Even though it was operating in a market that shrank by 4% over the year, the portfolio of TV giant Discovery bucked the trends in 2019 increasing audience by 7% with particularly strong uptake by male viewers.
Stats released by the company showed that the core Discovery UK channel achieved an average portfolio share of 4.2% (A16+) over the year, which was an increase of 11 year-on-year. It celebrated its biggest one day share, 5.4%, on 12 August. Discovery’s pay-TV channels saw record numbers of video-on-demand (VOD) requests in 2019, breaking over 60 million which was an increase of 26% on 2018.
Looking at key achievements during 2019 for free-to-air channels, Quest was found to have achieved an average share of 1.5% amongst men, which was an increase of 13% on an annual basis. Its ratings successes were driven by a strong commissioning slate including Salvage Hunters, the #1 franchise on the channel, Salvage Hunters: Classic Cars & Salvage Hunters: The Restorers, Aussie Gold Hunters, Goblin Works Garage and The Repair Shop.
More than 15 million people watched sport on Quest including EFL highlights which for the 2018/19 football season netted over 8 million viewers. Free-to-air women’s channel Quest Red continued its rapid growth, growing by 18% year-on-year for all adults over 16+ and 19% for women. Success came off the back of UK commissions including The Bad Skin Clinic and Katie Price: My Crazy Life.
Factual entertainment channel DMAX was launched in the place of Travel Channel in January 2019 and its audience grew 12 times in size following the change. Key shows for DMAX during 2019 were Alaskan Bush People, which achieved a ratings high of 193,000, Alaska: The Last Frontier and Barnwood Builders.
After closing a deal with UKTV, the Good Food and Food Network channels were combined into one dedicated Food Network resulted in a record-breaking year. The channel grew its share of adults over 16 by 33% on a yearly basis and 46% for women. Nigella’s Christmas Kitchen achieved around 200,00 on the channel and was its biggest ever rating.
In the pay-TV arena, Discovery Channel’s key content franchises continued to drive performance during 2019. Gold Rush achieved average audiences of 470,000 for its 10th series, growing 9% from the previous series. Discovery Channel saw record numbers of VOD requests in 2019 hitting more than 25m on its commercial partner sites.
TLC’s real life stories and character shows performed well with Wedding formats including Say Yes To The Dress Lancashire delivering average ratings of 204,000 per episode and Curvy Brides Boutique also performing strongly. Vicky Pattison: The Break Up hit 378,000 and became TLC’s biggest ever rating for women and ABC1 women. TLC also saw record numbers of VOD requests in 2019 hitting more than 22 million, and the TLC UK YouTube account hitting a billion views.
During 2019, pan European sports channel Eurosport grew its male audience share by 10% driven by a wide range of sports from the cycling Grand Tours (Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, Vuelta a España), tennis Grand Slams (Australian Open, Roland-Garros), Snooker World Championship, BDO World Championships and Africa Cup of Nations.
There was also success in the online video arena. The Discovery portfolio achieved 1.9 billion video views on YouTube in 2019, up 60% annually and the full free-to-air portfolio is now available on streaming service dplay, which launched in October 2019.
“We have focused single-mindedly on building passionate audiences in the key categories of lifestyle and entertainment,” commented James Gibbons, EVP and GM, Discovery Networks UK, Ireland, ANZ . “As a result we are now leaders in several important verticals, from Food to Weddings, and Motors to Cycling, delighting our engaged audiences. We have more than doubled both our audience and commercial share to more than 7%, delivering significant value for advertisers and our commercial partners. We are seeing burgeoning demand for our VOD content on partners platforms and a growing appetite for dplay, our AVOD direct to consumer streaming product. This year we will continue to increase our investment in great content, new products and services.”
Looking at key achievements during 2019 for free-to-air channels, Quest was found to have achieved an average share of 1.5% amongst men, which was an increase of 13% on an annual basis. Its ratings successes were driven by a strong commissioning slate including Salvage Hunters, the #1 franchise on the channel, Salvage Hunters: Classic Cars & Salvage Hunters: The Restorers, Aussie Gold Hunters, Goblin Works Garage and The Repair Shop.
More than 15 million people watched sport on Quest including EFL highlights which for the 2018/19 football season netted over 8 million viewers. Free-to-air women’s channel Quest Red continued its rapid growth, growing by 18% year-on-year for all adults over 16+ and 19% for women. Success came off the back of UK commissions including The Bad Skin Clinic and Katie Price: My Crazy Life.
Factual entertainment channel DMAX was launched in the place of Travel Channel in January 2019 and its audience grew 12 times in size following the change. Key shows for DMAX during 2019 were Alaskan Bush People, which achieved a ratings high of 193,000, Alaska: The Last Frontier and Barnwood Builders.
After closing a deal with UKTV, the Good Food and Food Network channels were combined into one dedicated Food Network resulted in a record-breaking year. The channel grew its share of adults over 16 by 33% on a yearly basis and 46% for women. Nigella’s Christmas Kitchen achieved around 200,00 on the channel and was its biggest ever rating.
In the pay-TV arena, Discovery Channel’s key content franchises continued to drive performance during 2019. Gold Rush achieved average audiences of 470,000 for its 10th series, growing 9% from the previous series. Discovery Channel saw record numbers of VOD requests in 2019 hitting more than 25m on its commercial partner sites.
TLC’s real life stories and character shows performed well with Wedding formats including Say Yes To The Dress Lancashire delivering average ratings of 204,000 per episode and Curvy Brides Boutique also performing strongly. Vicky Pattison: The Break Up hit 378,000 and became TLC’s biggest ever rating for women and ABC1 women. TLC also saw record numbers of VOD requests in 2019 hitting more than 22 million, and the TLC UK YouTube account hitting a billion views.
During 2019, pan European sports channel Eurosport grew its male audience share by 10% driven by a wide range of sports from the cycling Grand Tours (Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, Vuelta a España), tennis Grand Slams (Australian Open, Roland-Garros), Snooker World Championship, BDO World Championships and Africa Cup of Nations.
There was also success in the online video arena. The Discovery portfolio achieved 1.9 billion video views on YouTube in 2019, up 60% annually and the full free-to-air portfolio is now available on streaming service dplay, which launched in October 2019.
“We have focused single-mindedly on building passionate audiences in the key categories of lifestyle and entertainment,” commented James Gibbons, EVP and GM, Discovery Networks UK, Ireland, ANZ . “As a result we are now leaders in several important verticals, from Food to Weddings, and Motors to Cycling, delighting our engaged audiences. We have more than doubled both our audience and commercial share to more than 7%, delivering significant value for advertisers and our commercial partners. We are seeing burgeoning demand for our VOD content on partners platforms and a growing appetite for dplay, our AVOD direct to consumer streaming product. This year we will continue to increase our investment in great content, new products and services.”
