We announced on Wednesday six new original dramas we are producing and which are set to air in the next 18 months.  

Alongside the world-class talent involved, the exciting thing for us is they are just the tip of the iceberg.  They are six of the more than 100 dramas we have in production and development across Europe, alongside hundreds more which we are in active discussions about. We want our own original productions to become even more of a reason people choose and stay with Sky.  

Our customers have responded really positively to our increased investment and our reputation as a story teller has grown. The likes of Fortitude, and Stan Lee’s Lucky Man, have been critically acclaimed as well as breaking viewing records for Sky 1 and Sky Atlantic.  In the case of The Enfield Haunting and The Last Panthers we secured BAFTA nominations. New shows The Tunnel: Sabotage and The Five have had really strong starts with the opening episodes of both series on course to be watched by well over one million viewers.

These shows have been successful not only because of the great writing and acting but because of the growing ways we make them available to customers to enjoy whenever and wherever they want.

How customers watch TV is continuing to change and quicker than the tools used by the industry to measure consumption can currently keep up with.   As an organisation we are running hard to stay ahead of customers in terms of both the content and technology we offer.

What we have seen is the more flexibility you give people in terms of how and when they can watch a show – live, on demand and on the go - the bigger the audience we can build over time. 

A great example is Sky Atlantic.  Since it launched five years ago it has evolved from a live channel to one in which half of all viewing is now on demand and for some shows it’s as much as 80%.  An episode of a new drama can typically expect its audience to at least treble in the first week after it premieres with it continuing to grow in the months that follow as customers watch recordings or see it on demand as part of a box set.

It means we don’t worry about overnight audiences and can take on challenging projects that offer customers something truly different and ambitious. 

A great example would be The Last Panthers.  To ensure viewers got the most authentic experience lots of scenes were in Serbian with English subtitles. What we found was that viewing really spiked at Christmas – six or so weeks after it originally aired – as customers used their time off to watch episodes.  They recognised it was something they needed to concentrate on to enjoy.

We think carefully about how we curate shows for customers. There isn’t a one size fits all approach. Game of Thrones will always work best as a once a week show in line with the US schedule as its part of a global conversation. For The Tunnel: Sabotage, a show with a real hook, as well as airing it live each week, we made all episodes available as a box set so customers could watch them all at once if they wanted to.   

We have lots more exciting projects in the pipeline and the next few years promise to be biggest ever for Sky’s own shows.