BBC's Gavin and Stacey and Wallace and Gromit hit 20m viewing mark, Oscars spotlight, RTS event reflections, latest Staff Profile, plus other news...

1. The return of Wallace and Gromit and Gavin and Stacey have benefitted from an extended run on BBC iPlayer.

The latest 28 day viewing data confirms Gavin and Stacey: The Finale at 20.9m viewers after 28 days, while Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl has also broken through the 20m mark reaching 21.6 million. The claymation adventure has seen a huge uplift with audiences, particularly children.

Charlotte Moore, BBC’s Chief Content Officer says: “These figures exceed all expectations, to reach over 20 million is an astonishing milestone in 2025. These two quintessentially British shows couldn’t be more different but what unites them is their undeniable quality and the fact they are best in class.

News Source Broadband TV News : https://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2025/01/23/bbc-christmas-shows-gavin-and-stacey-wallace-and-gromit-break-through-the-20-million-mark/

2 .Sustainable solutions have the potential to reap huge energy savings across the video entertainment industry, according to research from Futuresource Consulting and InterDigital, Inc. .

The research estimates that the TV and video streaming industry accounts for 4% of total global emissions – double that of the aviation industry, at 2%

The report, Spotlight on Sustainability: Towards a greener TV and video value chain, analyses the carbon footprint created by the video entertainment industry, from the point of production to delivery, and consumption. The paper also examines emerging solutions to mitigate the environmental impact across the video value chain.

News Source Broadband TV News : https://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2025/01/23/video-streaming-emissions-double-that-of-aviation-industry/

3. Banijay Entertainment , the company behind shows Peaky Blinders, Big Brother and Deal or No Deal, is working with base and Amazon Web Services (AWS) to create a cloud-first content ecosystem.

The company intends to use AWS’ services alongside base’s product offering to?deliver a unified platform for its decentralised footprint.

News Source TVBEurope : https://www.tvbeurope.com/media-management/banijay-entertainment-selects-aws-as-preferred-cloud-provider

4. Channel 4 has partnered with the Department for Education (DfE) and its media agency MG OMD on a new branded entertainment series in the first half of the year.

As part of it's digital-first Fast Forward strategy, the broadcaster has sought to grow its social branded entertainment business.

The DfE will sponsor?How to Love Your Job, which aims to “encourage people to progress careers and grow awareness of roles within childcare and education”, according to Channel 4.

News Source The Media Leader UK : https://uk.themedialeader.com/channel-4-bets-on-social-branded-entertainment/

5. Whale TV has selected OneTrust , the platform?helping organisations use data and AI responsibly, to power privacy-first, personalised experiences across its streaming operations.

Whale TV will replace its existing consent management solutions with OneTrust’s Consent Management Platform (CMP) to centralise and simplify consumer compliance and preferences on its Whale TV operating system (OS) and owned and operated streaming apps such as Whale TV+ .

News Source Advanced Television : https://advanced-television.com/2025/01/24/whale-tv-announces-onetrust-as-consent-management-partner/

6. Prime Video is shifting a greater share of its overall TV spend to Britain, according to 亚马逊 UK boss Chris Bird .

Bird was speaking on a Royal Television Society panel predicting the year in UK TV, alongside the likes of Fremantle UK boss Amelia Brown , who said the industry has “lost its guts a bit” when it comes to taking risks.

Bird said Amazon commissioning budgets are “really healthy and strong” this year in Britain despite American contraction, and “as we go forward a greater share of investment at global level is centered here in the UK.” Last year, Amazon initiated a major international restructure that saw layoffs in the Africa and MENA regions as focus shifted to Europe, although there were also some European firings amid the downturn.

News Source Deadline Hollywood : https://deadline.com/2025/01/amazon-uk-commissioning-spend-mr-bates-lord-of-the-rings-1236263880/

7. TV presenter Jonathan Ross will return as host of ITV 's Oscars companion show this March for the second year running.

The chat show host, 64, will be joined by celebrity guests and film experts to discuss nominated films on the night of the 97th Academy Awards on Sunday March 2.

There will also be coverage of the ceremony, which begins at midnight, after presenter Ross King goes live on the red carpet at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

News Source The Independent : https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/itv-jonathan-ross-oscars-emma-stone-dolby-theatre-b2684581.html

8. Max and Starz are joining forces in a new streaming bundle launching on Prime Video in the U.S.

The offering will cost $20.99 a month, about 25% less than the price of signing up to each one individually. Along with Roku , 亚马逊 's Prime Video is one of the primary gateways for streaming in the U.S.

The streaming services’ parent companies, Warner Bros. Discovery (Max) and Lionsgate (Starz) have been pursuing bundled offerings as they seek greater scale.

News Source Deadline Hollywood : https://deadline.com/2025/01/max-starz-streaming-bundle-prime-video-1236263549/

Oscars 2025 - Where to watch the best picture nominees

Congratulations from everyone at PA TV Metadata to the 10 films selected as Best Picture at this year’s Academy Awards, which will be broadcast live on ITV in the early hours of Monday March 3 (GMT).

Here’s where you can currently watch, stream, rent and buy the nominated films in the UK and Ireland.

RTS TV Predictions 2025 reflections

This week we attended the Royal Television Society's highly anticipated industry 2025 TV Predictions event at the Cavendish Conference Centre in London.

Here are some of our key takeaways from the event, which featured respected speakers from major streaming providers and broadcasters including Amazon, BBC and Channel 4.

??Addressability - With enriched and accurate metadata to help quickly discover content, TV advertising can be more addressable to the audience, offering a more personalised and specific experience for users that can reduce irrelevant audience reach.

??Production costs - A shift in the type of content that is being produced was becoming evident. With rising production costs, we should see more engaging dramas reliant on good scripts and characterisation, rather than big budgets.

??Women and sport - A huge area of growth with the Women's Euros this summer, heightened by the Lionesses' defence of the championship they won in 2022. A bigger spotlight on female sporting events and key events alternating with the men's calendars means a bigger spread for advertisers. Activity is no longer focused just on even years of the men's football game.

??Micro-communities - There was mention of future broadcast events including coverage of a chess tournament. A risky venture, some critics might argue but given the success of content devoted to sewing and baking, these micro-community TV events are here to stay.

Many thanks to the Royal Television Society for hosting an insightful event. Their YouTube channel will publish a live recording of the event next week: https://www.youtube.com/@RoyalTelevisionSociety

Staff Profile - Rachel Farrow, Senior Operations Manager

PA’s TV Page Ready listings team recently merged with the TV Metadata division to create a unified TV content powerhouse with a remit to support newspapers and magazines with print and digital TV listings content.

Senior Operations Manager, Rachel Farrow plays a key role in the delivery of this service.

In our latest staff profile, Rachel provides insights into the merger of listings and metadata and the exciting opportunities for customers.

As a PA stalwart who started as a Production Trainee almost 20 years ago, Rachel reminisces fondly about her career journey, recalls some of her proudest moments with her team and looks ahead to what’s on the horizon in 2025.

Read her staff profile here: https://lnkd.in/er2xQn_y

If you have a story or an opinion piece you would like to contribute, get in contact with the team here.

Stay tuned for next week's article.