Discovery’s portfolio outperformed the TV market in the UK in 2019, increasing its audience share by 7% in a market that declined by 4%.
Discovery U.K. achieved an average portfolio share of 4.2 % (A16+) over the year, which was an increase of 11 %YoY. It celebrated its biggest one day share of 5.4% on August 12.
Meanwhile, Discovery’s pay-TV channels saw record numbers of VOD requests in 2019, reaching over 60 million, or 26% more than in 2018.
In its pay-TV brands, Discovery Channel saw record numbers of VOD requests in 2019, hitting more than 25 million on its commercial partner sites.
TLC also saw a record 22 million+ requests, and the TLC UK YouTube account hitting 1 billion views, while Eurosport grew its male audience share by +10%.
The Discovery portfolio achieved 1.9 billion video views on YouTube in 2019, up +60 %YoY. The full FTA portfolio is now available on streaming service dplay, which launched in October 2019.
Commenting on the performance, James Gibbons, EVP and GM, Discovery Networks UK, Ireland, ANZ said: “In a year that Discovery celebrated its 30th anniversary and consolidated its ownership of the former Scripps and UKTV services, we celebrated stellar growth, with our share increasing by 11% organically, and 45% including the UKTV channel integration.
“We have focused single-mindedly on building passionate audiences in the key categories of lifestyle and entertainment, led by Clare Laycock, and factual and passion sport, led by Simon Downing. As a result, we are now leaders in several important verticals, from Food to Weddings, and Motors to Cycling, delighting our engaged audiences. We have more than doubled both our audience and commercial share to more than seven percent, delivering significant value for advertisers and our commercial partners.
“We are seeing burgeoning demand for our VOD content on partners platforms and a growing appetite for dplay, our AVOD direct to consumer streaming product. This year we will continue to increase our investment in great content, new products and services.”
