‘A template for how the next generation of digital business can really cut through’
After multiple successes as the best Specialist or Factual Channel at the Broadcast Digital Awards, History Hit has sealed the main Channel of the Year prize for the first time – and with good reason.
This company is the epitome of a modern, niche broadcaster: it has multiple content types and revenue models, but everything it does shares the same high quality.
At the heart of History Hit is a bespoke SVoD channel that delivers a new original documentary or series every week, supplemented by the release of two/three ad-supported original films a week on YouTube, a raft of social media accounts, a FAST channel and a network of eight award-winning podcasts. Oh, and it makes TV shows, too.
Notable highlights of the past year include: uncovering new archaeology from the first battlefield of the American Revolution; being the first documentary team to film at historic sites of eastern Libya since the fall of Gaddafi; and gaining unique access to areas of Auschwitz usually closed to the public.
In each of the past four years, the SVoD platform has grown its subscriber base by 10% and delivered more than 1 million hours of streaming.
History Hit cherishes mainstream subjects but also spotlights more left topics, such as Kate Lister delving into penis size in ancient art, Anthony Delaney on the trial of Oscar Wilde, Eleanor Janega on the trail of Medieval ghost stories.
The combination of inventive and original content, savvy commercial thinking and laser-focused clarity regarding it what its audience wants has served it well, and represents a template for how the next generation of digital business can really cut through.
Shortlisted
BBC4
BBC Four’s mix of arts and culture, archive, foreign drama, and international documentary is genuinely distinctive. The obvious highlight during the qualifying period was Mr Nobody Against Putin, which picked up a Bafta and an Oscar for the Storyville strand, and joyously diverse range of content, from a season on dramatist Henrik Ibsen to regular Friday night treats from the Top of the Pops archive.
BBC3
Best Drama Programme-winner What It Feels Like for a Girl and Best Comedy Programme-winner Such Brave Girls were among the standout scripted shows that led the way for BBC3 this year. Its scripted slate is outstanding, complemented by Things You Should Have Done and Daddy Issues and demonstrates how a legacy broadcaster can create distinctive British titles to compete with the might of global streamers.
CBBC
The breadth of CBBC’s content is hugely impressive, with docs such as The Football Academy sitting alongside slapstick comedy Duck & Frog, and a brand new slate of live action British drama that has little comparison anywhere in the industry: Girl Troop vs Aliens, Gifted, High Hoops and the outstanding Crongton. On iPlayer, CBBC programmes have generated over 56 million viewer hours with 7-12s during 2025 – a 20% increase year on year.
Channel 4.0
Mischievous and joyfully authentic, Channel 4.0 is a You Tube-first proposition that shows precisely how legacy broadcasters can make their mark in the digital space. Don’t Get Catfished, Find The… and the award-winning Love Is In The Blood all made their mark in the qualifying period, helping catapult the channel to 1.7 billion views across all social platforms and hitting one million YouTube subscribers in October 2025.
U&Drama
U&Drama is a confident channel with originals that really shift the dial. The rebooted Bergerac premiered with a whopping 3.2m and helped deliver the best ever week for the U streaming platform. The series was quickly and unsurprisingly recommissioned. Period piece Outrageous and cosy crime series The Chelsea Detective and Whitstable Pearl have also been major successes, helping the channel deliver an average monthly reach of 7.1m in 2025 and grow its share by 2%.
No comments yet