Bluey and streaming help BBC Commercial rebound with record revenue

Bluey and associated consumer products help boost BBC Commercial revenues

The commercial arm of the BBC saw its revenue rebound to £2.2bn (US$2.9bn) in the 2024/25 financial year following a drop in 2023/24, with BritBox International and Bluey consumer products helping to offset challenges in the production and distribution market.

BBC Commercial, home to production and distribution giant BBC Studios, released its annual results as part of the BBC’s annual report and accounts this lunchtime.

They show BBC Commercial achieved revenues of £2.2bn (2023/24: £1.9bn) and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of £228m (2023/24: £199m), with Bluey’s consumer products and streaming service BritBox International singled out for praise.

It comes after BBC Studios saw its sales drop to £1.8bn during the 2023/24 financial year from £2.1bn in 2022/23. It also saw EBITDA fall to £202m from 2022/23’s figure of £252m.

Over the last few years, the company has made a series of strategic investments, including taking full ownership of streamer BritBox International and growing and rebranding multi-channel network UKTV’s offer on linear and online.

Tom Fussell, CEO of BBC Commercial, said the “strong” results show its strategy is working and “delivering a trajectory of sustainable growth,” despite ongoing global macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty.

BritBox International’s revenues were up 20% year-on-year, with UK titles such as Ludwig and Blue Lights drawing in North American audiences, the BBC’s commercial arm said.

This helped drive media and streaming revenues up 43%, however growth in EBITDA for BritBox International was offset at the business level by a decline in returns from linear channel services, the sale of BBC Studios’ stake BBC America and continued investment in digital products.

UKTV’s direct-to-consumer service U grew views by a third in 2024, while UKTV saw total viewer hours to its VoD content across its free and pay platforms grow by 56 million hours year-on-year. Drama content performed particularly well with The Marlow Murder Club becoming the network’s highest rating show of 2024, watched by 2.6 million viewers.

The BBC said structural changes in the global content market led to a slower pipeline of content – both in production and in content sales – during the year, alongside ongoing uncertainty in advertising sales and rising costs due to inflation.

These challenging operating conditions resulted in slower growth for content studio revenues, whilst EBITDA was up, mainly driven by BritBox International and Bluey’s success.

Last year the BBC announced a net 500 reduction to public service full time equivalent roles over a two-year period to March 2026. This was expected to include around 1,200 post closures and an addition of around 700 new positions in areas of strategic focus.

As of March 2025, the BBC had delivered a net 400 reduction, which includes the closure of around 900 roles. This has enabled it to reinvest into around 400 new roles, including around 200 in its product team, who oversee tech such as iPlayer and BBC Sounds.

Among the content highlighted in the report were feature-length drama Conclave, made by BBC Studios’ House Productions; Baby Reindeer, produced by BBC Studios’ Clerkenwell Films; The Jetty, made by BBC Studios’ Firebird Pictures; and the Natural History Unit’s The Americas, narrated by Tom Hanks.

The performance of BBC Studios’ brands and licensing business was led by Bluey, as the children’s title was named the most-streamed programme in the US in 2024 by Nielsen.

Last year saw the Bluey’s World immersive experience open in Brisbane, Australia, while a much-anticipated feature film was announced in partnership with Disney+ is set to arrive in cinemas in 2027.

The BBC said the results mean that BBC Commercial remains on track to meet its five-year returns commitment to the BBC of £1.5bn by 2026/27, a 30% increase on the previous five-year period, having already delivered just over £1bn during the first three years.

“Together with the continuing recognition for the craft and creativity of our content studio and the demand for our content around the world, BBC Commercial is well-placed to support a robust creative and entertainment industry and cement its role as a global ambassador for the best of UK content,” Fussell said.

BBC Studios also today published its Pay Gap Report, showing improvements in eight of the 10 pay gaps, both median and mean, on its 2024 performance.

The report also shows that over 96% of the business’ female employees are in a career band with a median pay gap of less than 5%, and that 21% are in a career band with a median pay gap in favour of women.

The company’s median gender pay gap for 2024/25 was 10.7% (2023/24: 11.5%) and a mean gender pay gap of 11.3% (2023/24: 13.4%).

Fussell said: “The data in today’s Pay Gap Report is encouraging, although we continue to strive to improve representation across all levels across – and all characteristics in – the business. We are taking proactive steps to address our representation through initiatives such as BBC Extend and are also working to improve our disclosure rates in order to achieve a more inclusive and representative workforce.”