Here are the Top 25-rated British Wildlife and Pets/Lifestyle programs in 1H 2020.
- The nostalgic “Land & Country” theme that I described in my Top 100 UK Factual and Top 25 History posts is less prominent in the Natural History category.
- Viewers who love Wildlife enjoy being transported to remote locations that are mostly beyond their reach.
- On the local and comforting side of the spectrum, there are hot Pet shows, including ones that aspire to cover canine psychology.
- And BBC2’s Springwatch / Winterwatch franchises always repeat strongly.
Content Desert?
- Primates and Blue Planet Revisited at #1 and #2 are a reminder that Covid is seriously disrupting this year’s scheduled production of Blue Chip Natural History.
- The genre will experience a much-reduced pipeline of premium shows that depend on complex field production in distant habitats.
- To fill the gap, watch out for more and higher quality ‘Backyard Nature‘ programs among featured premieres in 2021-22.
- And for imaginative deep dives into repackaging the Natural History archive.
| Channel | Title | ‘000 P 4+ | Share | |
| 1 | BBC 1 | Primates | 4,211 | 16.8 |
| 2 | BBC 1 | Blue Planet Revisited | 3,942 | 23.2 |
| 3 | BBC 2 | Springwatch | 2,971 | 16.2 |
| 4 | ITV | Paul O’Grady: For the Love of Dogs | 2,944 | 13.1 |
| 5 | BBC 1 | Spy in the Wild | 2,862 | 11.3 |
| 6 | BBC 1 | Blue Planet II | 2,814 | 18.2 |
| 7 | BBC 1 | Attenborough and the Giant Egg | 2,261 | 13.7 |
| 8 | ITV | Tales From the Coast With Robson Green | 2,076 | 8.8 |
| 9 | BBC 2 | Winterwatch | 1,943 | 9.6 |
| 10 | BBC 1 | Penguins – Spy in the Huddle | 1,910 | 14.1 |
| 11 | C4 | Walking with Elephants | 1,899 | 8.4 |
| 12 | BBC 2 | Earth’s Tropical Islands | 1,838 | 7.5 |
| 13 | ITV | How To Keep Your Dog Happy at Home (photo above) | 1,786 | 8.3 |
| 14 | C4 | Spring at Jimmy’s Farm | 1,714 | 8.2 |
| 15 | C5 | Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly | 1,648 | 8.7 |
| 16 | BBC 2 | Australia: Earth’s Magical Kingdom | 1,644 | 7.3 |
| 17 | BBC 2 | Louis Theroux Americas Most Dangerous Pets | 1,583 | 9.3 |
| 18 | BBC 2 | The Lake District: A Wild Year | 1,525 | 7.6 |
| 19 | BBC 2 | Natural World | 1,518 | 7.1 |
| 20 | ITV | Martin Clunes: My Travels & Other Animals | 1,495 | 8.5 |
| 21 | C4 | The Secret Life of the Zoo | 1,482 | 7.6 |
| 22 | BBC 1 | Seven Worlds, One Planet | 1,449 | 11.9 |
| 23 | BBC 1 | Animal Park | 1,402 | 25.9 |
| 24 | BBC 2 | The Lakes with Paul Rose | 1,397 | 8 |
| 25 | BBC 2 | Baby Chimp Rescue | 1,238 | 6.6 |
Notes on the Data
- The ‘000 P4+’ column refers to viewers 4 years and older in thousands.
- 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.
- The categories come from BARB, and titles are sometimes incomplete.
More on UK Hits and Trends
- See my post listing the Top 100 UK Factual in the COVID Era.
- My UK History Top 25 is published here.
- Read my interview notes with BBC History buyer Simon Young at Sunny Side. He is responsible commissioning 70-80 hours / year.
David Attenborough’s Giant Egg
More
- Don’t miss my interview notes with BBC History buyer Simon Young at Sunny Side. Includes his insights concerning A House Through Time
- Read the Top 100 UK Documentaries and Lifestyle, 1H 2020
- And the Top 25 UK History programs
- And don’t miss my Sunny Side Interview on Channel 4’s strategy: What do they want? What do they pay?
