UKTV says that its digital first strategy has delivered strong VOD growth after the BBC Studios-owned broadcaster combined its linear and VOD divisions under the new U Masterbrand.
In 2024, UKTV saw views to streaming service U grow by over a third (34%) resulting in a doubling of direct to consumer viewing in just two years. 2024 also saw U’s active users increase by 21% and content on the service bolstered from 7,000 hours to over 9,000 hours. In addition, UKTV achieved record growth to its VOD content across its pay and free platforms, with total viewer minutes for individuals growing by 40%, outstripping its competitors and resulting in UKTV having the fastest growing on demand presence in Britain.
“UKTV continued to accelerate streaming growth throughout last year despite the continued backdrop of market pressures impacting broadcasters, streamers and content makers,” said Marcus Arthur, CEO, UKTV. “While we haven’t been immune to the challenges facing the industry and the decline in linear TV viewing, we’ve driven VOD growth by unifying our VOD and linear businesses and by making smart investments in content, product and branding.”
Adult viewing across all demographics also grew, with a 25% uplift in views for 35-54 year olds. Drama content performed particularly well with Whitstable Pearl, The Marlow Murder Club, The Chelsea Detective, Sister Boniface Mysteries and Darby & Joan responsible for the five highest rating episodes on U.
Andrea Amey, Chief Digital Officer at UKTV, commented, “In 2024 UKTV achieved record growth across all of our VOD output, with BARB data revealing that we grew viewing minutes to content on U along with VOD content on pay platforms faster than any other UK competitor.
“We’ve achieved this by rebuilding the U app, adding improvements to user experience, app stability, sustainability and content discovery. In 2024 we also expanded U’s footprint by launching on Sky Glass, Sky Stream and Freely devices and we added over 2000 hours of content to the service.
The full rebuild and rollout of the U app was accompanied by the expansion of content genres on U, most notably true crime with over 500 hours joining the U catalogue. U also added more US box sets to its growing catalogue with the likes of Sons of Anarchy, Brothers and Sisters and Prison Break, plus it bolstered its crime drama offering with shows such as Recipes For Love And Murder, Cardinal and Blackshore.
UKTV’s FAST channels U&LAUGHS, U&Transport, U&Real Heroes and U&The Past, offering curated access to some of UKTV’s most popular shows, enjoyed a successful year across platforms Samsung TV Plus, Pluto TV, Amazon Prime Video, and Virgin Media TV. Summer was a particularly strong period with viewing almost doubling during the hot months, topped only by an exceptional December.
UKTV’s rich mix of content bringing together the best of the BBC, premiere acquisitions and UKTV’s own originations, also attracted younger viewers to the network, with U&W (+15%), U&GOLD (+2%) and U&DRAMA (+2%) all increasing 16-34 share.
