The United Kingdom has always held a strong presence on American television. From PBS’s MASTERPIECE programming block to BBC America, and with titles like Downton Abbey and Dr. Who, British TV has maintained its place in the cultural zeitgeist for nearly as long as the medium has existed. As streaming platforms continue to disrupt linear television output, how have the changes affected the UK’s reach? 2024 saw 75 UK series premieres across all U.S. digital platforms. The streamers with the largest shares of these premieres are Netflix, Hulu and Prime Video. Collectively, these three streamers accounted for nearly 70% of U.S. digital programming with the United Kingdom as a Country Of Origin.
The biggest highlight was Netflix’s Baby Reindeer, which saw its first month of streaming net more than half a million daily average views. The show’s intriguing characters and provocative storylines elicited attention and acclaim from both British and American audiences alike, dragging out strong daily viewership across its first two months of streaming. This attention carried the series into award season, where it swept the Limited Series categories. The last time a UK series had this kind of awards performance was in 2021 when the fourth season of The Crown swept the Drama categories.
Even though Netflix, Hulu and Prime Video streamed the largest total share of UK series, it was an undeniably strong year for Peacock’s corner of British programming. The Tattooist of Auschwitz, which saw production resources from four different countries, premiered in May 2024 on Sky Atlantic in the UK, with a simulcast on Peacock here in the States. The series performed well out of the gate, netting over 100,000 daily views in its first week. The series also garnered two Creative Arts Emmy nominations.
Peacock’s second shining star came at the tail end of 2024. The Day of the Jackal, a Sky Max series adapted from the novel of the same name, was led by Eddie Redmayne, who holds strong star power in the U.S. Upon its mid-November premiere, the series outperformed Baby Reindeer, netting nearly double the viewership in its first week. The series also peaked at No. 2 in Luminate’s Top 50 TV Shows chart. This is an incredible feat considering Baby Reindeer is on a platform with considerably more subscribers than Peacock. While The Day of the Jackal’s overall reception is still up in the air, viewership for the series has remained resilient through the holidays and the show is likely to be a contender during the next awards cycle.
This data from Luminate’s Streaming Viewership (M) shows that, even after a tumultuous period for the global entertainment industry, UK titles are still able to yield high engagement from American audiences. As more networks and studios are turning to local international content, it will be interesting to see how the UK’s influence will evolve over the next decade. Furthermore, something can also be learned from Peacock’s 2024 wins. Investing in UK-series acquisition seems to be a viable avenue for smaller streamers as they attempt to measure up to Netflix.
