Five comedy shorts for Dave’s UKTV social channels

Five original short-form shows commissioned for Dave’s social media channels including a YouTube spin-off of BAFTA & RTS-nominated Big Zuu’s Big Eats

UKTV has commissioned five short-form comedy shows for its Dave branded social channels in a move to serve online audiences with unique, bespoke and sharable comedy content, and to amplify up-and-coming talent.

“Creating unique short-form series for Dave’s social platforms will increase our offering of entertaining, funny and relatable content in the online world. It’s an incredible opportunity to test out new formats, work with a new generation of talent and extend the enjoyment of our popular Dave Originals for existing fans, and hopefully entice a wave of new fans too.

“Dave’s mission is to be as funny on social media as it is on air and we want people to enjoy spending time with us wherever they are. Our followers can now look forward to these new and exclusive shows on a weekly basis over the coming months.”

– Erina Jones, UKTV’s head of social and online

Those include two shorts for Dave’s YouTube; Big Zuu’s Wrap Clash. A brand-new food competition and a spin-off of Dave’s BAFTA & RTS-nominated TV series Big Zuu’s Big Eats, and Who Cares? – hosted and produced by Chicken Shop Date creator Amelia Dimoldenberg.

Big Zuu’s Wrap Clash. A brand-new food competition and a spin-off of Dave’s BAFTA & RTS-nominated TV series Big Zuu’s Big Eats

Exclusively for Dave’s Facebook, UKTV and BBC Studios have commissioned The Comedy Guide to Life featuring stand-up comics offering witty and punchy observations on modern life, BackChat​ – a comedy talk radio show for Facebook created by Ciaran Bartlett and Luke Mason, and Bad Advice with Olga Koch, an eight-part comedy chat show with some of the brightest comedy minds.

A team of social media experts are also being recruited to manage Dave’s Facebook and YouTube channels to increase UKTV’s engagement with viewers and fans. A video manager, video editor, junior social analyst, deliverables coordinator, and a community manager will join the business this year.

They’ll also work closely with the UKTV commissioning team and Dave channel director when new short-form ideas are pitched for the channel’s social platforms.

Since its relaunch in December 2020, the Dave YouTube channel has seen a 312% increase in views and it now counts 24k subscribers. The channel’s Facebook page has garnered over 157k new followers and grown by 33% in the last 12 months.

Who Cares? hosted and produced by Chicken Shop Date creator Amelia Dimoldenberg

Andrea Amey, who joined UKTV in December to lead the company’s digital strategy said:

“UKTV’s channels are incredibly strong but it’s important we have something on offer for viewers who might not watch our shows in the traditional way, on linear TV. Younger audiences are spending increasing amounts of time on social media, so by creating bespoke and bite-sized shows online, I hope they’ll find something they enjoy featuring Dave’s well-known witty tone. When editorially appropriate, we’ll also premiere the best of Dave’s short-form content on our on-demand service, UKTV Play.”

Clips from UKTV Originals Hypothetical, Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable and Meet The Richardsons have proved popular with Dave’s current YouTube audience and have accumulated over three million views in total so far.

The most-watched video on the platform now, with nearly two million views, is Josh Widdicombe and James Acaster trying not to mention the Covid pandemic in a video titled “What Pandemic?”