As YouTube consolidates its position as a leading player in the television industry, CEO Pedro Peña will deliver the Edinburgh Television Festival’s keynote address, the James McTaggart Memorial Lecture.
Pina, YouTube’s VP of EMEA, oversees the platform’s business, creators and content ecosystem across EMEA. In this role, he leads YouTube’s relationships with a broad network, from emerging digital creators to the world’s largest broadcasters and film and TV studios.
Before joining YouTube, Pena spent more than a decade at YouTube’s parent company, Google, as a global customer partner. He is also a celebrated champion of inclusion, having been named the world’s top LGBT+ executive role model in the Global 100 People; He has twice been recognized by the British LGBTQ+ Awards as one of the most influential and inspiring leaders in the UK; He was recently appointed by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to the Board of Directors of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London as a Trustee.
“Being invited to deliver the MacTaggart Lecture is an incredible honor, especially at a time when our industry has a great opportunity to redefine itself,” Pena said Friday. “TV has always been celebrated for its ability to connect us, and today, we live in the most diverse and prosperous creative era in human history. Viewers haven’t disappeared – they’re more engaged than ever. They’re simply ready to encounter them on their own terms.”
“By connecting the unique narrative of premium streaming with the democratizing and expansive power of platforms like YouTube, we can open an extraordinary new chapter,” he added. “I look forward to welcoming leaders to Edinburgh to embrace this future with optimism, and to build the next golden age of television together.”
Pena follows a long line of famous speakers who have headlined the Edinburgh Television Festival, including James Graham, James Harding, Michaela Coel, Dorothy Byrne, Ted Turner, Armando Iannucci, Rupert Murdoch, Denis Potter, Jon Snow, Elizabeth Murdoch, David Olusoga, Louis Theroux, Jack Thorne and Emilie Maitlis.
