The Unparalleled Success of TV Exports in the UK 

TV Exports in the UK 

In the recent past, television has acted as a unifying media, bringing together people from across the globe. The audience can catch up on their favourite show whenever it’s convenient for them. This can be attributed to the on-demand streaming services and the ability to record television shows.

People can spend their less busy days binge-watching shows they like. They relish the idea of watching exciting and popular shows that transport them to another world. With this in mind, UK TV producers are going out of their way to reach this global audience.

UK TV Exports

In 2020, UK made a whopping 1.48 billion from their TV exports. Based on this figure, it is evident that the international audience appreciates these shows. Betway further looked into these figures and discovered the biggest export markets for UK TV shows. Last year, the US and France spent more than £550million combined on these films.

Various kinds of TV programs have successfully gained a large, global audience. Popular shows such as Doctor Who and Planet Earth have made huge export sales for the country. Not to mention reality shows such as Love Island that are quite popular overseas.

Popular UK TV Shows

Given that many UK shows have done exceptionally well on the world stage, it may be difficult to tell which is the most popular. However, you could further categorize these TV exports to gain more sense of which gained immense traction worldwide.

For instance, The Great British Bake-off would be the most popular in terms of the shows that generated the highest income. The show air in nearly 25 markets worldwide, including Italy, Denmark, and France. Top Gear also makes it into this category since the BBC show has aired in 214 territories and made a yearly revenue of £50million.

When it comes to the shows with the highest viewership, The Office (US) tops the list with 57 billion minutes on Netflix in 2020. This could be because the humour and jokes on the show’s first season were adjusted to suit the US market. It picked off with more seasons of The Office (US) version.

Just like The Office, there are other UK shows that have adapted international versions to suit a global audience. For example, Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? recently had a US relaunch version in 2020. This version of the show had close to 5.6 million viewers. Altogether, the show has more than 100 versions suited for its large audience.

The UK Culture 

The world has always been fascinated by the way the British live their lives. Shows built on the historical English life such as Vera, The Crown, and Downton Abbey sell remarkably well in foreign countries. Even audiences from non-English speaking countries enjoy the content. This would explain the exceptional UK TV export sales in markets such as Asia.

With the popularity of such shows, the UK revenue from its media and entertainment scene could pick an upward trajectory. According to recent data, this revenue will increase by 20% in the next four years. The overseas sales are expected to be £87.9bn in 2025.

Such an export arrangement would lead to stronger relationships between the UK and its export markets like Latin America. For instance, Brazil’s GloboPlay has already agreed to a landmark deal that would give the UK shows roughly 400 hours on the air.

Endnote

Besides TV shows, the global audience has appreciated other programs, including football on UK TV. The country has some of the best goalkeepers of all time. Viewers have seen the likes of Gordon Banks, Peter Shilton, David Seaman, and Ray Clemence in action. These great names will be remembered as their efforts brought life to the football field.