- preg_match: documentation ( source)
<?php
$string = "<content type='application/x-shockwave-flash' src='https://www.youtube.com/v/f4LxBKN9ank?version=3&f=videos&app=youtube_gdata'/>";
preg_match('#\www\.youtube\.com\/v\/([\w]+)#', $string, $match);
$id = $match[1];
echo $id;