BBC Studios tops 2025 Broadcast Distributors Survey

BBC Studios has topped Broadcast International’s 2025 Distributors Survey after becoming the only company to record more than £400m in sales revenue over the past year.

BBCS saw its distribution revenues rise 11% to hit a total of £402m, while ITV Studios reported an 8.4% rise to secure second place on £399m.

Banijay Rights, which topped last year’s table on £389.1m, recorded a 2% rise in revenues to take the third spot in what was a tight battle at the top.

The results mark a return to the head of the table for BBCS, which has found success with factual series such as Asia and Solar System, alongside scripted stalwarts such as Death in Paradise.

BBCS had slipped down the table last year after enduring a particularly challenging period that saw turnover drop 28%, following a stellar 2023 when revenues hit £501m, but it was a return to form for the Tom Fussell-led company this year.

Janet Brown, BBCS’s president of global content sales, told Broadcast International that her company had benefitted from increasingly “more selective” buyers looking for trusted programming.

Elsewhere, the latest instalment of My Brilliant Friend helped Fremantle to retain the fourth spot it took last year, with revenues rising 11.6% to £263.9m, while Fifth Season came one place lower on £152.7m, representing a 13% rise on a year earlier.

This year’s Survey also broadened out its focus to include a handful of Europe’s biggest distributors in the table, with France’s Studio TF1 – which is behind hit scripted show and format HPI/HIP – coming in sixth place on £81m.

Total turnover from UK-based distributors hit £1.76bn, down from £1.85bn in 2024, but on a like-for-like basis revenues rose 8% on last year’s total.

Orange Smarty saw the biggest percentage increase in revenue – up 22% from £4.5m to £5.5m – and the majority of companies reported a return to revenue growth, unlike last year.

However, issues such as rising production costs, buyer consolidation and delays in decision making have made it another tough period, and a host of execs described the market as “challenged”.

Growth opportunities are out there, however, underlined by the 77% of respondents who said they believe that YouTube will become a ‘significant partner’ for long their long-form content in the coming year.