CONNECTED VISION
Live video feeds from space
British space media company Sen is making views of the Earth from space available online. Space Live will deliver continuous live views of Earth from orbit, in ultra-high definition, including a live feed. It will be available on ITVX and other online platforms. Sen is developing a freemium business model, offering subscription options with downloads available. It is aiming to build out a network of video cameras in space.
The space coverage comes from an ultra-high-definition camera mounted on the Columbus module of European Space Agency on the International Space Station, orbiting 240km above the Earth. The payload has three camera views. A wide-angle view provides a panoramic view of the horizon. Another looks straight down, while a third looks at the forward-facing docking port of the Harmony Module on the space station.
The mission launched in March 2024 and went live in September of that year. The public livestream launched in December on the sen.com web site and went live on YouTube the following January.
Charles Black, the founder and chief executive of Sen, said “Sen was founded to democratise space through video. Partnering with ITV Studios brings our vision to life — giving millions of people the chance to see Earth exactly as astronauts see it.”
He came up with the idea that would become Sen in 1991 at the age of 19. He launched his first internet business from his bedroom, originally called Space Internet, which turned into a company Nasstar, which floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2005 and was later acquired by private equity for £80 million. He acquired the sen.com domain in 2008 and started building the service in 2016, after leaving Nasstar.
Sen is panning more camera systems for low earth orbit and plans to scale to geostationary orbit and even the Moon. Its cameras will be deployed both on its own satellites and as hosted payloads on other spacecraft.
The vision is to democratize space using video to inform, educate, inspire and benefit all humanity.
YouTube on Television
The television set accounts for approaching half of in-home YouTube viewing in the United Kingdom, as measured by Barb. YouTube still makes up only a minority of television viewing, but broadcaster programming now accounts for less than 60% of viewing on television. At an industry briefing, Barb presented some further details of their measurement of YouTube viewing on television in the United Kingdom.
In the last week of August 2025, the total reach of YouTube on a television set in the United Kingdom was apparently 21.8 million individuals. That is viewers aged over 4, watching for more than three continuous minutes on a television set, as measured through a Wi-Fi router in panel homes.
Of 200 YouTube channels that Barb set out to measure, the collective reach was 7 million individuals, with the most watched of them being Peppa Pig, reaching 957,000, regularly ranking first. Kids channels made up 12 of the top 20 channels by reach, out of the 200 selected by Barb.
Compare that to the Mr Beast channel, watched by an estimated 127,000 people in the United Kingdom in the last week of August, according to Barb, although it did peak at 325,000 at the end of July.
The television set has become the leading device for in-home viewing of YouTube as measured by Barb through a Wi-Fi router, making up 45% of YouTube viewing, ahead of phones at 29%, tablets at 12%, and computers at 14%. For those aged 4-10, the television set accounts for 61% of YouTube viewing.
All that said, YouTube still makes up only a minority of total television set viewing in the United Kingdom across the population.
Another way to look at that is viewing minutes per day by time of day, which makes it clear that broadcasting programming still dominates peak time viewing, while YouTube viewing is more thinly spread across the day.
Total viewing of video sharing sites on television, that includes YouTube, TikTok, and Twitch, made up less than 10% of measured viewing. That is less than half of the viewing of other online video services like Netflix, Disney, and Amazon.
However, the share of broadcaster programming has fallen to below 60% of television viewing, accounting for around 56% in the last week of August 2025, compared to just over 60% a year previously.
Channel 4 to carry UKTV programming
Channel 4 in the United Kingdom has agreed a deal to carry hundreds of titles from UKTV on the Channel 4 online service. UKTV is a commercial operation that is wholly owned by BBC Studios, a commercial subsidiary of the BBC. It will augment the online offering of Channel 4, which says that it is growing online viewing faster than other British broadcasters or leading online players Netflix, Amazon, and Disney.
The multi-year carriage agreement will see thousands of hours of programming from the UKTV U online video service available on the Channel 4 online service from January 2026.
As well as original titles, they will include classics from the BBC, like The Office.
The carriage deal, which will complement UKTV’s existing standalone U service, will mark the first time Channel 4 streaming has carried a third-party service on its platform.
It is designed to accelerate the Channel 4 Fast Forward strategy to develop its online proposition, expanding the choice of programming available.
It will allow UKTV to expand its reach, while maintaining its own distribution on the online service it calls U. It renamed the online service U in July 2024 as part of a broader branding change to drop the UK name. It was formerly UKTV Play.
Jonathan Allan, Interim CEO, Channel 4, said: “It’s fantastic that we are building on our long and successful commercial partnership with a bold new deal with UKTV to make our Channel 4 streaming proposition even stronger for viewers. Loads of brilliant British content from U will complement our own bold, noisy shows and UKTV will benefit from tapping into our younger streaming audience.”
Channel 4 already sells advertising on behalf of UKTV, which has been wholly owned by BBC Studios, a commercial subsidiary of the BBC, since 2019. UKTV can trace its origins back to a single channel, UK Gold, which began as a joint venture between the BBC and Thames Television in 1992.
Channel 4 says it was the fastest growing online video platform in the United Kingdom, with viewing up 36% year on year in September, with 6.7 billion minutes viewed online in the month.
Young people aged 16-34 now watch more than half of their Channel 4 viewing online, a greater proportion than any other commercial broadcaster in the United Kingdom.