Food, Home, Restoration deliver record lockdown audiences for Discovery UK
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Joseph O'Halloran
| 09 June 2020
Strong performances across its portfolio of factual, lifestyle and entertainment channels, as millions have had to spend more time at home in the country, has seen Discovery UK grow audiences in the first quarter of 2020.
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The broadcaster announced that its share of adults has grown by 16% in 2020, to 4.8%, with its share of commercial impacts (SOCI) up by 15% to 8.1%.

At the vanguard of the is spike in share was the Quest channel - which has attracted more viewers than ever before during lockdown and which became the number one non-PSB owned channel for men - and Food Network, HGTV, Discovery Channel, ID, Really and DMAX all hitting double digit growth in share of adults.

Quest has become the number one non-PSB owned channel for men in 2020, growing its share of male audiences by 29%, and its share of 16-34s by 86%. Core franchise Salvage Hunters continued to reach new heights with its top rating episode ever in April, while Quest original Born Mucky: Life on The Farm was up 29% on slot average for its premiere run.

Food Network has seen a significant increase in viewing this year with viewers seeking out programmes to help them find inspiration in the kitchen. The channel has grown its share of adults by 51% this year and its share of 16-34s by 52% across the same time period. Meanwhile traffic to its recently refreshed website has tripled driven by recipe searches.
Since its rebrand from Home to HGTV on 21 January 2020, HGTV is said to have grown its share of adults by 33% compared with the prior twelve weeks and its share of 16-34s by 21% across the same time period. Discovery cites the network’s investment in original content for the channel has fuelled growth, with Sarah Beeny Renovate Don’t Relocate s2 becoming the biggest commission on HGTV or Home in over a decade.

Discovery Channel also noted that it remained the number one factual pay channel for adults. The company said that in 2020 to date it has grown its share of adults by 13% and its share of 16-34s by 32%. Discovery Channel UK original Richard Hammond’s Big became the best performing new series launch in over two years. While the Gold Rush franchise continued to deliver record ratings in its tenth series and spin off series’ Gold Rush: Parkers Trail s3 and Gold Rush: Dave Turin’s Lost Mine s2 were their best yet.

As well as linear viewing, Discovery UK’s free live streaming and catch-up service dplay has seen views more than double in the first five months of the year, with unique visitors up by over 100%.

“During this unprecedented time viewers have flocked to our channels for our entertaining real-life content, from food and home, to restoration and adventure,” said James Gibbons, EVP and GM, Discovery Networks UK, Ireland, ANZ. “Our portfolio has had double digit growth for audience share and SOCI, with increases in 16-34 viewership a particularly encouraging sign that our channels are capturing the imaginations of younger audiences.”