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 keeping with a Deadline evaluation.
The unseating of Britain’s hottest channel might not have been everlasting, but it surely represents a attainable inflection level within the battle between conventional broadcasters and U.S. streaming giants. The BBC mentioned it was “meaningless” to match the whole lot of Netflix with a single channel and that its portfolio had double the variety of viewers of the Squid Game streamer.
Viewing figures from BARB, the UK’s official rankings 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 collection together with UK unique Black Doves. BBC1’s attain was 48.4M final month, little doubt buoyed by festive hits together with Gavin & Stacey and Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl.
Netflix has been constantly 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 a minimum of 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 rankings, info may be minimize in a number of methods and UK broadcasters will cite different knowledge factors — corresponding 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% increased 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 without doubt one of the predominant 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 around the globe, are struggling rankings drops amid the rise of on-line viewing.
The viewers attain knowledge analyzed by Deadline says as a lot concerning the decline of those linear broadcasting providers because it does concerning the progress of Netflix, which has been regular slightly 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, which means it’s not truthful to match Netflix with particular person channels. Each commonly deploy a digital-first technique, which means episodes of tent-pole exhibits premiere on-line earlier than linear tv.
Netflix tends to measure itself in opposition to portfolios of channels within the UK slightly 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 have been mainly neck-and-neck final month) and is now constantly forward of Channel 4 and Channel 5/Paramount.
Broadcaster portfolios vs U.S. streamers. Credit score: Deadline
A BBC spokeswoman mentioned: “To match a single broadcast channel with a whole SVOD service is meaningless in an on-demand world.
“We’re digital first and practically all of our comedy and drama is launched as a day one drop on BBC iPlayer. The BBC portfolio is nearly twice the dimensions of Netflix over the 12 months and greater than the entire SVODs put collectively. BBC iPlayer is the quickest rising TV streaming service within the UK.”
