Bluey’s booming licensing business helped the BBC’s commercial arm hit record revenues of US$2.9 billion (£2.2 billion) in its 2024/2025 financial period, up from US$2.5 billion (£1.9 billion) year over year. 

The broadcaster released its annual report today, painting a positive picture buoyed by its kids brands. On average, 70% of under-16s in the UK consumed BBC content via TV/iPlayer, radio or online every week in 2024/2025, and this group also averaged four weekly hours on its platforms, according to the Beeb. 

The BBC launched 340 hours of original children’s programming in 2024/2025. And it also made strides to put its content on more platforms, such as releasing Newsround videos on YouTube and launching an educational hub on Roblox. 

In particular, the pubcaster cited the success of children’s smash hit Bluey, which became the most-watched series in the US across all genres in 2024, generating more than 55 billion minutes of watch time. The brand will probably keep driving revenue in future reports, since it’s expanding with a feature film that’s due out theatrically and on Disney+ in 2027. 

Also largely thanks to Bluey, BBC Studios Digital Brands—which handles the BBC’s social and YouTube growth—reached a global weekly audience of 40 million people in 17 languages. And digital-first series Bluey’s Book Reads has more than 75 million views.  

BBC Commercial’s EBITDA was up by 15% to US$305 million (£228 million). But despite these successes, the Beeb’s commercial arm didn’t hide the fact that it’s facing challenges.

This revenue isn’t enough “to plug the gap” left by the declining number of households paying the license fee to view its channels, which earned the broadcaster US$5 billion—30% less income than in 2010/2011, according to a release. This revenue increase also doesn’t counter the industry’s rising costs of production. And the Beeb is facing obstacles like a decline in global co-productions, audiences shifting their viewing to streaming, and macroeconomic uncertainties, said BBC Commercial CEO Tom Fussell in the report. 

The BBC is on a mission to save more than US$900 million every year by March 2028, and one of the ways it’s been doing this is by cutting staff. In early 2025, it laid off roughly 400 employees. As of March 31, the BBC Group employed 21,508 full-time employees, down from 21,918 in 2023/2024.