UKTV says it achieved its highest-ever total audience share in 2013, an increase of 5% on 2012, according to BARB data.
General entertainment channel Dave – which is free-to-air on the DTT Freeview platform – became the most watched non-PSB channel. It was up 20% year over year.
UKTV, now a joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Scripps Network Interactive Inc, achieved an average share of 4.67% across the year, up 5% on 2012’s numbers, and saw its SOCI (share of commercial impacts) also grow, delivering a share of over 8.2%, building on 2012’s record figure.
Viewing numbers for Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day also broke all previous ratings records and viewing increased by 86% (year over year) across all of UKTV’s VOD platforms.
UKTV Chief Executive, Darren Childs said: “UKTV has enjoyed three successive years of viewership growth and achieving over 8.2% of all commercial impacts in the UK last year puts our business at terrestrial levels of viewership, reaching 42 million viewers every month. Audiences are rewarding UKTV’s compelling and creative programmes and brands with record ratings. This is fantastic news for our platform partners and for advertisers.”
The festive period was particularly successful for the broadcaster with Christmas Day achieving its highest ever share of total viewing at 5.49%, up 21% year-on-year, with a mix of original commissions, acquisitions and BBC content, delivered through its agreement with BBC Worldwide.
Lifestyle channel Really, the market leader in its genre, is up 7% year-on-year. It also enjoyed a strong festive period with Christmas Eve (up 42% year-on-year), Christmas Day (up 28% year-on-year), Boxing Day (up 73% year-on-year), New Year’s Eve (up 25% year-on-year) and New Year’s Day (up 21% year-on-year) proving record-breaking for the channel.
Comedy channel Gold didn’t disappoint with Christmas Eve (up 11%), Christmas Day (up 20%), and New Year’s Day (up 34%) all outperforming 2012. Gold was also the highest non-terrestrial channel in Pay TV on Christmas Day in terms of share.