UKTV reports record audiences in 2025
January 15, 2026
UKTV has reported that it achieved its best performance on record in 2025, growing VoD viewing, linear share and its Share of Commercial Impacts (SOCI – a measure of UKTV’s share of the commercial TV audience).
Following strong growth in 2024, the BBC Studios-owned broadcaster saw direct-to-consumer views to its free streaming service U grow by 15 per cent. U also enjoyed a 23 per cent uplift in average monthly active users and an 18 per cent increase in registrations.
In linear, UKTV saw its network share grow from 4.8 per cent in 2024 to 4.97 per cent last year (+ 3 per cent), representing UKTV’s biggest share to date for its seven linear channels. In addition, UKTV’s Share of Commercial Impacts (SOCI) skyrocketed, reaching a record-breaking 9.08 per cent, up from 8.79 per cent the previous year.
Marcus Arthur, CEO at UKTV, commented: “Record-breaking viewing across both streaming and linear is clear evidence that our strategy is working. By investing decisively in digital while strengthening our linear offer, we’ve positioned the business for sustainable success. Our focused choices in content, product and marketing have enabled us to accelerate our growth trajectory, even against a rapidly shifting media landscape and challenging macroeconomic conditions.”
“Our U&Originals, premium acquisitions and the unrivalled depth of the BBC archive continue to power our services, making U and our channel portfolio essential destinations for audiences. As we enter 2026, everyone at UKTV is thrilled to see our new partnership with Channel 4 streaming realised with the launch of U on the platform, complementing our own standalone U service. We are looking forward to working with all our partners to champion the creative sector and deliver even more bold, entertaining and conversation-starting shows for viewers,” Arthur added.
U streaming service
U’s catalogue of programmes helped deliver strong growth in 2025, with drama proving the most popular genre. It was responsible for the top five performing shows on the service – Bergerac, Outrageous, The Marlow Murder Club, The Chelsea Detective and Whitstable Pearl – with Bergerac (pictured) powering U to its best day ever on March 2nd.
Andrea Amey, Chief Digital Officer at UKTV, said: “2025 marked the first full year of UKTV’s transformation under our new masterbrand, U – and the results speak for themselves. Our streaming service has benefited enormously from a bold, cohesive brand identity that unites the platform with our family of TV channels. We’ve delivered strong growth in viewing, active users and registrations, fuelled by a compelling content offer, enhanced functionality, improved personalisation and broader availability. The recent rollout of the U app on Sky Q and Virgin TV V6 boxes has further expanded our reach and strengthened our position in an increasingly competitive market.”
Content and Channels
UKTV’s linear channels enjoyed success in 2025, with U&alibi (+13 per cent), U&Dave (+5 per cent), U&Yesterday (+4 per cent) and U&Drama (+2 per cent) all growing share, along with U&eden (+76 per cent), which marked its first full year free to air. Shows topping the ratings charts on UKTV’s six commissioning channels were Bergerac (U&Drama), Bookish (U&alibi), Guy Martin: Proper Jobs (U&Dave), Pete Wicks: For Dogs’ Sake (U&W), Fawlty Towers: The Play (U&Gold) and Bangers & Cash (U&Yesterday).
Bergerac was watched by 2.4 million viewers across U and U&DRAMA, making it the highest rating show on the network last year, followed by The Chelsea Detective, The Marlow Murder Club, Bookish and Whitstable Pearl.
Steve North, Chief Content Officer, UKTV, commented: “The strength and breadth of our content slate continues to power both UKTV’s linear channels and our U streaming service to exceptional performance. Our drama originations – including Bergerac, The Marlow Murder Club and Mark Gatiss’ outstanding Bookish – have clearly resonated with audiences, and I’m delighted that all three will return later this year. We’ve also seen strong success through close collaboration with our partners, acquiring series that truly connect with viewers such as The Chelsea Detective, Whitstable Pearl and Signora Volpe.
“As we look ahead, we will build on this momentum by continuing to invest strategically across a range of genres. That includes a renewed commitment to comedy entertainment and an expansion of our true crime offering. These choices reflect our ambition to deliver even more compelling, high-quality programming that keeps audiences engaged and returning for more.” added North.
Social Media & YouTube
2025 also marked UKTV’s strongest year to date across social media, driven by a renewed focus on its fandom-led strategy. The social team delivered 758 million social video views (+29 per cent year-on-year), which brought tangible commercial impact by driving close to 400,000 visitors to U, with social video performance and activity directly correlating with uplifts in U D2C viewing.
In August 2025, UKTV’s social team evolved its YouTube strategy, shifting from channel-led brands to genre-based destinations designed for a YouTube-first audience and built around audience passions. As part of this transformation, YouTube channels U&Yesterday and U&Dave were relaunched as U&Transport and U&Laughs respectively, alongside a refresh of the core U channel. The team also launched its first single-IP channel, U&Bangers & Cash, dedicated to the hit factual series. Collectively, this new channel portfolio delivered 4.1 million hours of watch time (+243 per cent).
Coming up in 2026
Joining Bergerac, The Marlow Murder Club and Bookish this year, is an array of new and returning shows, including Joe & David’s Magical Sitcom Tour featuring Joe Wilkinson and David Earl exploring their favourite sitcoms together, feature-length retrospective Open All Hours: Inside Out, new episodes of Will & Ralf Should Know Better, and a two-part Only Fools & Horses retrospective.
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