BBC and ITV's quality shows important to UK SVoD
The launch of BritBox, alongside the upcoming extended catch up window of BBC iPlayer, could leave the major UK SVoD platforms needing to replace some of their highest quality TV seasons if all BBC and ITV content is moved onto the broadcasters’ own platforms.
From a catalogue volume perspective, the loss of BBC and ITV content would be minimal in the UK. TV content produced by the BBC and ITV currently accounts for just 8% of TV seasons available on Netflix, 4% of TV seasons available on Now TV and a mere 3% of Amazon Prime Video TV offer.
But when analysing only the high value content on each platform (titles with an Ampere Critical Rating of 80+), it becomes clear that the BBC and ITV provide a wide range of quality content to the SVoD players active in the UK. 19% of Netflix’s premium TV content in the UK was produced by ITV and the BBC, and is potentially at risk. 13% of Now TV’s premium TV content is at risk. Amazon at this point looks to be the most insulated. BBC and ITV titles represent just 2% of its premium TV content.
These platforms are also at risk of losing large portions of local content. For Netflix, BBC and ITV content currently accounts for nearly 50% of UK TV seasons on the platform. Now TV, partly due to the volume of Sky channel productions and commissions, is better positioned with close to 20% of its UK TV seasons produced by BBC and ITV. For Amazon around 20% of its local TV content is at risk.
The leading SVoD platforms are entering a period where they face challenges not only from the direct to consumer (DTC) propositions from the US majors (Disney+, Peacock, HBO Max) but also local platforms like BritBox. This puts incumbent SVoD services at risk of not only losing large portions of their content libraries, but also some of the best local content as it is removed from third party platforms in favour of DTC platforms, further incentivising aggressive moves into localised original production.
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