THIS MONTH'S HIGHLIGHTS
Welcome to the UK Product Placement Newsletter, a round-up of global stories and industry news from across the last few weeks!
Some highlights this month include:
- Ben Whishaw’s This Is Going To Hurt and Martin Freeman’s The Responder, both BBC productions, lead the field at this year’s Bafta TV Awards, with six nominations each
- New Netflix data shows that in the U.K., viewing for non-English language stories has increased by 90% over the last three years
- The Last of Us has become the most-viewed title ever on HBO’s subscription streaming service in Europe
- Paramount+ is launching its first-ever mobile-only streaming subscription plan in Mexico and Brazil
- Netflix properties continue their domination of the US Nielsen streaming charts, with You drawing 1.47B minutes viewed from February 13th – 19th and taking the No. 1 spot
BAFTA TV AWARDS 2023: ‘THIS IS GOING TO HURT’ & ‘THE RESPONDER’ LEAD NOMINATIONS
Ben Whishaw’s This Is Going To Hurt and Martin Freeman’s The Responder lead the field at this year’s Bafta TV Awards, with six nominations each. Whishaw is up for best actor for playing a doctor in the adaptation of Adam Kay’s best-selling memoir. He will go up against Freeman, who is shortlisted for playing a police officer in his Liverpool-set drama. Sarah Lancashire, Kate Winslet, Cillian Murphy and Daniel Radcliffe are among the other acting nominees. Other leading shows include Bad Sisters, The Crown, The English and Slow Horses, which have five nominations each. The BBC has a total of 81 nominations, putting it comfortably ahead of its nearest rival Channel 4, which has 33 nominations. Netflix scooped 24 nominations, while Apple TV+ was behind with 15. READ MORE
NON-ENGLISH TITLES SURGE 90% ON NETFLIX U.K. AS ‘ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT’ TOPS CHARTS
New Netflix data shows that in the U.K., viewing for non-English language stories has increased by 90% over the last three years. All Quiet on the Western Front is now Netflix’s fourth most popular non-English language film ever, with over 150 million hours viewed since its release on Oct. 14, 2022. It has been on Netflix’s global Top 10 Non-English Film list for 14 weeks and has reached the Top 10 Films in 91 countries, including Germany, the U.K., U.S., Australia, France, Mexico and South Korea. READ MORE
BRITBOX INTERNATIONAL REACHES 3 MILLION SUBSCRIBERS, CELEBRATES ‘SUPER SUCCESSFUL’ BAFTAS SIMULCAST
BritBox International has reached three million subscribers across its eight international markets. The “best of British” streamer, which is backed internationally by BBC and ITV, has reached its latest milestone across the U.S., Canada, Australia, South Africa, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland. (The service launched in the U.K. in November 2019 but split off from the global operation in 2022 and is now integrated into ITV’s streaming offering, ITVX.) The streamer was the exclusive U.S. home for the BAFTAs. The British awards ceremony was also made available on BritBox in Canada, South Africa and the Nordics. READ MORE
IDRIS ELBA & MO ABUDU FORGE AFRICAN TV & FILM PARTNERSHIP
Idris Elba and Mo Abudu have partnered on a landmark initiative to “empower and uplift talent from Africa and the Diaspora.” The Luther star’s Green Door Pictures will tie with Abudu’s EbonyLife Media on the plan – the first of its kind in the continent – which will feature a development slate of TV and film projects along with continent-wide training programs. The partnership takes a two-fold approach: building TV and film capacity and producing “large-scale global productions.” Green Door and EbonyLife’s development slate will tell stories set in Africa or the African diaspora and will be targeted at the global market, focusing on “bringing authentic, Afro-centric stories that resonate with audiences around the world.” READ MORE
‘THE LAST OF US’ BREAKS HBO’S SVOD RATINGS RECORDS IN EUROPE
The Last of Us has become the most-viewed title ever on HBO’s subscription streaming service in Europe. Warner Bros. Discovery announced earlier this month that the first season of the nine-episode apocalyptic-drama had smashed HBO’s SVOD European viewer ratings. This result comes after the season one finale set another ratings high in the U.S., delivering 8.2 million viewers across HBO Max and linear telecasts, based on Nielsen and first party data. The series, which is based on the critically acclaimed video game of the same name developed by Naughty Dog for the PlayStation, has been a hit from the get go. The Last of Us is now averaging 30.4 million viewers in the U.S. across its first six episodes, according to HBO, with the first episode approaching 40 million viewers in the U.S. Outside of the U.S.. The show is now also the most-watched show ever on HBO Max in Latin America. READ MORE
PARAMOUNT+ TO LAUNCH FIRST MOBILE-ONLY SUBSCRIPTION PLAN IN MEXICO AND BRAZIL
Paramount+ is launching its first-ever mobile-only streaming subscription plan in Mexico and Brazil. Paramount+’s Basic Plan, described as “competitively priced,” will be available from April 18. It will allow subscribers to stream content on one mobile device or tablet at a time, uninterrupted and without ads. “This new offering is part of our broader strategy to scale Paramount+,” said Marco Nobili, executive vice president and international general manager for Paramount+. “With multi-tier pricing options, Paramount+ will reach even more subscribers by fitting diverse customer choices and grow our global direct-to-consumer distribution. With mobile entertainment consumption increasing around the world, a mobile-only option will make our slate of programming more accessible to our audiences in mobile-first countries.” Paramount noted that content consumption habits were quickly evolving everywhere and that mobile in particular was growing in Latin America. Citing internal studies, the company said more than 50% of the online population in both Mexico and Brazil use smartphones to access streaming services for watching on-demand TV and movies. READ MORE
NETFLIX TO INCREASE ASIA CONTENT SPENDING BY 15% IN 2023 AS REVENUE GROWTH ACCELERATES IN THE REGION
Netflix is forecast to spend $1.9 billion on local content in the Asia-Pacific region this year as group revenue from the region accelerates to 12%, according to a new report. The content investment spending figure represents a 15% hike. Netflix will grow revenues this year by 12% year-on-year to exceed $4 billion compared with 9% growth in 2022, says a new report published on Monday by Media Partners Asia. According to the Singapore-based research and analysis firm, Netflix’s revenue growth in 2023 will benefit from: a rebound in the lucrative but saturated Australia market, where Netflix’s performance will be gradually bolstered by advertising growth; robust levels of growth in Japan and South Korea, which generate high per user revenues; and material gains and contributions from India, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand. READ MORE
NIELSEN STREAMING TOP 10: ‘YOU’ CONTINUES TO LEAD, ‘NEW AMSTERDAM’ SCORES SECOND PLACE WITH OVER 1 BILLION VIEWING MINUTES
For the second consecutive week, Joe Goldberg continues to lead the competition on Nielsen’s Streaming Top 10 list following the release of You Season 4, Part 1. During the Feb. 13-19 viewing window, the thriller picked up 1.47 billion minutes viewed following its Feb. 9 release. That’s a slight fall from the previous week’s opening at 1.73 billion minutes viewed, but remains a solid performance. Part 2 of Season 4 was released on March 9, so it’s expected that the show will continue to stay among the top 10 titles for some time. Following closely behind is New Amsterdam with 1.05 billion minutes viewed. The medical drama also experienced a drop from the previous week’s recorded 1.5 billion viewing minutes. Netflix and Peacock both share the title’s catalogue. Netflix added two seasons of the series in January. Previously, the show was only available for streaming on Peacock. READ MORE
CHINESE TV FINDING FANS IN AFRICA, STRONG ENOUGH TO RESIST TIKTOK, EXECUTIVE CLAIMS
Africa is turning out to be an unlikely market for Chinese television producers, according to one production executive. Hou Hong Liang, chairman of Chinese television production company Daylight Entertainment revealed his amazement at meeting African fans of Chinese television stars in a recent trip to the continent, even as he bemoaned the lower profitability of the region. “We had African fans coming to the airport to meet the cast for one of our recent productions. I was amazed to see we had fans in Africa. I thought they wouldn’t understand our culture, but they did. I don’t think Africa is a true market yet, our IP is not valued as much. We have to nurture the audience, so we sell our IP at a lower price to African broadcasters.” Speaking at a dialogue on Quality TV content at Hong Kong’s FilMart on Monday, Hou revealed that he had had similar experiences with audiences from territories as varied as Mongolia and Eastern Russia. “We have many television programs being distributed throughout those territories. The audiences there have basically accepted Chinese cultural products entirely.” said Hou. READ MORE
BFI UNVEILS NEW $66M NATIONAL LOTTERY FILMMAKING FUND
The British Film Institute (BFI) today announced that it will grant $44m (£36.6m) in cash awards over three years to support fiction feature films as part of its new National Lottery Filmmaking Fund. The cash will be available through four distinct funds: Discovery, Impact. Development, Creative Challenge. The National Lottery Filmmaking Fund, first announced late last year as part of the BFI’s 10-year strategic plan, will also grant $21m (£17.4m) in cash awards to support documentaries, shorts, talent development, and immersive works. As a whole, the fund will hand out $66m (£54M) across three years. As part of the plans, BFI Network will also relaunch in April 2023 with $9m (£7.8m) in funds to support live-action and animation shorts. READ MORE
Special thanks to Hannah Butters for her contribution to the UK Product Placement Newsletter – March 2023.
