‘W knows what works – marquee talent plus real stories. Great access. Good talent strategy. Honest, real storytelling’
A channel that prides itself in telling authentic stories and sharing personal experiences from under-represented groups, W was repeatedly praised by the judges for its ability to deliver.
W’s commitment to powerful and personal storytelling has attracted some big talents like Katherine Ryan and Stacey Dooley, which has kept viewers coming back for more on the channel’s free streaming service and UKTV Play. Katherine Ryan: Parental Guidance pulled in an impressive 381K viewers on its premiere episode alone.
Judges were impressed by W’s understanding of its audience, commenting that it “has a clear channel identity” and “knows what it stands for” – evident in shows such as Katie Piper’s Jailhouse Mums, a five-part documentary that uncovers the racial prejudice and lack of healthcare for women delivering babies in US prisons.
W has also focused on recommissioning trusted talent alongside their new commissions – a second series of Nurses on the Ward arrived on W in 2023.
One judge said: “W should be celebrated for being a channel with a clear proposition that delivers for its viewers. They have attracted big name talent, have backed returning series and deliver quality every time.”
SHORTLISTED
Channel 4.0
Last year’s winners Channel 4.0 have retained their impressive grip on the younger generation, with 1 in 4 UK 16–24-year-olds watching Channel 4.0 content. The channel’s focus on YouTube continues to bring in new audiences – The Filly and Harry Show had more than 10m views in its first six months, and of the more than 21m viewers of Tapped Out, over 80% were female.
E4
E4 continues to frontline British reality TV with staples like Married at First Sight, Made in Chelsea, Below Deck, and more. Ranking as the second most popular digital channel for 16–34-year-olds in primetime, E4 has targeted new and younger audiences with a YouTube-first launch pattern that furthered its already impressive reach – Celebs Go Dating saw an increase in streaming views of 67%.
FootAsylum
FootAsylum more than doubled its views from 2022, reaching 293m views on its channel in 2023. Every episode of season four of its popular reality show Locked In featured on YouTube’s trending tab and brought 170K new subscribers to the channel. Producing shows with some of the most popular social media stars, like Yung Filly, Nella Rose and GK Barry has seen FootAsylum create viral clips generating over 35m views.
MasterChef UK on Samsung TV Plus
The FAST channel MasterChef UK on Samsung TV Plus placed in the top 10 of the UK Samsung TV Plus league – their social campaigns have previously led to an increase of weekly viewers by 114% and watch duration by 103%. Tapping into the 250m global MasterChef viewers, MasterChef UK has continued to reach new Samsung TV Plus users and stay high up in the rankings.
UKTV Play
A free streaming service which provides access to popular channels including Dave and winner W, UKTV Play brought 1.5m new users to its service in 2023. Adding over a thousand hours of programming in the last year has grown its monetizable views by 47% year-on-year, and the success of the UKTV Play 3.0 app means it continues to be a popular and accessible streaming service.
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