EXCLUSIVE: Netflix was the most-watched TV service within the UK for 3 months final 12 months, overtaking dominant home community BBC1 for the primary time, in accordance with a Deadline evaluation.
The unseating of Britain’s hottest channel might not have been everlasting, nevertheless it represents a doable inflection level within the battle between conventional broadcasters and U.S. streaming giants. The BBC stated it was “meaningless” to match the whole thing of Netflix with a single channel and that its portfolio had double the variety of viewers of the Squid Recreation streamer.
Viewing figures from BARB, the UK’s official scores physique, confirmed that Netflix’s viewers attain overtook BBC1 in September, October, and November 2024 (chart under). For these three months, Netflix’s common viewers attain stood at 43.2M, in contrast with BBC1’s 42.3M viewers.
BBC1 pulled forward once more in December, regardless of Netflix posting a file attain of 46.4M after streaming sequence together with UK authentic Black Doves. BBC1’s attain was 48.4M final month, little question buoyed by festive hits together with Gavin & Stacey and Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl.
Netflix has been persistently forward of ITV1, the UK’s second-largest TV community, since March 2023. ITV1 overtook Netflix briefly final summer time, when its viewers jumped up throughout Euro 2024 earlier than dropping dramatically in August.
BBC1 and ITV1 vs Netflix. Credit score: Deadline
Viewers attain measures the quantity of people that watched a tv service for not less than three consecutive minutes in a month. The figures date again to October 2022, when Netflix first signed as much as be measured by BARB within the UK.
As with all scores, info might be minimize in a number of methods and UK broadcasters will cite different knowledge factors — similar to viewers share and viewing hours — displaying they’re forward of Netflix. For instance, an ITV supply says it had 12.3 billion viewer hours in 2024, which was 42% larger than Netflix’s 8.7 billion.
Month-to-month viewers attain is one measure, not the right measure. Deadline is specializing in it right here as a result of it is likely one of the principal open-access knowledge factors revealed on the BARB web site. The BBC additionally cites attain figures as one of many key efficiency metrics for its TV channels in its annual report.
BBC1 and ITV1 have been the UK’s most-watched networks for many years, however like all conventional broadcasters all over the world, are struggling scores drops amid the rise of on-line viewing.
The viewers attain knowledge analyzed by Deadline says as a lot in regards to the decline of those linear broadcasting providers because it does in regards to the progress of Netflix, which has been regular moderately than spectacular over the previous two years in Britain.
The BBC and ITV would additionally argue that their very own viewers have migrated to iPlayer and ITVX, that means it isn’t honest to match Netflix with particular person channels. Each frequently deploy a digital-first technique, that means episodes of tent-pole exhibits premiere on-line earlier than linear tv.
Netflix tends to measure itself towards portfolios of channels within the UK moderately than particular person networks. Utilizing this as a place to begin, the BBC is comfortably forward of all rivals once you measure its total suite of channels, together with BBC1, BBC2, BBC3, BBC4, and BBC Information.
The BBC’s whole viewers attain in December was 52.7M, in contrast with Netflix’s 46.4M (chart under). Netflix is, nonetheless, knocking on the door of ITV’s portfolio (they had been mainly neck-and-neck final month) and is now persistently forward of Channel 4 and Channel 5/Paramount.
Broadcaster portfolios vs U.S. streamers. Credit score: Deadline
A BBC spokeswoman stated: “To check a single broadcast channel with a whole SVOD service is meaningless in an on-demand world.
“We’re digital first and almost all of our comedy and drama is launched as a day one drop on BBC iPlayer. The BBC portfolio is sort of twice the dimensions of Netflix over the 12 months and larger than all the SVODs put collectively. BBC iPlayer is the quickest rising TV streaming service within the UK.”
