The television industry in the United Kingdom has a long history of supplying countries overseas with top quality programmes.
Shows that perform well with domestic audiences are regularly sold on to international markets, generating a huge amount of annual revenue.
According to recent research by Betway Casino, TV exports made $1.97 billion last year and the figures have been tipped to keep rising.
Analysts have forecast that the UK’s entertainment and media revenue will increase from $97.4bn in 2021 to £120.1bn billion in 2025.
This will undoubtedly have an impact on export sales, easily pushing the total through the $2bn barrier and beyond over the next few years.
The US is the UK’s top export market, generating $649 million in 2020 from sales of some hugely popular TV programmes.
The Great British Bake Off and Top Gear are amongst the UK’s biggest earners from the US, with both shows adding millions of dollars into the coffers each year.
However, arguably the biggest success story is The Office (US), which is the most-watched show on Netflix accumulating 57 billion minutes of streaming in 2020.
The initial six-episode season of the US version matched the UK’s original script, but it subsequently adopted an Americanised storyline to suit the local market.
This led to a 22-episode-long second season that brought in millions of viewers and paved the way for nine seasons of incredible success.
The American version boasts an impressive 8.9 star rating on IMDb, ranking 26th in terms of global popularity, putting it way ahead of its UK counterpart in 558th place with 8.5 stars.
Talent shows have also proved to be a big hit with US audiences, with Strictly Come Dancing amongst the most popular.
The Got Talent, X Factor and Idols franchise are amongst the other shows that have found favour with viewers in the US, helping to make Simon Cowell an extremely wealthy man.
US audiences have also lapped up several UK quiz shows in recent years, with Who Wants to be a Millionaire? and The Chase making a huge splash there.
Both shows are currently broadcast by ABC, helping to cement their status as extremely lucrative UK TV exports.
South America is also becoming an increasingly attractive proposition for the UK as it seeks new territories to boost sales in the wake of Brexit.
With the European Union intent on limiting the dominance of UK TV shows on the continent, there had been some fears that the industry would suffer.
However, the recent agreement by ITV Studios to supply more than 400 hours of scripted content to Brazil’s GloboPlay was an exciting development for the UK.
The Brazilian subscription video on demand (SVOD) service will screen numerous popular shows including Noughts + Crosses, Gold Digger, Victoria, Poldark and Murdoch Mysteries.
With Latin American countries also showing more interest in building a relationship with the UK TV industry, the export boom looks set to continue for the foreseeable future.
