In The Frame December '20

Streaming/Online/Tech

Sky has made Amazon Prime Video available to its millions of subscribers in the UK, Ireland, Austria, Germany and Italy. Sky’s streaming service, Now TV, will be made available on Amazon’s Fire TV set-top boxes and plug-in sticks as part of the deal. The broadcaster has existing arrangements with Netflix and Disney+.

Formula 1 racing is in “active talks” with Amazon regarding streaming Grand Prix on Prime Video.

Deloitte’s technology, media and telecommunications group predicts global sales of 8K TVs will reach one million next year, generating revenue of £2.5 billion.

Netflix is forecast to spend $19 billion on video content in 2021, while DAZN has announced a number of sports documentaries and interviews for its global platform.

ITV’s advertising service Planet V has confirmed that Samsung TV Plus will become the platform’s first third-party publisher partner in early 2021. Planet V offers addressable audience products and data-driven features.

Almost 1.9 million Britons admitted to illegally streaming Premier League football at some point in 2020.

BBC News

An average audience of 6.3 million watched the Queen’s Christmas broadcast on BBC One, making it the day’s most-watched programme. The second-most popular programme was Call the Midwife, which attracted 5.4 million viewers.

That Peter Crouch Podcast was the most popular show of year on the BBC Sounds app, which hosted more than a billion plays of radio, music and podcasts in 2020. Normal People was the year’s most popular iPlayer series.

BBC Three and the BBC Comedy Association are collaborating to launch Laugh Lessons, an opportunity for production companies to pitch original short sketch ideas from new and upcoming comedy talent.

BBC Asian Network, meanwhile, has announced a search for presenters to host their own shows on the station from March 2021.

And finally...

• I’m A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! was ITV’s biggest show of the year, attracting an average of 11.2 million viewers across the series. The ITV Hub streaming service achieved record-breaking viewer performances in its programmes across daytime, drama, entertainment and factual throughout 2020. Love Island, ITV Daytime and I’m A Celebrity top the list of ITV Hub’s most-requested programmes in 2020.
• An Ofcom report on how to strengthen and maintain public service broadcasting says law and regulation must be overhauled and streaming services could be encouraged to provide such programming.
• Arqiva is standing down as a shareholder in Digital UK from March 2021. The BBC, ITV and C4 remain as shareholders in the organisation, which is responsible for developing and managing Freeview.
• Ski TV, a channel dedicated to skiing and featuring athlete interviews as well as programming on lifestyle, weather, resorts and sport, has launched in the UK on Freeview 271. It was already available worldwide via OTT networks such as Roku and Amazon.
• Papercup, a British AI startup which helped Sky News and YouTube creators translate their video content into foreign languages, has secured £8 million in funding to expand its speech-dubbing venture.
• Dad’s Army was the most-streamed Christmas show on BritBox.
• Martin Lambie-Nairn, the graphic designer who created Channel 4’s ‘blocks’ logo and co-created Spitting Image, has died at the age of 75.
• Christopher Walken is among the cast of Stephen Merchant’s The Offenders (working title), a new six-part series. Merchant also stars in the show, filming for which has resumed in Bristol. It will air on BBC One and Amazon Prime Video.
• UK broadband usage more than doubled in 2020, according to data from Openreach, the UK’s largest broadband network.

Thank you for reading this year’s final edition of In The Frame… . All of us at Frame 25 wish you a happy and prosperous 2021.

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