Channel 4 has taken a stake in the parent company of Barcroft Media, which runs a popular YouTube channel network with more than 2 million subscribers to channels including Bear Grylls Adventure and ones dedicated to topics such as cars and animals.
The broadcaster has taken a minority stake in Barcroft Holdings, the parent company that has offshoots including a linear and digital TV production arm, a YouTube channel network that includes news service Barcroft TV, and branded content arm Barcroft Plus.
Hoxton-headquartered Barcroft Media was set up in 2003 by photojournalist Sam Barcroft providing multimedia editorial content to producers, publisher and broadcasters.
The business came to prominence with an initially promotional YouTube channel populated with catchy videos such as a buffalo launching a lion into the air, a snake devouring a crocodile whole, and a dog the size of a Coca-Cola can.
Since then the YouTube channel network, which has 2.1m subscribers and almost 2bn lifetime views, has developed a news service and a range of factual channel partners.
Barcroft TV is also carried on partner sites including AOL, MSN, China’s YouKu and GyaO! in Japan.
Barcroft Holdings’ production business has made programming including The Outsiders for MTV, Body Bizarre for Discovery-owned TLC, Channel 4’s The KKK and Bear Grylls: Man vs Everest for Discovery.
“The Barcroft businesses have grown quickly, particularly over the past two years,” said Sam Barcroft, chief executive of Barcroft Holdings. “The time is now right to build out our content and distribution offering, particularly in television production and the branded content space through Barcroft Plus.”
As part of the deal Jonathan Allan, sales director at Channel 4, will take a seat on the board of Barcroft Holdings.
It is the first investment Channel 4 has made in a media business beyond a string of traditional independent TV production companies.
Previous investments include Whisper Films, the sports production company part-owned by BT presenter Jake Humphrey and former Formula One driver David Coulthard, and Lightbox, the producers of Oscar-winning documentaries Man on Wire and Searching for Sugar Man.
“As Channel 4’s growth in online and commercial innovation continues apace, it’s an exciting time for our indie growth fund to make its first investment in a future-facing business with both content creation and multiplatform distribution capabilities,” said David Abraham, chief executive of Channel 4.
“Barcroft’s ability to connect with younger audiences globally, and their work with different formats, platforms and brands, aligns with our own commercial growth and we look forward to sharing our expertise to help Barcroft grow and to develop 4’s wider digital strategy.”
