Report: UK Audiences Spent Triple The Time Watching BBC Than Netflix Last Year
deadline.comEXCLUSIVE: UK viewers spent triple the time watching the BBC compared to Netflix last year, according to a report from leading media analyst Enders Analysis that marks the streamer’s 10th anniversary in the nation.Enders’ in-depth report set out to “provide context” to Netflix’s rapid UK growth since 2012, finding that the proportion of total UK viewing to Netflix was 7% in 2021, compared to 22% for the BBC.Netflix was level with Channel 4 but also well shy of ITV (16%) and YouTube (14%).
The streamer’s proportion of UK viewing has risen over the past decade although remained broadly flat last year. Around 16.7M UK households subscribe to Netflix, a figure that has steadily increased over the past decade without floundering, according to Enders.The analysis comes following the UK government’s decision to freeze the BBC licence fee for the next two years, with many of the corporation’s staunchest opponents pointing to Netflix’s superior catalogue and similar price tag.
At £13.99 ($18.80) per month, a Premium Netflix subscription is slightly more expensive than the £159.50 ($214.08) annual licence fee, with Netflix’s £9.99 ($13.40) Standard package around £3 ($4) per month less.The BBC’s defenders point out that it produces programming in areas that Netflix will never touch, such as news, arts, radio and education.Enders’ report signalled that Netflix’s UK penetration could ramp up if it continues to “entice older viewers,” a group that tends to spend more time watching TV than the younger demographic.Between 2019 and 2021, which included around nine months of lockdown, the amount of Netflix watched per day by over-65s doubled from less than five minutes to around 10, while 55-64 year old viewing similarly rocketed to 15
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