UKTV has announced four per cent growth for its network in 2019, with comedy channel Dave ranked the number one non-PSB channel for 16-34s.
Following BBC Studios’ acquisition of UKTV in June 2019, UKTV has reported strong uplift in viewing numbers across the network. UKTV Original commissions saw their best year ever, accounting for seven out of the top 10 programmes across the network.
Drama and Yesterday both saw gains in 2019 and finished the year as two of the top 10 non-PSB channels. Drama achieved its best year ever since its launch in 2013.
Top performing UKTV Originals included Taskmaster, Dad’s Army: The Lost Episodes (Gold), The Cockfields (Gold), Dial M for Middlesbrough (Gold), Emma Willis: Delivering Babies (W) and Hypothetical (Dave).
On-demand service UKTV Play also became the fastest-growing brand for the broadcaster year-on-year with views up 43 per cent, ending the year with more than three million registered users.
Meanwhile, UKTV’s channel brands saw ongoing success with BBC archive. Seven out of 10 BBC archive shows delivered the highest percentage of ratings across the year, including Last of the Summer Wine, New Tricks, Top Gear, Death in Paradise and Only Fools and Horses.
On Gold, UKTV Original Dad’s Army: The Lost Episodes was the highest-rated programme of 2019, with the first episode watched by 963,000 viewers. It was also the second most-watched show ever on the channel.
Marcus Arthur, president of BBC Studios UK & Ireland and CEO of UKTV, said: “We are a significant investor in British creativity and committed to working with new and established on and off-screen talent and producers, which has been demonstrated by our strong slate and success in 2019. We’ve more than doubled our development budget in the last 12 months and worked with nine new production partners.”
