UKTV celebrate a year of hit programmes…
UKTV Originals continued to be leading lights on the network, accounting for six of the top 10 shows in 2021 (based on 4+ 7 Day Dovetail, Max 000s). Annika headed the pack, becoming Alibi’s top performing title of all time (1.32m Total Consumption). It was joined by Meet the Richardsons (Dave) Secrets of the London Underground (Yesterday), Hornby: A Model World (Yesterday), Bangers and Cash (Yesterday) and Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable (Dave).
Melanie Rumani, UKTV’s Global Head of Acquisitions:
“In 2021, UKTV and BBC Studios’ newly combined global acquisitions team worked with acquisition partners around the world to bring a rich mix of acquired and pre-sale content to UKTV’s channels, with shows such as Smother, Deception and The Brokenwood Mysteries complementing UKTV’s original output and proving popular with viewers. With UKTV’s diverse portfolio of channels, we look forward to further strengthening these relationships in 2022 and acquiring more popular and exclusive titles for the network.”
Dave enjoyed success with a string of new and returning commissions. Meet the Richardsons S2 (1m), Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable (801k), Late Night Mash (489k) and Outsiders (530k) all placed in the top five shows on the channel, alongside QI XL. Dave’s original output also achieved award recognition, with three shows winning Broadcast Digital Awards, including Big Zuu’s Big Eats which won Gamechanger of the Year and was nominated for prestigious BAFTA and RTS awards.
Yesterday achieved a similar feat with UKTV originals accounting for the top five shows on the channel, including the launch of Secrets of the London Underground which become the highest rating show in the history of the channel, averaging an impressive 737k across the series. Hornby: A Model World was a close runner up representing Yesterday’s second biggest launch to date and attracting 754k (partial TC) across its series run. Bangers and Cash S4, Secrets of the Transport Museum and The Architecture the Railways Built S2 rounded out the top five shows on the channel.
Alibi continued to ramp up its drama commissioning credentials with Black Camel’s Annika, starring Nicola Walker, becoming UKTV’s most successful show of 2021, and Sid Gentle’s dark drama Ragdoll, watched by 487k to date (partial Total Consumption). Acquisitions also performed well on the channel, with standout performances from Hudson and Rex S3 (591k), Smother (525k) and Deception (424k).
Gold continued to feed the nation’s love of comedy, with The Vicar of Dibley: Inside Out, becoming the channel’s most popular show of the year, watched by 829k. It’s the biggest retrospective to air on the channel since The Story of Only Fools & Horses in 2017. Scripted original, Murder, They Hope took the second spot (687k), followed by returning scripted series The Cockfields (490k). The Cockfields Christmas Special and Sandylands S2 also delivered in the channel’s top 10 shows of the year, alongside BBC classics Mrs Brown’s Boys and Vicar of Dibley.
On W, MasterChef Australia (305K) and UKTV Originals Stacey Dooley Sleeps Over S2 (477k) and Emma Willis: Delivering Babies in 2020 (346k) were in the top five shows on the channel and Delivering Babies continued its award success by winning a third consecutive Broadcast Digital Award. Drama’s record-breaking year, achieving 1.62% share, was buoyed by a mixture of BBC classics and acquired content including Drama exclusive The Brokenwood Mysteries and Death in Holy Orders.
Richard Watsham, UKTV’s Director of Commissioning, said:
“I’m enormously grateful to our production partners and talent who’ve continued to raise the quality of our shows in all genres, despite the constraints of Covid. They’ve helped us take significant steps in creating a more diverse output, while also embracing our All Voices initiative to create opportunities behind the camera.
“With their help, Dave has had a stunning period and the Channel of the Year Award speaks to a transformed channel which is well placed to grow. The originations strategy on Yesterday continues to build at pace with commissions accounting for the top five shows on the channel. Nicola Walker’s drama, Annika, became the best performing show in Alibi’s history, and for the third year in a row, Emma Willis: Delivering Babies won a Broadcast Digital Award for Popular Factual. A truly extraordinary achievement.
“As we enter 2022, the network’s increasing share, backed by BBC favourites and smart third party acquisitions, provides a fantastic platform from which to launch our broadest ever slate of commissions. We’ll see the first comedies from Dave’s diverse writers’ initiative as well as digital and short form scaling up, giving us a more holistic approach to new talent development. More than ever, both linear and digital, new talent and established faces, acquired and commissioned content are all pulling together to take UKTV into the next stage of its growth.”
