Studios business surges for BBC
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Editor
| 12 July 2023
Despite being in the middle of a full-blown crisis regarding alleged actions of one of its leading presenters, the BBC’s latest Annual Report has revealed that the corporation is seeing significant return on investment on its production business.
BBC Building 27May2022
Overall, the BBC’s annual report revealed that the BBC was the UK’s number one media brand with as many as 9 in 10 adults using services from the corporation each week. Conscious of its ongoing comparison to the leading US media giants, the BBC emphasised the report highlighting the BBC’s audiences spending more time using BBC TV and iPlayer than the biggest streaming services combined, alongside record numbers for BBC iPlayer, both of which were growing at pace.

Eight in ten UK adults (16+) consumed BBC News services on average per week, double the next nearest provider. The annual report showed the BBC breaking new records for iPlayer with 7.3 billion streaming requests, up 11% on last year, including 110 million for Happy Valley alone in the first three months of 2023. BBC Studios-owned UKTV’s share of the commercial TV audience rose to a new record level of 8.7% in 2022, with views to its free streaming service UKTV Play up 27%.

Looking commercially, production arm BBC Studios reached what was a significant sales milestone, breaking through £2 billion for the first time, £2.09 billion, 28% higher than in the previous year. Full year sales were said to have been driven by a slate from its Content Studio, which created momentum for the business overall, also fuelling sales of BBC Studios’ premium catalogue. Global long-term partnership deals, involving brands such as Bluey and Strictly Come Dancing, and an increased market share for UKTV also contributed to the record year.

Content Studio highlights included the much-talked-about third series of Happy Valley from the BBC’s production label Lookout Point, which brought a consolidated audience of 13 million to the BBC. Almost two in five of all BBC Studios productions are now made for third parties and the BBC added that it remained the largest UK exporter of TV content.

The growth in the BBC’s Content Studio helped it achieve record EBITDA of £240 million, up 6% on an annual basis, despite inflationary pressures and the impact of the volatile advertising sector alongside declining pay-TV subscription revenues. Streaming revenues were flat at £535 million with EBITDA falling 24% to £102 million.
The BBC is now establishing a new growth strategy for BBC Studios with the aim of doubling the business by the end of 2027/28.