Advanced Television: Prime Video UK announces 20 additional primetime NBA games

Story from Advanced Television:

Prime Video has announced an additional 20 regular-season games for the 2025-26 NBA on Prime schedule, tipping-off at primetime for viewers in the UK & Ireland.

Deadline: UK Culture Secretary Criticizes Streamers & ‘MasterChef’ Producer Banijay For Refusing To Fund Bullying & Harassment Complaints Body

Story from Deadline:

Lisa Nandy has voiced her disapproval at major TV players declining to pay annual fees to the UK industry’s new independent bullying and harassment complaints body.

Deadline: Streamer Spend On British TV Topped £850M For First Time Last Year, Pact Research Finds, As John McVay Accuses Channel 4 Of “Snarkiness” Over ‘Adolescence’ Row

Story from Deadline:

Streamer spend on British TV shows comfortably topped $1B last year, according to Pact’s latest census, with chief John McVay rowing in behind the American giants to accuse Channel 4 of “snarkiness” over the Adolescence row that rocked the Edinburgh TV Festival.

Advanced Television; Forecast: UK SVoD revenues to overtake pay-TV by 2029

Story from Advanced Television:

The UK video entertainment market is holding its course, with total consumer spend expected to rise 2% in 2025 to £11.4 billion according to Futuresource Consulting’s latest Video Insights UK report, which highlights SVoD as the powerhouse of growth, alongside a stronger year for box office and signs of stabilisation in transactional video.

Bundesliga UK TV Rights

Bundesliga UK TV Rights:

Advanced Television: Sky Sports launching Multiview for supersized Super Sundays

Story from Advanced Television:

At a press event at its Osterley HQ, Sky Sports has showcased how football fans will be able to follow this season’s Premier League action in new ways, with “supersized” Super Sunday coverage and innovations across TV, apps and social.

New FAST channels added to Prime Video UK

The following FAST channels have been added to Prime Video UK:

Advanced Television; Data: UK SVoD nears 20m subs

Story from Advanced Television:

Worldpanel by Numerator has found that paid-for ad supported streaming services are on track to surpass ad free services in UK households by Q2 2026.

Variety: ‘Neighbours’ Wraps Final Production for Prime Video as 40-Year Australian Soap Ends Revival With ‘Possibilities for a Future Chapter’

Story from Variety:

Production on the iconic Australian soap opera “Neighbours” has officially wrapped for Prime Video, with the cast filming their final scenes at Nunawading studios on Friday.

Broadband TV News: Amazon’s Freevee to shutter next month

Story from Broadband TV News:

Amazon has confirmed the final closure of its ad-supported streaming service Freevee.

Variety: U.K. Government Formally Rejects Streaming Levy, Doubles Down on Mixed Production Ecology

Story from Variety:

The U.K. government has firmly rejected calls for a 5% levy on streaming platforms and mandatory IP retention rules, instead emphasizing the benefits of a “mixed ecology” that welcomes both international investment and local production in its formal response to parliamentary recommendations on British film and high-end television.

Advanced Television: Prime Video UK acquires True Crime package from Story Films

Story from Advanced Television:

All3Media International has partnered with Prime Video on a new true crime title package from prodco Story Films, which will debut on Prime Video in the UK and Ireland this year.

BBC News: How can traditional British TV survive the US streaming giants?

Story from BBC News:

Just before Christmas, in a private dining room in the upmarket Charlotte Street Hotel in the heart of London's Fitzrovia area, the BBC's director general gathered some of the UK's leading TV creatives and executives for lunch.

Advanced Television; Report: UK advertising records £42.6bn spend in 2024

Story from Advanced Television:

The latest Advertising Association/WARC Expenditure Report shows that the UK’s ad market recorded a 10.4% increase in investment to a total of £42.6 billion in 2024.

Variety: U.K. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy Rules Out Streamer Levy

Story from Variety:

British Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has firmly rejected proposals for a levy on streaming platforms operating in the U.K., despite recent recommendations from a parliamentary committee suggesting such a measure could help support the country’s television drama sector.

Advanced Television; Data: Prime Video, Apple TV+ lead new subs in Q1

Story from Advanced Television:

Kantar, the marketing data and analytics company, has revealed growing adoption of ad-supported streaming, strong competition between Prime Video and Apple TV+, and a breakout performance by Mubi, which recorded its best-ever quarter in the Entertainment on Demand (EoD) GB streaming market data.

Hollywood Reporter: That U.K. Netflix Tax? Not Going to Happen. But Streamers May Get Dragged Into Trump’s Trade War

Story from Hollywood Reporter:

Just days after Netflix announced record viewing figures for British series phenomenon Adolescence — the drama racked up 114 million views in just 24 days on the platform, making it the 4th most successful English-language series of all time on Netflix — the U.K. Parliament heard how its local TV industry is “under threat” and that global streamers are part of the problem.

Deadline: Prime Video Buys Docs On The Kray Twins & The Murder Of Joanna Yeates As Part Of Ten-Title Deal With Sphere Abacus

Story from Deadline:

The life of the notorious Kray twins and the murder of British architect Joanna Yeates are among the latest true crime stories headed to Prime Video.

Broadband TV News: Vodafone and Three planning TV service following merger

Story from Broadband TV News:

Vodafone and Three are working on plans to launch their own TV service following their £15 billion UK merger.

Broadcast: What the UK can learn from France’s streamer regulations

Story from Broadcast:

With MPs calling for a domestic streamer levy, how are French attempts to regulate US streamers faring?