LONDON TV SCREENINGS: 3Vision’s Jack Davison highlights key trends shaping the global market in 2025, drawing on data from the latest UK TV Exports report commissioned by producers’ alliance Pact and compiled by 3Vision to provide insight into how UK content is navigating a shifting international landscape.
Jack Davison
The global TV industry continues to face economic headwinds. But amid widespread commissioning cuts and financial caution among buyers, UK TV exports in 2023/24 recorded a marginal decline of 2% to £1.82bn (US$2.3bn), down from the previous year’s high of £1.85bn.
“UK distributors are illustrating their versatility, depth of work, hard work and ability to adapt to tough conditions,” says Jack Davison, exec VP at 3Vision. “By understanding the market, working hard across all areas and thinking strategically, they are doing well against a backdrop of belt tightening.” Despite the modest fall, exports remain 27% higher than the £1.43bn recorded during the Covid-induced downturn of 2020-21, underscoring the sector’s resilience.
The US market continues to dominate UK exports, accounting for 35% of total sales, equivalent to £593m in 2023/24. This marks a 13% increase year-on-year and reinforces the region’s importance despite tightening budgets. North America as a whole – including Canada and pan-territory deals – represented a record-high 41% of all UK exports.
Davison acknowledges that while American buyers are exercising financial restraint, this has, paradoxically, created openings for cost-effective UK acquisitions. “Sometimes that might present opportunities for cost-effective acquisitions of high-quality UK content as clients cut back on more expensive locally originated productions,” he notes. Conversely, sales to Canada fell by 7%, highlighting the uneven recovery across territories.
Beyond North America, Australia and Germany maintained their positions as the second and third largest markets for UK content. France, however, saw a significant 21% year-on-year decline, falling to sixth place after consistently ranking in the top four in previous years. This shift illustrates regional volatility and the importance of diversification in export strategies.
One of the most prominent trends shaping 2025 is the rise of ad-supported video-on-demand (AVoD) and free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST). According to the report, sales to AVoD platforms rose to 15% of total VoD sales, up from 9% the previous year, reflecting the growing appeal of advertiser-backed models. UK distributors are increasingly securing deals with platforms like Roku and Freevee, with the percentage of distributors with finished programme sales to these platforms rising to 67% and 89% respectively.
“FAST continues to grow as an opportunity and US FAST revenues may start to play a more significant role in that market’s division of revenues,” says Davison. However, he cautions that while FAST is booming in the US, monetisation in other territories is developing at a slower pace.
Ways of watching TV are continually changing
Broadcasters, meanwhile, are enhancing their digital offerings. The split between TV sales to broadcasters and VoD platforms levelled out to 50/50 in 2023/24, reversing the previous year’s shift towards VoD dominance. Davison notes that this rebalancing is “fairly insignificant,” given the growing prominence of broadcaster-led AVoD releases. “Adjacent digital broadcaster activity is seeing huge growth,” he adds.
Enhanced catch-up services and boxset releases are now key components of international distribution strategies, with hybrid deals combining linear and digital windows to maximise audience reach and revenue. “Windowing in different ways is increasingly important, so understanding how different clients may view each other, sequencing options, sharing etc will be vital to maximising revenues,” Davison explains.
The genre breakdown in 2023/24 reveals evolving audience preferences. Drama continues to lead international sales but saw its share dip to 43% from 49%, as buyers diversify their content offerings. Entertainment experienced the most significant growth, climbing to a 27% share from 21%, while factual, comedy, and kids’ programming remained relatively stable at 17%, 7% and 3%, respectively. This shift reflects a global appetite for lighter, broad-appeal content as audiences seek escapism amid challenging economic times.
Coproductions, once a buoyant area, have been hit hard by changing market dynamics. The report notes a 28% drop in coproduction revenue to £120m, reversing the 69% growth seen the previous year. This downturn is largely attributed to a pullback from US media companies, with fewer respondents reporting copro partnerships across all major streamers.
Amazon’s Prime Video, for instance, saw a decline in copro involvement from 27% to 17%, while both Warner Bros Discovery’s Max and Netflix dropped to 8% from 18%. “The financial restraint of US media companies is an ongoing issue for coproductions,” says Davison. “But this might prompt clients to look for less expensive, high-quality acquisitions instead.”
In contrast, international production emerged as a bright spot, growing by 29% to £325m and accounting for 18% of total UK exports. Davison attributes this growth to “the increasing presence of local production bases, the ownership of local production companies and an outstanding track record.” These factors enable UK companies to tap into local incentives and tailor content more effectively to regional markets.
Distributors have also adapted their strategies with streamers. While sales to subscription video-on-demand (SVoD) platforms slipped to 35% from 44% as the model faced mounting challenges, overall engagement with streamers increased. Finished programme sales to platforms like Netflix, Prime Video, Paramount+, and Disney+ rose, indicating sustained demand for ready-made content even as original commissions slow. Notably, the percentage of distributors securing deals with Roku and Freevee surged, highlighting the rise of ad-based platforms. Conversely, Warner Bros Discovery’s Max and NBCUniversal-owned Peacock experienced declines in distributor partnerships, though the latter’s 2022/23 figures were unusually high.
Looking, industry sentiment remains mixed. The report found that 67% of respondents believe current challenges are temporary, expecting market recovery before stabilisation. The remaining 33% anticipate further production declines before the sector finds equilibrium.
Davison echoes this cautious optimism: “It is very hard to predict how 2024/25 will shape up. Some conditions from the previous year remain, some may even have deteriorated further, but competition with streamers is relentless, linear broadcasters are increasing their activity in the digital space and the need for great content is not falling away.”
As conversations at the London TV Screenings unfold, budget sensitivity remains top of mind. “Showing flexibility, looking for synergies, innovating with commercial terms and generally trying to find ways to do more deals with the same content are likely to be key,” Davison concludes. The focus on strategic windowing, hybrid distribution models, and creative deal structures will be crucial for UK distributors navigating the months ahead.
