UKTV posts record revenue for last year at over £262m
Share of commercial impacts hits all time high of 9.17% for August
Investment in programming reaches high of £110m
UKTV - the award-winning media company behind popular British channels Dave, Watch, Yesterday and Good Food - has announced it is on course to invest £110m on programming this year.
The announcement comes as the company's 2012 results are posted with year-end revenue at an all-time high of £262m, and operating profit at £71m.
Darren Childs, Chief Executive Officer, UKTV said
?Strong revenue and profits are paving the way for UKTV's creative ambition to come to life. It's fantastic news for viewers and suppliers that we will devote a record £110m of investment on screen, and provide audiences with compelling, original commissions and acquisitions through our network of vibrant channels.?
Advertising returns were boosted by the network's upturn in viewing figures that finished the year 10% ahead of the 2011 number, while the SOCI (share of commercial impact) figure hit an all time high last month, with UKTV taking 9.17% of the total market in August.
Growth has come from the launch of new HD and SD channels, significant increases in advertising sales, driven by increased viewership, the launch of product on new services (such as BT Vision, TalkTalk, You View) and the increased demand for UKTV content in overseas markets and via UKTV's own digital services.
Jan Gooze-Zijl, Chief Financial Officer, UKTV said
?UKTV is quickly building market share thanks to focused investment in content and distribution. We are committed to building our core channels business, but we are also investing in important new routes to market such as video on demand and new digital platforms. Our revenue, which exceeded £262m last year, coupled with £71m profit, demonstrates that this strategy is really paying off: during the past four years our revenue CAGR has built to 8% and our operating profit CAGR has reached 14%?.
In the UK, the network now reaches 42 million viewers every month via UKTV's linear and On Demand IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) services, and in the non-PSB (Public Service Broadcaster) market, UKTV holds the overall number one British channel with Dave, as well as the number one Factual channel with Yesterday and the number one Lifestyle channel with Really.
In July, UKTV was boosted by the acclaimed launch of Drama, the free entertainment channel which has reached nine million viewers after launching to Freeview, Sky and Virgin Media viewers; while a distribution deal with YouView increased UKTV's footprint in the same month, supplementing existing linear and VOD (Video On Demand) platforms Sky, Freeview, Virgin Media, BT Vision and TalkTalk.
Last year UKTV ? an independent commercial joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Scripps Networks Interactive (NYSE:SNI) ? generated headlines when it announced a multi-million pound investment in its comedy channel Gold which created a raft of high-profile hits including the critically acclaimed Yes, Prime Minister; the latest feature from director Peter Richardson, The Comic Strip presents: Five Go Mad in Rehab and Christmas ratings-winner, Bring Me Morecambe & Wise. Gold?s latest series, You, Me & Them, made by Hat Trick Productions, launches this October with a stellar cast including Anthony Head, Lindsay Duncan and Susie Blake.
For more information please contact:
Zoë Clapp, Communications Director
Kerry Parker, Senior Corporate Communications Manager
About UKTV
UKTV is the multi-award winning media company that reaches 42 million viewers per month.
UKTV's ten imaginative channel brands - Watch, Dave, Gold, Alibi, Eden, Yesterday, Drama, Really, Home and Good Food - include the number one channel in the Factual genre, the number one channel in the Lifestyle genre (pay and free) and the most famous channel and programmes in the Entertainment genre.
UKTV has a truly innovative model, curating brand-defining commissions, high-profile acquisitions and the very best of BBC and Channel 4 content, and embracing technology to deliver inspired channels to audiences through Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media, BT Vision, You View, TalkTalk on YouView, plus direct On Demand digital services. The network distributes its highly valued programmes to 200 territories around the world.
Now celebrating its 21st year at the forefront of digital television, UKTV - an independent commercial joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. (SNI) - is proud to be the only British broadcaster to be recognised by Best Companies.