Lena Glaser, head of interactive content at the Swedish public service television company, said the purpose of the deal was for “more people to discover our programmes.”
It is expected that the videos will be made available on the site from September, although a formal decision has not yet been made. SVT is still trying to work out some of the copyright and royalty questions brought up by the project.
Glaser emphasized that the project was starting on a trial basis, and would initially only operate until the end of 2007.
“We want to test different target groups. We will carry out an evaluation at the end of the year and then decide whether to continue.”
SVT, which is funded by a universal television licence fee, already makes large amounts of its content available over its own site. But putting material on YouTube could help it reach new audiences.
In the United States, where CBS, NBC and Fox all have similar agreements with the video site, a number of programmes have reported a rise in audience figures after material was posted on YouTube.
Other broadcasters to sign deals with YouTube include the BBC and Norwegian public service provider NRK.
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