Sales of British shows to American buyers soared above $1B for the first time in 2024, but it was by no means just the streamers buying into the British invasion, according to Pact‘s latest UK TV Exports report.

The U.S. was comfortably the biggest market for UK shows last year, accounting for 40% of sales overall and increasing spend by 34% to hit a record £797M ($1.04B). Pact, the UK producer trade body, highlighted the likes of PBS Masterpiece’s All Creatures Great and Small, and Ludwig, which sold to BritBox, as success stories, along with Doctor Who, although the latter has just been ditched by Disney+ after only two seasons.

Disney’s decision to drop Doctor Who appears to reflect Pact’s finding that it was the traditional broadcast networks, not the streamers, that drove the soaring sales. Streamer spend on British content plateaued, comprising just 33% of the total £2.02B overall sales of British shows. Broadcast networks made up 50%, with Pact’s report speculating that the increase in broadcast share may be “indicative of the increased BVoD and adjacent linear licensing activity that has been growing in global markets.”

Pact’s report said the figures come “despite US media companies creating significant challenges over the past three years.” Last year in particular was characterized by major strategic rethinks and boardoom shifts at the big American streamers and traditional media companies. According to the Pact report, the percentage of distributors selling shows to the streamers dipped for all SVoDs, from Netflix to Paramount+ to Roku. During the prior year, this figure had risen for all streamers bar Peacock and HBO Max (then Max).

Compiled by 3Vision, the report covers off exports and so doesn’t incorporate direct commissions like Netflix’s Adolescence or Fool Me Once. During the same time period, streamer spend on these UK commissions in fact hit a record high, per a separate Pact report from a few weeks back.

The increased sales to America will no doubt please British content makers and sellers. The trend looks to have continued into 2025, with Deadline recently revealing that BBC double Reunion and The Guest, along with ITV’s Coldwater, had sold to Showtime.

A strong year for British TV exports saw overall sales return to growth, following a dip in 2023. Other nations spending big on British fare included Australia, which increased spend by 22% to £195M, France, which rose a whopping 61% to £130M, and Germany, up 4% to £122M. The only big nation to decrease spend was India, which fell 11% to £20M. “While conditions remain challenging, businesses are working harder for revenues and finding more innovative ways to window and sell content,” said the report.

Co-productions in 2024 rose by 5% to £126M, a figure that may fall in 2025 during a year that has been labeled by some as being one of co-pro crisis.

“Increased costs of production” was flagged by all distributors as having the biggest potential impact on sales over the comng year. This was followed by a “lack of financing support from commissioners” and, as sale rumors swirl around Warner Bros. Discovery, “further consolidation/M&A activity.”

Pact CEO John McVay said: “The report shows that yet again despite the global economic challenges, British TV content continues to be attractive to international audiences. Although experiences for each distributor varies, the strength and quality of library catalogues is proving to be important as we navigate these difficulties over the coming years.”