BBC reports 10,000 programs watched online per day
The streaming platforms of European broadcasters leave behind the global streamers when it comes to depth of content, research agency Glance reported this week in Cannes during the Mipcom TV market.
“Everyone is a streamer, even the broadcasters,” Frédéric Vaulpré, senior VP at Glance, said Variety in a cafe at the Riviera resort, referring to a process he calls “platformization.” “Broadcasters are now acting as streamers and streamers are starting to act as broadcasters too,” he said, noting how streamers were including live events, such as concerts and sports matches, and entertainment shows, such as quiz and talent shows, into their bountiful buffet of content.
Broadcasters’ streaming platforms have evolved from mere catch-up services to 360-degree content providers, with television shows, live shows, podcasts and even digital versions of print publications on their platforms, he said, citing the example of Auvio, the streaming platform of the Belgian broadcaster RTBF.
The business models obviously vary: some have no advertising, some have advertising and others have a subscription level, such as ARD, whose subscription costs 4.99 euros per month. This is a way for the German public broadcaster to generate revenue from popular programs such as the crime drama ‘Tatort’.
“A strength of the public broadcasters’ platforms is the fact that you have access to a very deep catalogue,” says Vaulpré.
Looking at the first half of this year, compared to the same period in 2023, the BBC’s iPlayer streaming platform saw 10,000 shows watched per day in Britain – a 2.5x increase in two years. with Netflix at 4,800, Prime Video at 2,400 and Disney+ at 900.
The BBC broadcast channels reported that 1,000 programs were being broadcast per day, an increase of 0.8 times in two years.
The broadcasters’ platforms attract a slightly younger audience than their linear services: the average age of ITV’s linear service is 59 years old, while that of VOD service ITVX is 51 years old, but the gap is closing. ITVX’s average age has risen four years since 2023, while the average age of viewers of the linear service remains constant.
Western Europe continues to see a decline in linear television consumption. In Britain, each person watched an average of two hours and twenty minutes of linear TV per day, four minutes less than a year earlier. All other Western European countries are now below three hours a day, except Italy where it is three hours and 35 minutes, more or less the same as last year.
