Netflix overtakes BBC1 for the first time ever thanks to ratings hits like Baby Reindeer and Black Doves

NETFLIX became more popular than BBC1 last year with huge hits such as Baby Reindeer, Bridgerton and Keira Knightley’s Black Doves.

It overtook the channel for the first time from September to November.

The US-based streaming giant, which now has 17million subscribers in the UK, had already topped the popularity of ITV in March 2023.

A TV insider said: “This is further proof that Netflix is taking a big bite out of the traditional terrestrial TV market with an increasing focus on big entertainment shows and hugely popular dramas

“It will once again raise the question as to whether the public service broadcasters are still delivering viewers what they want and will fuel the debate over the BBC licence fee is still value for money.”

The BBC clawed back some of its popularity in December with Christmas shows including Gavin & Stacey and the new Wallace & Gromit animation.

But in the three months before, Netflix’s average audience reach was 43.2million, compared with BBC1’s 42.3million.

Reach measures the number who watched a TV service for at least three consecutive minutes in a month.

A BBC spokeswoman said: “To compare a single broadcast channel with an entire SVOD service is meaningless in an on-demand world.

“We are digital first and nearly all of our comedy and drama is released as a day one drop on BBC iPlayer.

“The BBC portfolio is almost twice the size of Netflix over the year and bigger than all of the SVODs put together.

“BBC iPlayer is the fastest growing TV streaming service in the UK.”