UKTV dials up Dave's digital content offering and expands social division to deliver online growth

Hyder, Big Zuu and Tubsey in brand-new Big Zuu's Wrap Clash

2 June 2021

Five original short-form shows commissioned for Daves social media channels including a YouTube spin-off of BAFTA & RTS-nominated Big Zuus Big Eats

Recruitment underway for five new roles to grow UKTVs social media business

UKTV has commissioned five short-form comedy shows for its Dave branded social channels in a move to serve online audiences with unique, bespoke and sharable comedy content, and to amplify up and coming talent.

Those include two shorts for Daves YouTube; Big Zuus Wrap Clash (6x8) - a brand-new food competition and a spin-off of Daves BAFTA & RTS-nominated TV series Big Zuus Big Eats, and Who Cares? (6x8) - hosted and produced by Chicken Shop Date creator Amelia Dimoldenberg.

Exclusively for Daves Facebook, UKTV and BBC Studios have commissioned The Comedy Guide to Life (8x7) - featuring stand-up comics offering witty and punchy observations on modern life, BackChat (8x7) - a comedy talk radio show for Facebook created by Ciaran Bartlett and Luke Mason, and Bad Advice with Olga Koch (8 x7) - an eight-part comedy chat show with some of the brightest comedy minds.

A team of social media experts are also being recruited to manage Daves Facebook and YouTube channels to increase UKTVs engagement with viewers and fans. A video manager, video editor, junior social analyst, deliverables co-ordinator and a community manager will join the business this year. Theyll work closely with the UKTV commissioning team and Dave channel director when new short-form ideas are pitched for the channels social platforms.

Erina Jones, UKTVs head of social and online said:

Creating unique short-form series for Daves social platforms will increase our offering of entertaining, funny and relatable content in the online world. Its an incredible opportunity to test out new formats, work with a new generation of talent and extend the enjoyment of our popular Dave Originals for existing fans, and hopefully entice a wave of new fans too. Daves mission is to be as funny on social media as it is on air and we want people to enjoy spending time with us wherever they are. Our followers can now look forward to these new and exclusive shows on a weekly basis over the coming months.

Since its relaunch in December 2020, the Dave YouTube channel has seen a 312% increase in views and it now counts 24k subscribers. The channels Facebook page has garnered over 157k new followers and grown by 33% in the last 12 months.

Andrea Amey, who joined UKTV in December to lead the companys digital strategy said:

UKTVs channels are incredibly strong but its important we have something on offer for viewers who might not watch our shows in the traditional way, on linear TV. Younger audiences are spending increasing amounts of time on social media, so by creating bespoke and bite-sized shows online, I hope theyll find something they enjoy featuring Daves well-known witty tone. When editorially appropriate, well also premiere the best of Daves short-form content on our on-demand service, UKTV Play.

Daves YouTube shorts have been commissioned by Mark Iddon, commissioning editor at UKTV, with development from Natalie Rose. Who Cares? is produced by Dimoldenbergs new indie, Dimz Inc. and Big Zuus Wrap Clash comes from Boom.

The Comedy Guide to Life, Bad Advice with Olga Koch and BackChat are commissioned by Mark Iddon for UKTV and Jasmine Dawson, SVP for digital consumer engagement, on behalf of BBC Studios. All three are produced by BBC Studios. Sarah Asante, UKTVs scripted commissioning editor, is executive producer for BackChat.

Big Zuus Wrap Clash will be available at 5pm today here and further episodes will drop every Wednesday and Monday ahead of the TX of Big Zuus Big Eats on Dave. The series will see grime artist turned TV chef Big Zuu challenge some of the UKs hottest social media personalities to create a better wrap than him and features guests including, Henrie, Kojey Radical, Alhan Gencay, Ray BLK, Amelia Dimoldenberg and Big Zuus partners in crime themselves, Tubsey and Hyder. The series is directed by Adrian Choa and series produced by Alex Gilman, with Rohan Minhas as producer and Sam Grace as executive producer for Boom.

Mark said:

Everyone knows that Big Zuu delivers the tightest raps, but can anyone beat him in the food truck and produce a better wrap? Big Zuu has been a huge hit with Dave viewers so its great that Big Zuus Wrap Clash is launching on YouTube to coincide with series two of Big Zuus Big Eats. Im also excited for Dave fans to see all the other great shows weve commissioned for YouTube and Facebook coming soon.

Who Cares? is premiering on Daves YouTube this month. Each episode will see Amelia pose a selection of questions to the UK public on burning issues - be it political, social, celebrity or fast-fashion - using her unique interview style. The series is directed and produced by Amelia Dimoldenberg.

Clips from UKTV Originals Hypothetical, Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable and Meet The Richardsons have proved popular with Daves current YouTube audience and have accumulated over three million views in total so far. The most-watched video on the platform now, with nearly two million views, is Josh Widdicombe and James Acaster trying not to mention the Covid pandemic in a video titled What Pandemic?

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For more information, please contact:

Ali Laurie, Senior Publicist, UKTV

About UKTV

UKTV has been at the forefront of branded television for over 25 years, entertaining the nation with programmes they love. Its leading brands - Dave, Gold, W, Drama, Alibi, Eden and Yesterday - span comedy, entertainment, natural history, factual and drama, and are delivered to audiences through UKTV Play, Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media, BT, TalkTalk, YouView, Freesat and Amazon Fire. The broadcaster is a significant inv

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