Top 10 UK streaming shows revealed as broadcast and VoD revenues diverge

Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget topped UK streaming numbers
Netflix dominated the most watched streaming shows in the UK last year with eight of its features in the top 10, including kids film Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget and sports documentary series Beckham.
The latest Media Nations Report from UK regulator Ofcom found the most-watched streaming show in 2023 was Aardman Animation’s Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, which accumulated an average of 7.5 million views on Netflix. Disney+’s Elemental came in second place with an average of 6.5 million views.
The first episode of Netflix’s David Beckham documentary, Beckham, came in third place, with an average of 5.8 million views, followed by thriller film Leave the World Behind, also on Netflix.
Episode one of the second season of Amazon Prime Video’s docuseries Clarkson’s Farm was in fifth position, with an average of 5.6 million views.
Netflix’s films and shows made up the remaining five positions. Consecutively, these were: Luther: The Fallen Sun; episode three, season one of drama The Night Agent; episode one, season one of drama Bodies; Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical; and film Extraction 2.
Looking into the most-watched content on the SVoD platforms, Ofcom’s report also found that films topped the list and accounted for over a quarter of viewing, while drama remained the largest genre with about two-fifths of viewing. Netflix accounted for eight of the top 10 SVoD films and shows, while six of the top 10 projects featured British talent.
The report also revealed the stark trend in young audiences deserting legacy media in favour of more modern outlets, particularly YouTube. This contributed to broadcast TV revenue falling by 7.5% year-on-year in the UK while online video revenue continued to increase.
Revenue at the commercial public-service broadcasters (PSBs), digital multichannels and pay TV platform operators combined declined by £824m (US$1bn) in 2023 from £10.2bn in 2022.
Sector revenues were marginally lower than those generated in the Covid-19 inflicted year of 2020 and the lowest since 2012.
Revenue collectively generated by ITV, Channel 4 and Paramount-owned Channel 5 fell by 15.5% to £1.9bn, with digital multichannels also suffering a double-digit decline of 10.3% to £2bn. In both cases, revenue was just below 2020 levels and much lower when adjusted for inflation, 17.3% down in real terms for the commercial PSBs. Ofcom put the declines down to falling advertising revenue.
Collective revenue at pay TV platform operators, including Sky, Virgin Media and EE, decreased by 3.6% to £6.2bn, as continued subscriber declines failed to offset price rises.
The story was different in the online video space, where SVoD platforms in the UK achieved revenue growth of £700m in 2023, reaching just under £4bn in total and acting as the primary driver of overall audiovisual market growth. Ofcom attributed the SVoD growth to price rises, as subscription take-up reached “at least a temporary plateau.”
Elsewhere in online video, connected TV advertising generated £1.2bn in revenue in 2023, up from £962m in 2022.
The gains in online video weren’t enough, however, to fully offset the decline in broadcast and pay TV revenue, resulting in overall industry revenue only increasing by a marginal 0.5% year-on-year.
Ofcom did express uncertainty over whether online video providers will be able to maintain revenue growth going forward, with difficulties in both advertising and subscription take-up and as the SVoD market matures.
“As the economic downturn took hold in 2023, it resulted in difficult trading conditions for broadcasters reliant on TV advertising, in particular. Providers of online video services have been more resilient, although the extent to which they can maintain revenue growth across subscription and advertising is uncertain, with the SVoD market maturing and the economics of streaming under pressure,” the report said.