‘In the past year alone, eight of the company’s formats received local commissions in 20 different territories’
Studio Lambert has had a truly extraordinary year. The colossal reality competition Squid Game: The Challenge immersed 456 real players into the fictional world of Squid Game. On release, it became Netflix’s most watched TV show globally, and remained in the top spot for a fortnight, with more than 224 million hours viewed across the first three weeks.
Elsewhere, the indie rose to the challenge of ensuring the second outing of The Traitors UK matched the runaway success of the first series with aplomb. Series two achieved double the audience of series one, with 8 million people tuning in to see the final, and was the biggest entertainment show on demand across all UK broadcasters and streamers in more than two years.
The BBC series Race Across the World also returned to its highest ratings ever, with series four earning an average of 7 million viewers (up from 5.8 million for the previous series).
The company also scored its first scripted returner, with BBC3 comedy drama Boarders, which was recommissioned after becoming one of the top five most-watched scripted shows for 16-34s since the channel’s relaunch.
Studio Lambert formats continue to sell around the world – in the past year alone, eight of the company’s formats received local commissions in 20 different territories.
SHORTLISTED
72 Films
With documentaries such as House of Kardashian, John Lennon: Murder Without a Trial and Cult Massacre: One Day in Jonestown, as well as the globetrotting grand scale adventure that is 007: Road To A Million, 72 Films has had a magnificent year, growing production hours by nearly 25% on 2023.
Big Talk Studios
Following a bumper 2023, Big Talk went from strength to strength last year, putting out an outstanding array of both comedy and drama. This included Ludwig, an unassuming but instant hit about a reclusive puzzle setter who assumes the identity of his detective twin brother. The indie also made its debut on a global streamer, with The Completely Made-up Adventures of Dick Turpin on Apple TV+.
CPL Productions
Last year saw CPL’s first Netflix commission – the opportunity to produce the UK version of US hit reality dating show, Love is Blind. The UK iteration was Netflix’s top show in nine countries in the week it was released. In the meantime, CPL’s first reality show, Married at First Sight continued to achieve ratings success.
Hungry Bear Media
Hungry Bear’s crowning achievement last year was the triumphant return of ‘90s nostalgia favourite Gladiators, which garnered an audience of 9.8m for its opening episode and received rave reviews. The show also achieved the vanishingly rare feat of becoming a multi-generational hit, with 60% of viewers aged under 15.
Quay Street Productions
In the past year Quay Street Productions has scored critical and ratings success across a range of broadcasters, including After The Flood (ITV), Men Up (BBC), Dead Hot (Prime Video) and The Red King (UKTV’s Alibi) – but far and away its most impressive title of the past year was its adaptation of Harlen Coben’s novel Fool Me Once, which was 2024’s most watched show on Netflix, with 108m views.
Award sponsored by Barclays
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