Exclusive: Netflix was the most watched TV service in the UK for three months last year, overtaking dominant local network BBC1 for the first time, according to Deadline analysis.
The ouster of Britain's most popular channel may not have been permanent, but it represents a potential inflection point in the battle between traditional broadcasters and US streaming giants. The BBC said it was “useless” to compare the entire Netflix network to one channel, and that its portfolio had twice as many viewers as the channel. Squid game Streamer.
Viewing figures released by BARB, the UK's official ratings body, showed Netflix's audience surpassed that of BBC1 in September, October and November 2024 (chart below). Over these three months, Netflix averaged 43.2 million viewers, compared to 42.3 million viewers on BBC1.
BBC1 led again in December, despite Netflix posting a record reach of 46.4 million after broadcasting series including originals in the UK. Black pigeons. BBC1's reach reached 48.4m last month, no doubt buoyed by festive successes including Gavin and Stacey and Wallace and Gromit: The Revenge of Most Birds.
Netflix has consistently outperformed ITV1, the UK's second-largest TV network, since March 2023. ITV1 briefly overtook Netflix last summer, when its audience jumped during Euro 2024 before falling dramatically in August.
BBC1 and ITV1 vs. Netflix. Credit: Deadline
Audience reach measures the number of people who watched a television service for at least three consecutive minutes in a month. The numbers go back to October 2022, when Netflix first signed up to be measured by the UK BARB.
As with all ratings, information can be cut in a number of ways and UK broadcasters will cite other data points – such as audience share and hours watched – to show they are ahead of Netflix. For example, an ITV source says there will be 12.3 billion hours watched in 2024, which is 42% more than Netflix's 8.7 billion hours watched.
Monthly audience reach is one metric, not the perfect metric. Deadline focuses on it here because it is one of the key open access data points published on the BARB website. The BBC also cites reach figures as one of the key performance metrics for its TV channels in its annual report.
BBC1 and ITV1 have been the UK's most watched networks for decades, but like all traditional broadcasters around the world, they are suffering from falling ratings amid rising online viewing.
The audience reach data analyzed by Deadline says as much about the decline of these linear streaming services as it does about Netflix's growth, which has been steady rather than spectacular over the past two years in Britain.
The BBC and ITV would also argue that their viewers have moved to iPlayer and ITVX, meaning it's unfair to compare Netflix to individual channels. Both regularly deploy a digital-first strategy, meaning episodes of tentpole shows premiere online before linear TV.
Netflix tends to measure itself against channel groups in the UK rather than individual networks. Using this as a starting point, the BBC comfortably outperforms all rivals when measuring its entire range of channels, including BBC1, BBC2, BBC3, BBC4 and BBC News.
The BBC's total audience in December was 52.7 million, compared to 46.4 million for Netflix (chart below). However, Netflix is knocking on the door of ITV's portfolio (they've been close in the last month) and is now consistently ahead of Channel 4 and Channel 5/Paramount.
Broadcasters' wallets versus American streamers. Credit: Deadline
A BBC spokeswoman said: “Comparing one broadcast channel to an entire SVOD service makes no sense in a demand-driven world.
“We are digital-first, and almost all of our comedies and dramas are released day one on BBC iPlayer. The BBC's portfolio is almost twice the size of Netflix over the year and larger than all SVOD services combined. BBC iPlayer is the fastest growing streaming TV service In the United Kingdom.
