It’s always a pleasure to share the UK’s highest-rated documentary and unscripted programs.
Here is my ratings snapshot for 1H 2019.
- #1-50 are followed by my brief Takeaways.
- Then #51-100.
Why UK Matters!
- The UK is the #2 English-speaking television market.
- It enjoys a well-funded Factual sector that has been a creative innovator for generations.
- The data is relevant beyond the UK because many of my readers are seeking international co-pro’s, pre-buys and format licenses.
- They are responding to the disruptive rise of SVOD, Netflix and other online viewing platforms.
- For the broadcasters, this dramatic shift translates into slowly shrinking audiences, budgets and commissioning pipelines.
The UK Documentary & Hobbies Top 100
Jan 1 – June 30, 2019
- The ‘000 P4+’ column refers to viewers 4 years and older in thousands.
- Its an important measure of audience scale, but not necessarily of value because the commercial channels target specific demo’s.
- Share refers to the program’s share of television sets in use at that time.
- The data refers to highest single episode in a series.
Channel | Programme Title | ‘000 P4+ | Share | Sub Genre | |
1 | BBC 1 | Countryfile | 6,564 | 33.5 | Natural History & Nature |
2 | ITV | Bradley Walsh & Son: Breaking Dad | 6,447 | 28.5 | Factual Entertainment |
3 | BBC 1 | Antiques Roadshow | 6,423 | 32.7 | Hobbies/Leisure – General |
4 | BBC 1 | Blue Planet Live | 5,745 | 24.3 | Natural History & Nature |
5 | BBC 1 | Countryfile Winter Special | 5,665 | 27.7 | Natural History & Nature |
6 | Channel 4 | The Great Celebrity Bake Off | 5,183 | 21.0 | Factual Entertainment |
7 | ITV | Harry’s Heroes: The Full English | 5,145 | 24.0 | Pursuits – Lifestyle – Personal |
8 | BBC 1 | Masterchef | 5,015 | 22.5 | Cookery |
9 | BBC 1 | The Murder Of Jill Dando | 4,901 | 21.4 | Crime/Real Life |
10 | Channel 4 | Leaving Neverland: Michael Jackson & Me | 4,672 | 20.8 | Celebrity / (Crime?) |
11 | ITV | 63 Up | 4,654 | 19.5 | Human Interest |
12 | BBC 1 | Earth From Space | 4,494 | 17.8 | Natural History & Nature |
13 | BBC 1 | Celebrity Apprentice For Comic Relief | 4,482 | 19.1 | Factual Entertainment |
14 | ITV | Fred & Rose West The Real Story | 4,421 | 18.7 | Crime/Real Life |
15 | ITV | Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace | 4,321 | 20.1 | Human Interest |
16 | BBC 1 | DIY SOS: The Big Build | 4,172 | 19.2 | Pursuits – Lifestyle – Home |
17 | BBC 1 | Kilimanjaro: The Bigger Red Nose Climb | 4,166 | 15.9 | Factual Entertainment |
18 | ITV | Long Lost Family | 4,159 | 18.1 | Human Interest |
19 | BBC 2 | Top Gear | 4,133 | 18.1 | Pursuits – Automotive |
20 | ITV | Martin Clunes: Islands Of America | 4,057 | 16.1 | Travel |
21 | ITV | Britain’s Busiest Airport – Heathrow | 4,041 | 22.8 | Fly on the Wall |
22 | Channel 4 | Gogglebox | 4,034 | 18.6 | Human Interest |
23 | Channel 4 | Celebrity Gogglebox | 3,985 | 19.1 | Factual Entertainment |
24 | ITV | The All New Monty: Who Bares Wins | 3,985 | 19.7 | Factual Entertainment |
25 | BBC 1 | Ambulance | 3,964 | 18.5 | Human Interest |
26 | Channel 4 | The Great New Year’s Bake Off | 3,891 | 14.2 | Factual Entertainment |
27 | BBC 1 | The Real Marigold On Tour | 3,840 | 15.8 | Human Interest |
28 | ITV | What The Durrells Did Next | 3,821 | 21.3 | Factual Entertainment |
29 | BBC 1 | Eat Well For Less? | 3,733 | 17.8 | Cookery |
30 | ITV | The All New Monty Ladies Night: Who Bare | 3,701 | 17.7 | Factual Entertainment |
31 | BBC 2 | The Great British Sewing Bee | 3,692 | 16.2 | Hobbies/Leisure – General |
32 | BBC 1 | The Chelsea Flower Show | 3,685 | 21.1 | Gardening |
33 | ITV | Hatton Garden: The Inside Story | 3,658 | 17.3 | Crime/Real Life |
34 | BBC 1 | Jack The Ripper – The Case Reopened | 3,630 | 17.1 | Crime/Real Life |
35 | ITV | Psychopath With Piers Morgan | 3,482 | 14.6 | Crime/Real Life |
36 | Channel 4 | SAS: Who Dares Wins | 3,478 | 13.1 | Factual Entertainment |
37 | ITV | The Cruise: Shanghai To Sydney | 3,470 | 16.3 | Fly on the Wall |
38 | BBC 1 | Blue Planet II: Oceans Of Wonder | 3,392 | 17.0 | Natural History & Nature |
39 | ITV | Hard To Please | 3,345 | 16.1 | Factual Entertainment |
40 | ITV | The Junk Food Experiment | 3,315 | 16.3 | Science/Medical |
41 | BBC 2 | Race Across The World | 3,226 | 14.0 | Factual Entertainment |
42 | ITV | Call The Cleaners | 3,163 | 17.0 | Fly on the Wall |
43 | ITV | Jill Dando – The 20 Year Mystery | 3,126 | 15.0 | Crime/Real Life |
44 | ITV | Britain’s Busiest Motorway | 3,120 | 14.4 | Fly on the Wall |
45 | ITV | Britain’s Top 100 Dogs Live: 2019 | 3,119 | 13.7 | Natural History & Nature |
46 | Channel 4 | 24 Hours In Police Custody | 3,092 | 13.5 | Crime/Real Life |
47 | ITV | Victoria’s Palace | 3,082 | 14.8 | History |
48 | ITV | Save Money: Good Diet | 3,074 | 17.1 | Human Interest |
49 | ITV | Her Majesty’s Cavalry | 3,066 | 15.4 | Fly on the Wall |
50 | ITV | Save Money: Lose Weight | 2,999 | 17.1 | Human Interest |
TAKEAWAYS
Crime Pays
- Great British crimes and criminality are revisited in the Top 50: the Hatton Garden heist, The Murder Of Jill Dando, Fred & Rose West, and even Jack The Ripper.
- Crime and punishment are covered in Psychopaths (35) and Custody / Reality (46)
- Celebrity meets criminal behavior in a U.S. import Leaving Neverland: Michael Jackson & Me (10).
- There’s lot’s more True Crime in the 51-100 list below, beginning with Code Blue: Murder (51) and Serial Killer confessions (52).
Royals Off The Calendar
- The Windsors have dominated the Top 100 list for years with their births, weddings, birthdays, anniversaries and funerals.
- But not in 1H19.
- Meghan’s baby doesn’t rank until #53.
- Victoria’s Palace is #47, though perhaps this is Victoria Beckham?
- Cantering in at #49 is Her Majesty’s Cavalry.
Natural History Live
- Blue Planet Live with David Attenborough scored at #4 with 5.7 million viewers.
- Channels will rely increasingly on big LIVE events to compete with the vast entertainment inventories of the streamers like Netflix and soon Disney (with Nat Geo).
- The channels need to crack LIVE formats in genres like Natural History to complement their dominance in Sports.
- For example, A&E enjoys an international hit with Live PD.
- And we covered SafariLIVE, a unique 24×7 operation (Nat Geo Wild U.S.) that engages social media enthusiasts as well as scheduled audiences.
- It was otherwise a meagre Top 50 half-year for the Wildlife genre, even for popular Pets programs: Britain’s Top 100 Dogs Live is #45. (Note LIVE!).
Celebrity / Pop Culture
- Celebrity hosted documentaries and fundraisers did well, from Harry’s Heroes, Climbing Kilimanjaro, Celebrity Apprentice to Real Monty spinoffs, and more.
Franchises / Formats
- I often congratulate the BBC’s lower-cost nostalgic franchises Countryfile and Antiques Roadshow for powerhouse scores, decade after decade.
- Baking, lost families and other formats continue to thrive, though I’m waiting and waiting for a new British format as fresh as Gogglebox was years ago.
- Note also that Channel 5 dropped out of the Top 100, with Ben Fogle: New Lives In The Wild at #131.
The Masterpiece
- 63 Up (#11) is the latest visit to Seven Up (1964), Michael Apted’s revelation of childhood and of how children think about class and society, and of whether our destiny is determined by that tender age.
- I was first taken in by Seven Up during a teacher training workshop at Erskine House in Lorne, steps off the beach where I had learned to surf and play beach cricket during my own childhood summers.
- Seven Up has been on my Top 10 Documentary list ever since, and I was just thinking that its on my own Top 10 of all great British creative works of my lifetime.
- It makes me happy to see that the UK audience in its 2.7 millions still loves to follow the Seven Up children as they approach old age.
The UK Documentary & Hobbies Top 100
Jan 1 – June 30, 2019
Rank | Channel | Programme Title | ‘000 P4+ | Share | Sub Genre |
51 | ITV | Code Blue: Murder | 2,984 | 14.0 | Crime/Real Life |
52 | ITV | Confessions Of A Serial Killer | 2,956 | 11.9 | Crime/Real Life |
53 | ITV | Secrets Of The Royal Babies: Meghan… | 2,955 | 12.9 | Human Interest |
54 | BBC 2 | The Planets (BBC2) | 2,950 | 13.2 | Science/Medical |
55 | BBC 2 | Billy Connolly: Made In Scotland | 2,935 | 10.8 | Celebrity |
56 | ITV | What Would Your Kid Do? | 2,932 | 15.1 | Factual Entertainment |
57 | ITV | Easyjet: Inside The Cockpit | 2,925 | 14.0 | Fly on the Wall |
58 | ITV | Love Your Home And Garden | 2,897 | 13.1 | Hobbies/Leisure – General |
59 | ITV | Fraud: How They Steal Your Bank Account | 2,882 | 14.4 | Crime/Real Life |
60 | ITV | The Death Of Aimee Spencer | 2,874 | 11.5 | Crime/Real Life |
61 | ITV | Death Row: Countdown To Execution | 2,801 | 12.3 | Crime/Real Life |
62 | BBC 2 | Winterwatch | 2,795 | 13.2 | Natural History & Nature |
63 | ITV | The Kyle Files | 2,795 | 13.4 | Crime/Real Life |
64 | ITV | Joanne Dennehy: Serial Killer | 2,794 | 13.0 | Crime/Real Life |
65 | BBC 1 | Danny Dyer’s Right Royal Family | 2,792 | 12.1 | Factual Entertainment |
66 | BBC 1 | The Repair Shop | 2,790 | 21.3 | Hobbies/Leisure – General |
67 | BBC 2 | Dragons’ Den | 2,777 | 9.6 | Factual Entertainment |
68 | ITV | Love Your Garden (Cut Downs) | 2,754 | 14.4 | Gardening |
69 | BBC 1 | Inside Out | 2,745 | 13.3 | Human Interest |
70 | Channel 4 | Three Identical Strangers | 2,745 | 14.0 | Human Interest |
71 | BBC 2 | Inside The Factory | 2,728 | 13.3 | Hobbies/Leisure – General |
72 | BBC 2 | Gardeners’ World | 2,700 | 14.2 | Gardening |
73 | ITV | 7 Up & Me | 2,681 | 12.0 | Human Interest |
74 | ITV | Planet Child | 2,667 | 11.9 | Human Interest |
75 | ITV | Jeremy Wade’s Mighty Rivers | 2,640 | 12.8 | Natural History & Nature |
76 | Channel 4 | Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins | 2,625 | 9.8 | Factual Entertainment |
77 | ITV | The Paras: Men Of War | 2,623 | 10.3 | Fly on the Wall |
78 | BBC 2 | Forensics: The Real Csi | 2,619 | 11.7 | Crime/Real Life |
79 | Channel 4 | Kirstie And Phil’s Love It Or List It | 2,570 | 12.6 | Pursuits – Lifestyle – Home |
80 | BBC 2 | Mississippi: Earth’s Great Rivers | 2,532 | 9.3 | Natural History & Nature |
81 | BBC 1 | The Truth About Antibiotics | 2,526 | 11.6 | Science/Medical |
82 | BBC 2 | Back In Time For School | 2,522 | 10.7 | Factual Entertainment |
83 | ITV | Australia With Julia Bradbury | 2,521 | 11.7 | Travel |
84 | ITV | Countrywise | 2,482 | 11.1 | Human Interest |
85 | BBC 1 | Antiques Road Trip | 2,477 | 20.2 | Hobbies/Leisure – General |
86 | Channel 4 | Hunted | 2,475 | 9.8 | Factual Entertainment |
87 | ITV | Martin Clunes: My Travels And… Animals | 2,460 | 12.7 | Travel |
88 | ITV | John Bishop’s Ireland | 2,454 | 12.3 | Travel |
89 | ITV | Bear’s Mission With David Walliams | 2,431 | 11.4 | Factual Entertainment |
90 | BBC 1 | Escape To The Country | 2,425 | 14.6 | Human Interest |
91 | Channel 4 | Grand Designs: The Street | 2,425 | 11.3 | Pursuits – Lifestyle – Home |
92 | BBC 2 | Mary Berry’s Quick Cooking | 2,414 | 11.4 | Cookery |
93 | BBC 1 | Nadiya: Anxiety And Me | 2,413 | 10.8 | Human Interest |
94 | Channel 4 | Bake Off: The Professionals | 2,353 | 11.1 | Factual Entertainment |
95 | BBC 1 | Life Of Pies – Our Lives | 2,345 | 13.5 | Human Interest |
96 | Channel 4 | 24 Hours In A & E | 2,345 | 11.2 | Fly on the Wall |
97 | BBC 2 | Tom Kerridge’s Fresh Start | 2,340 | 9.7 | Cookery |
98 | BBC 1 | Garden Rescue | 2,328 | 13.8 | Gardening |
99 | BBC 2 | Nile: Earth’s Great Rivers | 2,326 | 9.0 | Natural History & Nature |
100 | BBC 2 | Hospital | 2,286 | 8.9 | Science/Medical |
Audience Analysis
- My colleague Byron Media’s Dr John Morse is closely tracking SVOD ratings tools that are being developed by research firms, as well as deep dives into U.S. ratings for producers who are developing pitches or negotiating series extensions. Read more here.