{{Short description|British independent news outlet}} {{Use British English|date=July 2025}}{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}} {{Infobox youtube channel | name = TLDR News | logo = TLDR News Logo.svg | logo_alt = Logo of TLDR News, composed of a bold, sans-serif, blue text with the name of the channel. The letter T in "TLDR" has a triangular chunk taken out of it. | logo_size = 200px | website = {{Official URL}} | youtube_handle = TLDRnewsGLOBAL | youtube_display_name =
| youtube_years_active = 2017–present | youtube_genre = News, Politics | youtube_subscribers = 1.1 million (TLDRnewsGLOBAL) 900 thousand (TLDRnews) 1.11 million (TLDRnewsEU) <!-- PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE WITHOUT UPDATING stats_update BELOW --> | youtube_views = 243 million (TLDRnewsGLOBAL) 213 million (TLDRnews) 281 million (TLDRnewsEU)<!-- PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE WITHOUT UPDATING stats_update BELOW --> | stats_update = 30 November 2025 |youtube_handle2=TLDRnews|youtube_handle3=TLDRnewsEU}}
'''''TLDR News''''' are <!--This article is written in British English, which treats collective nouns as plural. THIS IS NOT A GRAMMATICAL ERROR. DO NOT change 'ARE' to 'IS' or any other instances of the proper inflection being accorded to collective nouns.-->a British independent news outlet founded in 2017 by '''Jack Kelly''' (born August 1996) and primarily hosted on channels across YouTube and Nebula. Most of their video reports focus on political issues in the United Kingdom and abroad. The abbreviation in their name stands for 'too long; didn't read'.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Maher |first=Bron |date=March 28, 2024 |title=Video brand TLDR finds way to make money providing news for the young |url=https://pressgazette.co.uk/social_media/tldr-news-jack-kelly-youtube/ |access-date=17 July 2025 |website=Press Gazette |language=en-US |archive-date=28 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240528072514/https://pressgazette.co.uk/social_media/tldr-news-jack-kelly-youtube/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
The outlet are owned by ''Three26 Ltd'' of which Kelly is their CEO and sole owner.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-06-13 |title=Creative 100: Media, TV and Streaming Innovators Changing the Storytelling Landscape |url=https://www.adweek.com/creativity/creative-100-media-tv-streaming-innovators-2024/ |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250207193102/https://www.adweek.com/creativity/creative-100-media-tv-streaming-innovators-2024/ |archive-date=7 February 2025 |access-date=2025-07-17 |website=Adweek |at=Jack Kelly, CEO, Three26 Ltd |language=en-US}}</ref><ref group="†">{{Cite web |title=THREE26 LTD |url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/11624404/persons-with-significant-control |access-date=August 11, 2025 |website=gov.uk |language=en |archive-date=1 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701213729/https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/11624404/persons-with-significant-control |url-status=live }}</ref>
== History == Jack Kelly, then a 20-year-old computer science graduate, founded ''TLDR News'' in April 2017 with the aim of making news engaging to young audiences. He was motivated to create the channel while studying marketing at Loughborough University.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Dowling |first=M |date=February 21, 2023 |title=McConnell on Nord Stream, Subject of Our Newsbreak Minute! |url=https://www.independentsentinel.com/mcconnell-on-nord-stream-subject-of-our-newsbreak-minute/ |access-date= |website=Independent Sentinel |language=en-US}}</ref> Kelly observed multiple American outlets publishing infographic news on social media aimed towards youthful demographics. At that time, there existed almost no similar content within the United Kingdom.<ref name=":2" /> He has credited some of their initial success to being founded during the Brexit negotiations which drew attention to them, as well as lack of competition from traditional outlets online.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Green |first=Daniel |date=February 19, 2020 |title=YouTube channel TLDR News engages Gen Z through explainer content and impartial views |url=https://www.journalism.co.uk/news/youtube-channel-tldr-news-uses-explainer-content-and-impartiality-to-engage-gen-z/s2/a751900/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241214190501/https://www.journalism.co.uk/news/youtube-channel-tldr-news-uses-explainer-content-and-impartiality-to-engage-gen-z/s2/a751900/ |archive-date=14 December 2024 |access-date=17 July 2025 |work=Journalism UK |url-status=live }}</ref>
Rather than being a journalist, Kelly views himself as a content creator. In February 2023 he interviewed the American senator Mitch McConnell at the 59th Munich Security Conference. Under the auspices of the ''MSC YouTube Studio'', the two discussed issues on geopolitical security and the Nord Stream pipelines sabotage.<ref name=":4" /> That same year, in a digital summit organised by the ''Financial Times'', Kelly stated that all of their employees are between the ages of 20 and 28. He would also state that having young staff is a priority for him.<ref name=":5" />
In March 2024 Kelly appeared in Press Gazette's podcast ''The Future of Media, Explained''. There he discussed how the organisation generate income and fund their editorial staff.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 28, 2024 |title=How to make news pay on Youtube with TLDR |url=https://shows.acast.com/the-future-of-media-from-press-gazette/episodes/how-to-make-news-pay-on-youtube-with-tldr |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250714084103/https://shows.acast.com/the-future-of-media-from-press-gazette/episodes/how-to-make-news-pay-on-youtube-with-tldr |archive-date=14 July 2025 |access-date=13 August 2025 |website=Press Gazette |via=Acast}}</ref> That June, the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism observed their popularity with young consumers along with other online news channels such as ''Under the Desk News''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Newman |first=Nick |date=June 20, 2024 |title=Is the news industry ready for another pivot to video? |url=https://www.niemanlab.org/2024/06/is-the-news-industry-ready-for-another-pivot-to-video/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240701172151/https://www.niemanlab.org/2024/06/is-the-news-industry-ready-for-another-pivot-to-video/ |archive-date=1 July 2024 |access-date=17 July 2025 |work=Nieman Lab |url-status=live }}</ref>
== Corporate profile == ''TLDR News'' are based in London. Until 2024, when the network moved to Clerkenwell, they were originally headquartered in South Bank (in a building near the Oxo Tower).<ref name="We-Fact-Checked" group="†" />
As of August 2025 their staff consist of twelve full-time employees.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Nastase |first=Dana |date=March 23, 2023 |title=6 learnings from the FT Strategies Summit |url=https://www.twipemobile.com/6-learnings-ft-strategies-summit-news-digital-age/ |website=Twipe}}</ref> Their annual income of around £1 million<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 19, 2024 |title=Monetising the next generation of news consumers |url=https://www.ftstrategies.com/en-gb/insights/monetising-the-next-generation-of-news-consumers |access-date= |website=Financial Times |language=en-gb}}</ref> largely derives from combinations of YouTube advertisement revenue, sponsorships established by their network Nebula<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Doyle |first1=Hannah |last2=Graber-Lipperman |first2=Nathan |date=2024-03-20 |title=Why Nebula is Breaking Into News |url=https://news.thepublishpress.com/p/nebula-breaking-news |access-date=2025-07-19 |website=The Publish Press |language=en |archive-date=29 July 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250729124746/https://news.thepublishpress.com/p/nebula-breaking-news |url-status=live }}</ref> and their magazine ''Too Long''. In addition, about 1% of their revenue stems from payments for talks and panel appearances.<ref name="We-Fact-Checked" group="†">{{cite video |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szGR4G4SK3U |title=We Fact Check the TLDR News Wikipedia Page |date=July 16, 2025 |author=Kelly |first=Jack |type=Video |publisher=TLDR News |access-date=17 July 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250716171622/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szGR4G4SK3U |archive-date=16 July 2025 |url-status=live |via=YouTube}}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Hengst |first=Cornie |date=May 17, 2024 |title=Jack Kelly |at=Monetizing news |url=https://www.adweek.com/adw_slide/jack-kelly/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=17 July 2025 |archive-date=13 July 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250713173231/https://www.adweek.com/adw_slide/jack-kelly/ |website=Adweek |language=en-US}}</ref> == Content == ''TLDR News'' target audience under the age of 35. Their members research press releases, official documents, transcripts, and other records when finding topics to produce as videos.<ref name=":1" /> Averaging ten minutes in duration, they distribute videos across their ''TLDR UK'', ''TLDR Global'' and ''TLDR EU'' channels. The three respectively focus on diverse political topics around the United Kingdom, the world at-large and the European Union.<ref name=":3" /> Examples include ''How a US-Saudi Defence Pact Could End the War in Gaza'', which has received 190,000 views and nearly a thousand comments,<ref name=":3" /> and ''The UK Election Results Explained'', which received 1.1 million views within 48 hours following the 2024 United Kingdom general election.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schapals |first=Aljosha Karim |date=July 29, 2024 |title=Winning voters' hearts and minds... through reels and memes?! How #GE24 unfolded on TikTok |url=https://www.electionanalysis.uk/uk-election-analysis-2024/section-6-the-digital-campaign/winning-voters-hearts-and-minds-through-reels-and-memes-how-ge24-unfolded-on-tiktok/ |access-date=17 July 2025 |website=UK Election Analysis |language=en-GB |archive-date=20 June 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250620144247/https://www.electionanalysis.uk/uk-election-analysis-2024/section-6-the-digital-campaign/winning-voters-hearts-and-minds-through-reels-and-memes-how-ge24-unfolded-on-tiktok/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
In addition to videos, they publish longer-form podcasts on their channel ''TLDR Podcasts'', including ''World Leader Leaderboard'', ''Starmergeddon'' and ''The Editorial''. They also print ''Too Long'', a magazine launched in September 2023.<ref group="†">{{Cite web |last=Kelly |first=Jack |date=September 14, 2023 |title=We're launching a Newspaper... |url=https://tldrnews.co.uk/were-launching-a-newspaper/ |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date= |website=TLDR News |language=en}}</ref> They release approximately twenty videos across their channels every week, each filmed within two days. According to Kelly, no regulatory bodies (such as Ofcom) monitor the network. He has furthermore stated that owing to this, they are potentially liable to higher rates of error than mainstream outlets.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Daysh-Holmes |first=Liam |date=December 21, 2023 |title=Visualizing News – Navigating Infographic Journalism in Shortform |url=https://thecanterburyhub.co.uk/snowball/visualizing-news-navigating-infographic-journalism-in-shortform/ |website=The Canterbury Hub |access-date=11 August 2025 |archive-date=14 July 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250714185036/https://thecanterburyhub.co.uk/snowball/visualizing-news-navigating-infographic-journalism-in-shortform/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Two of ''TLDR News''<nowiki/>'s videos have been analysed by foreign news agencies.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Losonczi |first=Márton |date=December 18, 2024 |title=TLDR Suggests It Is the Beginning of the End For Orbán — Really? |url=https://www.hungarianconservative.com/articles/politics/viktor-orban-beginning-of-the-end-speculation-tldr-news/ |website=Hungarian Conservative}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=February 10, 2022 |title=Could Georgia Join the EU? |url=https://georgianjournal.ge/politics/37785-tldr-could-georgia-join-the-eu.html |website=Georgian Journal |access-date=13 August 2025 |archive-date=31 August 2025 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250831161524/https://georgianjournal.ge/politics/37785-tldr-could-georgia-join-the-eu.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}} {{Primary reflist|group=†}}
== External links == {{Sister project auto}} * {{Official website}} * {{YouTube|custom=TLDRnews}}
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Category:2017 establishments in the United Kingdom Category:British news websites Category:Mass media companies based in London Category:Organisations based in London Category:YouTube channels launched in 2017