UK Viewers: What Did They Watch before the Olympics? Part 1: Top 100 Factual Programs, 1st Half, 2012

Here is our own tribute to London 2012 – the first of three posts that cover the UK  audience for factual programs.

A friend shared a recent report on the ratings for UK factual programs and docs broadcast through the end of  June.

Here is a chart of the Highest-rated Factual programs by broadcast network.

These were the Top 100 nonfiction shows for 1H 2012, with our Takeaways:

Takeaways

• We say this every time we view the latest UK viewing data: “the list is wonderfully eclectic!”
• The ratings are huge compared with U.S. audiences for comparable programs
  • There is a thriving UK appetite for quality docs of many genres and formats: observational, hosted, classic big Blue Chip, high end Lifestyle, Travel, and so on
• It is wonderful to see Michael Apted’s 56 Up in the UK list.
  • I first saw 7 Up during a teachers’ conference at Lorne on Victoria’s Great Ocean Road, and I can remember the experience of discovering a masterpiece as if it were yesterday.
  • “Why Can’t Americans Watch British Shows as Soon as They Air” examines the “infuriating, anachronistic logic that keeps series like 56 Up sequestered in the UK.”
• The list still includes several big budget Science, Natural History, History and Archaeology series.
  • Many of these categories are close to extinct in the equivalent U.S. Top 100 lists
  • For example, # 12 Earthflight is a 5-part series narrated by actor David Tennant that captures natural wonders through the eyes of birds.
  • The series earned brilliant reviews, including for technical advances in wildlife kit.
• “Live” is a minor new theme:
  • Planet Earth and Stargazing both went Live
  • But animals and clear skies aren’t guaranteed to perform on cue

• After the Royal Wedding, this is another British year that’s marked by a big PR-packed royal event
  • Queen Elizabeth’s diamond jubilee earns a double in the Top 10.
  • And royal topics are sprinkled up and down the list.
  • Then there’s the Queen’s keen interest in horses reflected in All the Queen’s Horses  which cantered in at #24
• Stately homes also starred:
  • Chatsworth follows a year in the life of a Devonshire home of Europe’s most significant art collections, passed down through 16 generations with the house, architecture and art collection evolving over 5 centuries.
  • There’s a Downton Abbey factual/scripted fusion going on here: Chatsworth captures the challenges faced by the Duke & Duchess of Devonshire and their staff
• Hosted programs are strong performers, despite their often reported burial.
• The list is very British:
  • The very big exception is #1 The Apprentice, a U.S. format.
• Extreme human behavior is still popular:
  • Obsessions, eating disorders / illnesses and medical conditions are all fair game.
  • #21 Britain’s Biggest Hoarders tracks obsessive hoarding behavior.
• There is plenty of nostalgia, as ever:
  • The royal stuff, countryside lifestyle magazines, pop culture anniversary specials (for Eastenders) and much more.
• What’s returning and noteworthy?
  • ITV’s tearjerker Long Lost Family looks like becoming a successful returning series.
  • Family members are reunited after long and often harrowing separations
• Overall report card?
  • Amazing quality and variety!
  • There aren’t many new breakout programs that are apparent in the list.

Apologies to our UK readers if this is old hat.  The data is very refreshing to readers who are located in the 113 (!!) other countries where DocumentaryTelevision.com is now regular reading!

Editorial assistance:  Alexander Watson.

———-

This post in memory of my late, oldest brother John Hamilton, a super athlete who was the  high jump alternate on the Australian squad for Melbourne 1956.

———-

Next

• Hobbies & Leisure: The Top 50, led by that evergreen franchise Antiques Roadshow
• UK Cable/Satellite:
  • How do Discovery, Nat Geo and History  audiences compare with UK broadcasters?
  • What are the Top 10 programs for these channels, 2006-12?

—————–

WORKSHOP AT WESTDOC

What Do U.S. Networks Want?
How Can You Get It?
Sunday, September 9 

Come to my one-of-a-kind intensive workshop with charismatic reality TV series developer and executive producer, Stephen Harris.

The topics

• What do US factual channels want?
• For docs? And Reality?
• How do programmers make decisions?
• How much do they pay producers?
• Who gets the work?
• Why?
• When?

Your Takeaways?

• A grasp of how the nonfiction business works.
• Really valuable data and contacts.
• Constructive pitching guidance.
• Assessments of your projects.
• Knowledge of how to go forward!
• All this, plus two gurus, and much, much more.

Registration

• Click here to register
• Workshop attendees earn a 10% Westdoc Conference and Workshop discount using the registration code: HAMILTON12