What happened with UK punters in 2016?
- It was the year when Britain charged headlong out of the ‘hood and into a free trade agreement with nifty New Zealand.
- Factual TV audiences didn’t behave as oddly as UK voters.
- But 2016’s hits revealed lots of homely ‘Brexit-predictors.’
Olde Englande:
- Four of the Top 6 shows feature the royal family.
- The ode to rural life, Countryfile gained nearly a million viewers over 2015!
- And David Attenborough, that one-man dynasty, smashed the documentary field with Planet Earth 2.
- But he was nipped in the ‘All Factual’ category by The Great British Bake Off, which then bolted from BBC1 to Channel 4.
Categories
- We broke out two unscripted categories:
- Documentaries (Top 50).
- Lifestyle/Hobbies (Top 25).
- Like Nielsen’s, the BARB categories and sub-genres are full of anomalies.
- But they help paint a useful landscape of enduring quality programming that is unmatched by any other territory.
- (BARB’s Current Affairs category also includes strong Factual programs.)
Analysis
- Read the Fabulous UK 50 through June 30, 2016, with my Takeaways.
- I’m out of time for additional analysis today: I’m busy prepping for Realscreen.
- That includes for my Budgeting Strategy Masterclass with the ‘Budget Whisperer’ Elizabeth Ventura.
Documentaries
Here is the Top 50, Documentaries UK for 2016 (in thousands).
| Program | Sub Genre | ‘000 | ||
| 1 | BBC 1 | Planet Earth 2 | Natural History | 13,143 |
| 2 | BBC 1 | Countryfile | Natural History | 8,763 |
| 3 | ITV | Ant + Dec met the Prince | Celebrity | 7,687 |
| 4 | BBC 1 | Elizabeth at 90 | Human Interest | 7,463 |
| 5 | ITV | Our Queen at 90 | Celebrity | 7,065 |
| 6 | ITV | The Queen’s 90th celebration | Celebrity | 6,678 |
| 7 | CH4 | Gogglebox | Human Interest | 5,774 |
| 8 | BBC 1 | Who do you think you are? | Human Interest | 5,450 |
| 9 | ITV | Killer women + piers morgan | Human Interest | 5,285 |
| 10 | ITV | Tribute to Vict. Wood | Celebrity | 5,176 |
| 11 | ITV | Long lost family | Human Interest | 5,166 |
| 12 | ITV | The cruise | Fly on the Wall | 5,080 |
| 13 | ITV | Paul O’grady: love of dogs | Fly on the Wall | 4,980 |
| 14 | BBC 1 | The chronicles of nadiya | Human Interest | 4,864 |
| 15 | ITV | When phillip met prince philip | Celebrity | 4,847 |
| 16 | BBC 1 | Ambulance | Human Interest | 4,808 |
| 17 | BBC 1 | How to stay young | Human Interest | 4,629 |
| 18 | BBC 1 | David bowie: sound and vision | Celebrity | 4,473 |
| 19 | BBC 1 | Pompeii | History | 4,473 |
| 20 | ITV | Britain’s favourite dogs | Natural History | 4,433 |
| 21 | BBC 1 | Sir terry wogan remembered | Celebrity | 4,351 |
| 22 | ITV | Britain’s busiest airport | Fly on the Wall | 4,351 |
| 23 | BBC 1 | The great british bake off | Fact Ent | 4,279 |
| 24 | BBC 1 | Strictly len goodman | Celebrity | 4,260 |
| 25 | BBC 2 | The real marigold hotel | Fact Ent | 4,228 |
| 26 | BBC 2 | The real marigold: japan | Fact Ent | 4,178 |
| 27 | BBC 1 | Life in the snow | Natural History | 4,163 |
| 28 | ITV | Joanna lumley’s japan | Celebrity | 4,115 |
| 29 | BBC 1 | Peter kay: 20 years of funny | Celebrity | 4,053 |
| 30 | ITV | The force | Human Interest | 4,030 |
| 31 | ITV | Davina mccall: life… extreme | Natural History | 3,978 |
| 32 | ITV | Paul o’grady’s love of dogs | Fly on the Wall | 3,969 |
| 33 | BBC 1 | Forces of nature with brian cox | Natural History | 3,944 |
| 34 | ITV | Best walks with a view | Natural History | 3,897 |
| 35 | BBC 2 | The real marigold: florida | Fact Ent | 3,845 |
| 36 | CH4 | Speed with guy martin: f1 | Science/Medical | 3,763 |
| 37 | ITV | Sugar free farm | Human Interest | 3,739 |
| 38 | BBC 1 | Traffic cops | Crime/Real Life | 3,729 |
| 39 | BBC 2 | Louis theroux: savile | Human Interest | 3,717 |
| 40 | ITV | Billy connolly’s america | Celebrity | 3,709 |
| 41 | BBC 1 | Koko: the gorilla | Natural History | 3,701 |
| 42 | BBC 1 | The doctor who gave up drugs | Science/Medical | 3,663 |
| 43 | BBC 1 | Nature’s miracle orphans | Natural History | 3,658 |
| 44 | BBC 1 | Great Barrier Reef / Attenborough | Natural History | 3,653 |
| 45 | BBC 1 | Six wives with lucy worsley | History | 3,634 |
| 46 | CH4 | The island with bear grylls | Fact Ent | 3,604 |
| 47 | BBC 1 | The vikings uncovered | History | 3,511 |
| 48 | CH4 | Guy martin’s wall of death: live | Miscellaneous | 3,501 |
| 49 | BBC 1 | Saving lives at sea | Human Interest | 3,466 |
| 50 | BBC 1 | The truth about dementia | Human Interest | 3,460 |
Hobbies / Lifestyle
And the Top 25, Hobbies / Lifestyle UK for 2016 (in thousands).
| Program | Sub- Genre | ‘000 | ||
| 1 | BBC 1 | The Great British Bake Off | Cookery | 15,899 |
| 2 | BBC 2 | Top Gear | Auto | 6,421 |
| 3 | BBC 1 | Antiques Roadshow | General | 6,116 |
| 4 | BBC 1 | Masterchef | Cookery | 5,913 |
| 5 | BBC 1 | Celebrity masterchef | Cookery | 5,689 |
| 6 | BBC 1 | Eat well for less? | Cookery | 5,248 |
| 7 | BBC 1 | Fake or fortune? | General | 4,757 |
| 8 | BBC 1 | Diy sos: the big build | Home | 4,736 |
| 9 | BBC 2 | Bake off creme de la creme | Cookery | 4,427 |
| 10 | BBC 1 | The rhs chelsea flower show | Gardening | 3,742 |
| 11 | ITV | Love your garden | Gardening | 3,696 |
| 12 | BBC 2 | Masterchef: the professionals | Cookery | 3,658 |
| 13 | ITV | Caught on camera | General | 3,406 |
| 14 | BBC 2 | The great british sewing bee | General | 3,382 |
| 15 | BBC 2 | Mary berry’s foolproof cooking | Cookery | 3,328 |
| 16 | BBC 2 | Mary berry’s easter feast | Cookery | 2,994 |
| 17 | BBC 2 | Victorian bakers | Cookery | 2,944 |
| 18 | CH4 | Location, location, location | Home | 2,886 |
| 19 | BBC 2 | Springwatch | Gardening | 2,797 |
| 20 | ITV | Gino’s italian escape | Cookery | 2,765 |
| 21 | CH4 | Grand designs | DIY | 2,716 |
| 22 | BBC 1 | Antiques road trip | General | 2,712 |
| 23 | ITV | Gino’s italian escape | Cookery | 2,690 |
| 24 | BBC 1 | Flog it! | General | 2,679 |
| 25 | BBC 1 | Lose weight for love | Home | 2,621 |
Speaking Engagement:
AIDC 2017
Melbourne, March 5-8
Instant Documentary: So you think you know Live Video?
- LIVE! video is immediate, unscripted, and it loudly rings the bell for “authentic”.
- Broadcasters and Cab/Sat channels are green-lighting live prime time ‘events’ as well as series. And they’re commissioning hybrid forms of live content for their social media platforms. Their targets are the young viewers who are drifting away from the channels. Dominating the conversation is social media, where viewing of LIVE mobile video content has exploded.
- This panel explores how producers, channels and online content services are all testing live video solutions that will compete in a Facebook and YouTube world. The panelists describe the demanding editorial, technical and scheduling challenges of delivering LIVE programming.
- Learn why LIVE! is the wave of the future, driven by channels who are redefining themselves as video-based brands that operate across platforms, and as social media leaders double down on their investment in original video content.
Speakers
Laura Fleury, A&E, New York
Nicola Harvey, Buzzfeed, Sydney
Graham Wallington, WildEarth, Johannesburg
Michael O’Neill, ABC, Sydney
Moderator: Peter Hamilton (ex-Sunshine Tech)