WTDaBuzz · Research · 17 October 2026
A growing video market does not mean every supplier or commissioner inside it has a growing revenue base. Ofcom’s latest UK evidence makes that distinction visible for businesses selling programming and services to different kinds of customer.
Media Nations 2026 records UK commercial television and online-video revenue of £18.4 billion in 2025, up 7%. Within that market, commercial broadcaster revenue fell from £4.98 billion to £4.83 billion. The aggregate and the broadcaster component moved in different directions.
Match the market evidence to the customer
A production company should identify which kinds of buyer support its own pipeline. A national market total provides context, but the company’s exposure may be concentrated in one part of that market.
A hypothetical supplier with mainly broadcaster customers should therefore keep the broadcaster evidence visible in its planning. It should not use the wider growth rate as a direct forecast of what those customers will spend on its services.
Separate revenue from commissioning decisions
The published revenue trend does not establish the outcome of a particular programme proposal. A buyer may make different decisions across genres, schedules and strategic priorities.
The useful follow-up is current evidence about the specific customer: the brief, the decision stage and the next conversation. That keeps the commercial forecast tied to actual opportunities rather than an undifferentiated market headline.
Retain the definition in an international comparison
A UK measure combining commercial television and online video should not be casually compared with another country’s subscription-only figure. The analyst needs to preserve the categories and period that explain each total.
Ofcom’s split is valuable precisely because it prevents the larger number from erasing the smaller segment’s experience. For global entertainment companies, a more useful market view connects each trend to the business model and buyer group it actually describes.
Image: Illustrative streaming television, Nicolas J Leclercq / Unsplash; not a measured Ofcom household.