Playing YouTube on your waiting room TV may seem like an easy, cost-effective solution for waiting room entertainment; but the ease of using YouTube comes with a price – one that too few business owners are aware of, and even fewer can afford. This article will highlight the top 3 risks of playing YouTube on your waiting room TV.

1. YouTube for your Waiting Room TV is Illegal

Perhaps the most important is understanding that playing YouTube in your waiting room is illegal. Showing YouTube videos in a public setting, or pulling videos from YouTube itself for your waiting room – without expressed consent or permission, violates YouTube’s Terms of Service. In the end, you can’t put YouTube on your waiting room TV for the same reasons you can’t play Netflix. It costs a lot more than most businesses are willing to spend in order to license content legally. In addition, some content owners don’t want to play their content inside of certain businesses and it’s their decision to make, they own it.

2. It Takes Money away from Content Producers

Content creators struggle to produce videos from the small amount of money YouTube ad revenue provides them. When those videos are played in a public setting, it’s effectively robbing them of monetization they need in order to keep producing.

Imagine a patient comes to visit you, individually, to learn more about a medical specialty you offer. You would charge each patient that comes in for a visit. If that patient took a recording of you giving advice without your permission, and shared it with others inside of another medical practice or business without giving you your rate, you would not approve. Displaying YouTube videos in your waiting room without proper licensing is along the same lines. Videos licensed for public display or distribution are priced differently than ones made for private one-off viewing.

3. The Risk of “Related Videos”

If you’ve ever spent any length of time on YouTube, then you probably know how the site will autoplay “related videos” once a video is finished. Many YouTube videos are short. In fact, that’s part of their appeal as a waiting room TV solution. But what happens when those short videos are over?

A new video can be played. Automatically.

Once a video is done playing, or you’ve reached the end of a selected playlist – if your screen doesn’t get stuck on a frozen menu, YouTube will automatically select the next video for you. In those cases, you’re not in control of what plays next. What comes after, however related, may be inappropriate or graphic for your visitors. Why risk it?

The Safer Solution:
IRTV for your Waiting Room TV

It’s Relevant TV is a television network designed with waiting rooms in mind. It combines the best aspects of TV and digital signage; transforming your TV into a tool that will improve visitor experience, and help increase monthly revenue.  Some of the world’s top TV networks as well as interesting YouTubers make their content available to IRTV through licensing agreements. This means you will have a whole host of great videos without the risks.

Compared to other waiting room TV software, nothing comes close to the control and customization IRTV gives users. Pick the types of programming you want, and automatically filter out the things you don’t. You also have the added benefit of being able to mix in your own videos and messages throughout.

You can learn more about It’s Relevant at itsrelevant.com.