Narrative Entertainment, the company behind a number of popular Freeview channels has reported a bumper year, as more traditional broadcasters suffer from turbulence.
- Its family of channels, which includes GREAT! movies and POP enjoyed 21% growth in reach year on year
- Company has plans to launch on further platforms to reach more viewers.
Narrative Entertainment’s portfolio of channels gained its strongest yearly share growth, up +21% year-on-year, whilst 4 in 5 of the UK population enjoyed the channels in 2023.
Its four Movies and Entertainment Channels have seen 28% year-on-year advertising impacts growth whilst its Kids division is up 11%. This is against the backdrop of a market decline of -1% and -13% respectively.
▶ Context
Narrative Entertainment has joined Paramount-owned Channel 5 on the winning side of commercial TV growth in 2023, beating expectations and the ongoing advertising downturn. Meanwhile, Channel 4 is the clear loser of the pack, with the broadcaster facing a challenging financial situation and further cuts to programmes and staff numbers.
The Great Network
The movies and TV channels – GREAT! Movies, GREAT! Romance, GREAT! Action and GREAT! TV -have grown their commercial impacts by 28 percent year-on-year, in contrast to market decline of -1% per cent, delivering a 29 per cent increase in the share of commercial impacts (SOCI).
- GREAT! Movies retained its title as the UK’s biggest independent movie network, reaching 5.5 million Adults 16+ per month.
- Similarly, GREAT! TV, home to some of the best loved classic TV shows, has grown SOCI +45% year-on-year.
- GREAT! Romance launched as the fastest growing channel in the UK, watched for over 2 hours on average – the longest out of all UK channels.
- GREAT! Christmas, the seasonal channel, remains the nation’s #1 Christmas channel, and was up an impressive +52% year-on-year.
Growth has been helped by the rollout of the GREAT! player (pictured) on Freeview Play and YouView, with plans to launch on other TV platforms this year. Streaming versions of GREAT! movies and GREAT! romance are also now available on Samsung TV Plus and on Freeview channel 61 and 63.
Steve Hornsey, Narrative Entertainment’s VP, Movies & Entertainment, says
“We’re so excited about 2024 and the continued expansion of the GREAT! channels. After last year’s trend-busting market growth, we are continuing to invest into launching onto multiple platforms so that our committed audiences can access more of their favourite films and TV shows whenever and wherever they want, for free.”
POP, Tiny Pop, POP MAX
Narrative Entertainment has the largest commercial kids’ group in the UK, with 46% share of kids’ commercial impacts, and the only group to grow impacts year-on-year. Flagship POP has been the No. 1 Commercial Kids channel since 2017.
POP further expanded its presence on FAST (streaming) platforms and is now the number one kids’ FAST channel on Samsung TV Plus.
Following the success of POP on FAST, Narrative extended the network’s digital offering with the launch of its pre-school channel brand, Tiny Pop.
Francesca Newington, Director, POP Channels, says:
2024 will be a very exciting time for Narrative Entertainment’s kids’ network as we continue to explore ways to expand our channels and deliver our fantastic content to loyal viewers, however and wherever they choose to watch.
Paul Dunthorne, Managing Director commented:
“I’m extremely proud of the team and what they have achieved. We have delivered record EBITDA despite the market headwinds, taking the company to a double-digit margin and putting in place the foundations for growth for the next 5 years. We have overperformed in every programming KPI. Our programming and creative teams understand positioning and connection, delivering content our audiences love to watch.”