YouTube’s do-it-yourself brigade is taking on Netflix and Disney-OxBig News Network

It also neatly illustrates a transformation in the media business. As the internet has cut out middlemen and empowered enterprising people to produce things themselves, an enthusiastic do-it-yourself crowd is taking on mass-market incumbents. In-depth, chatty podcasts have shaken up radio. Music from independent artists, not beholden to the big labels, is growing in popularity on Spotify.

But it is in television that the change is most dramatic. As we report this week, YouTube, which is owned by Google, has quietly built a video-streaming business to rival those of Netflix, Disney or NBCUniversal. Its legions of self-taught film-makers broadcast to 2.5bn viewers each month. YouTube accounts for a tenth of all the television that Americans watch, more than any other streamer or channel. And much of that audience is young, building viewing habits that may last for decades.

Don’t forget to like and subscribe

YouTube is what tech types call a platform, whereas its rivals are run much more like traditional studios. Getting a series greenlit on Disney or Netflix means negotiating with agents and fixers before convincing a commissioning executive to hand over a pile of money. Filming needs hundreds of specialised people. YouTube throws all that out of the window. Anyone can upload more or less anything they like. Most videos are free to watch. YouTube’s job is to insert some advertisements and split the takings with the film-maker. If that sounds like a recipe for dross, it often is. But what is more striking is how much genuinely engaging stuff bubbles up.

Technology has helped. High-quality cameras are cheap. Powerful video-editing software runs on inexpensive laptops. And drones make dramatic aerial shots possible. The result is that handfuls of people can make videos with relatively high production values for a tiny fraction of the cost of traditional television. The quality gap will only shrink. By automating many of the tedious bits, artificial intelligence seems likely to make video production even easier than it already is.

YouTube has spawned its own megastars, such as MrBeast, with his 317m followers (and growing number of critics). But its most interesting effects will be felt at a smaller scale. Because making content is cheap, YouTubers can earn a living serving niches too small to be profitable for other streaming firms. From Mr Dodd’s rocket science to rock climbing, knitting or ancient history: think of an interest, and at least one YouTube channel is probably dedicated to it.

This means that, as with the rest of media, the future of television looks likely to become ever more targeted and specialised. Just how high the tide of user-generated content can rise remains to be seen. Some YouTubers are experimenting with formats such as game shows or feature films, with mixed results. Some bits of high ground look likely to stay safe: it is hard to see YouTube videos replacing big-budget dramas like “Game of Thrones” or “Stranger Things”, which require upfront financing that YouTube’s business model does not provide. In a world of ever more precisely tailored content, those rare TV shows that have true mass-market appeal will be even more valuable. But only because they will become rarer still.