warned against government forcing YouTube to give greater prominence to content from traditional broadcasters, saying forced prominence would impair the public interest by unfairly shifting focus from independent creators and production companies and by recommending that all viewers watch the same things, disregarding personal taste.
For the, the immediate implication is a smaller organisation leaning harder on YouTube while still trying to hold on to mass-market reach through linear television and Radio 4. Rajan’s own move makes that shift feel less abstract: a senior presenter is leaving one system for another that he sees as moving faster.
What exact YouTube project Rajan is joining is not explained, but the direction of travel is clear: the is cutting back, and one of its best-known presenters is heading toward the platform he says is growing around it.
