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respondents unwilling to part
with any of their subscriptions
( 75 %). This comes as viewers
of linear TV continue to
decline .
“ Amazon seems to have
called people ’ s bluff by
introducing ads to its basic
tier , knowing people would
not mind ads enough to pay
extra ,” notes Sarah Tims , AVP ,
marketing at LoopMe . “ This
is reflected in LoopMe ’ s data ,
where the majority of UK
subscribers ( 73 %) are unwilling
to pay the additional fee for
an ad-free experience . The
changes might do little to
attract new subscribers but the
value of its additional Prime
delivery services is a certain
advantage to its streaming
counterparts . While Amazon
might not replicate Netflix ’ s
success with increased sign ups
to its new ad tier , there ’ s little
risk that it will lose existing
subscribers . So , even if the
move might not increase user
revenue from the paid tier ,
the streaming giant will likely
see the forecasted billions in
advertising dollars .”
Data : UK SVoD subs slight dip
Audience research body Barb
has released data from its
Establishment Survey showing
that 18.8m UK homes ( 65.4 %)
had access to a subscription
video-on-demand ( SVoD )
service in Q4 2023 , a decrease
from 19.3m ( 67.3 %) in Q3
2023 .
For the first time , Barb has
shared the Netflix advertising
tier estimate which is 1.45m
( 5.1 % of homes ). These homes
form part of the overall Netflix
figure below and are not in
addition to it .
Netflix : 16.3m UK homes
( 56.7 %) had access to Netflix
in Q4 2023 . Down from 16.7m
( 58.2 %) in Q3 .
Amazon Prime Video :
12.4m UK homes ( 43.1 %) had
access to Amazon in Q4 2023 ,
down from fractionally under
13m ( 45.3 %) in Q3 .
Disney +: 7.3m UK homes
( 25.6 %) had access to Disney +
in Q4 , a decrease from 7.6m
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( 26.7 %) in Q3 .
Apple TV +: 1.98m UK
homes ( 6.9 %) had access to
Apple TV + in Q4 , also down
from 2.2 m ( 7.8 %) in Q3 .
Paramount +: 1.99m UK
homes ( 6.9 %) had access to
Paramount + in Q4 , a small
difference compared to 1.93m
( 6.7 %) in Q3 .
NOW : 1.82m UK homes
( 6.4 %) had access to NOW in
Q4 , a small drop from 1.9m
( 6.5 %) in Q3 .
“ The latest data from our
Establishment Survey show
access to pure-play VoD
services dropped slightly in
Q4 last year ,” advises Doug
Whelpdale , Head of Insight
at Barb . “ The proportion of
homes with two or more
services also slipped back
compared to Q3 , dipping
from 13.3 million ( 46.4 per
cent ) to 12.8m ( 44.7 per cent )
in Q4 . As they continue to
battle it out in the UK viewing
ecosystem , the festive period
proved a competitive time .
Families may have prioritised
festive spending at a time
when the broadcaster offering
is strong . And mostly free .”
UK production spend down 32 % in 2023
Figures published by the
BFI ’ s Research and Statistics
Unit show that in a year in
which film and high-end TV
production was impacted
globally by the Hollywood
strikes , it continued to
generate billions to the UK
economy . The combined spend
by film and high-end television
production ( HETV ) during
2023 reached £ 4.23 billion
(€ 4.96bn ), 32 % down on 2022
but almost level with prepandemic
levels .
The lion ’ s share of the
total £ 4.23 billion production
spend was contributed by
HETV shows with £ 2.87 billion ,
or 68 %; with feature film
production contributing £ 1.36
billion , or 32 % of the total
spend . Inward investment and
co-production films and HETV
shows combined , delivered
£ 3.31 billion , or 78 % of the
combined production spend
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continuing to demonstrate the
UK ’ s reputation as a leading
destination for international
film and TV production .
Of the total £ 2.87 billion spend on 187 HETV productions in 2023 :
• Inward investment shows
contributed £ 2.07 billion
( 72 % of total HETV spend ), a
43 % decrease on 2022 ;
• Domestic UK shows
accounted for £ 766m ( 27 %
of total HETV spend ), a 21 %
increase on 2022 ; and
• Co-production spend
was £ 38.9m ( 1.4 % of total
spend ), a 7 % increase on
2022 . Of the total £ 1.36
billion spend on 207 film
productions in 2023 :
• Inward investment films
contributed £ 1.04 billion
( 77 % of total film spend ), a
40 % decrease on 2022 ;
• Domestic UK films
accounted for £ 150.2m ( just
over 11 % of total film spend )
a 13 % decrease on 2022 ;
and
• Co-production spend
accounted for £ 162.8m
( just over 12 % of total film
spend ), more than two and a
half times spend in 2022 .
The production statistics
also reveal a varying level of
investment made by streamer
platforms in single long-form
‘ film ’ productions ( i . e ., not
episodic or series ). In 2023 ,
there were 18 single domestic
UK and inward investment
productions which contributed
£ 379.2m to the HETV spend of
£ 2.87 billion .
However , the methodology
to collate the data requires
complicated analysis ; whilst
most productions for streamers
are captured within the data for
HETV production because they
utilise the HETV cultural test
to access tax relief , some are
now captured within film data
because they utilise the film
cultural test .
Total admissions for 2023
reached 123.6m admissions ,
an increase of 5.5 % on 2022
helped by a strong summer box
office , but lagging behind the
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pre-pandemic year of 2019 by 30 % ( 176m admissions ).
Box office takings in the UK and the Republic of Ireland in 2023 totalled £ 985.8m across 822 films , 4 % more than £ 945m earned by 834 releases in 2022 , but 24 % behind 2019 ’ s total box office .
The highest grossing release of 2023 was Barbie with £ 95.6m , representing 10 % of the year ’ s total box office and outstripping 2022 ’ s top grossing film Top Gun : Maverick ( 83.7m ). Barbie ’ s same-day release partner Oppenheimer is the second biggest film of the year with £ 58.9m and is currently on re-release .
The top 20 film releases of the year in the UK and Republic of Ireland also feature ten UK / US feature films ( including one UK / US / China ) made in the UK : Barbie , Wonka , The Little Mermaid , Mission : Impossible – Dead Reckoning , Indiana Jones And The Dial of Destiny , Ant-Man And The Wasp : Quantumania , Fast X , Napoleon , Dungeons & Dragons : Honour Among Thieves and Meg 2 .
Of the top 20 UK qualifying film releases which grossed £ 372.9m – 47 % more than 2022 ’ s top 20 – 18 are UK collaborations with other countries .
The top grossing UK independent film was The Great Escaper with £ 5.31m followed by What ’ s Love Got To Do With It ?, Empire Of Light , Allelujah and The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry .
The total box office for the 2023 top 20 UK independent films was £ 33.7m , 51 % behind £ 69.2m in 2022 , representing 92 % of the total box office for UK independent film over the year . Overall , independent UK films account for 3.8 % of the total UK box office equating to £ 37.4m box office .
In general , HETV production in the UK has boomed since the introduction of the UK ’ s HETV tax relief in 2013 . In 2023 , UK spend was £ 2.87 billion , a 33 % decrease from £ 4.30 billion in 2022 .
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