UK television exports break £2bn barrier

Pact’s annual UK TV Exports report, compiled by 3Vision, reported that UK television exports stood at £2.02bn in 2024/25 compared with £1.82bn in 2023/24.

The survey found that while market conditions remain challenging, businesses are working harder to create revenues and are finding more innovative ways to window and sell content.

For example, the proportion of library TV sales increased by 4% to 44%. According to the researchers, this suggests that back catalogues are providing a budget-starved market with an economic solution to finding content.

The US remains the largest destination for UK TV exports, up 34% year-on-year, despite US media companies experiencing significant challenges over the past three years. As a whole, North America recorded the highest year-on-year growth with 32%, reaching an all-time high of £977m.

Many of the countries that showed a decline in 2024 have returned to growth. This was most notable in Italy (where there was a 64% increase this year, instead of the 23% decline that was witnessed from 2023 to 2024) and France (where the market saw a 61% increase, rather than the 21% decline that occurred from 2023 to 2024).

On the other hand, Mexico, South Africa, and China saw the steepest declines in exports, falling 56%, 53%, and 44% respectively. Only China and Japan have shown consecutive years of decline.

Finished programme sales remained the largest contributor to overall exports (53%), with sales growing by 5% to £1,069m.

International Production continued its upward trend, rising by 8% to £349m, while Formats and Co-Productions grew 13% and 5% respectively year-on-year, reaching £244m and £126m respectively.

Scripted drama continued to dominate, accounting for 46% of revenue, with its share of total exports up 3% year-on-year. Entertainment represented 24% of exports.

John McVay, CEO of Pact, said: “The report shows that yet again, despite the global economic challenges, British TV content continues to be attractive to international audiences. Although experiences for each distributor vary, the strength and quality of library catalogues is proving to be important as we navigate these difficulties over the coming years.” 

Pact’s UK TV Exports report surveys over 20 UK distributors.

The BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and 5 recently united to issue a rare joint statement calling on the government to defend public service broadcasting (PSB) in the UK. Discover more here.