Contenders Ready! Reflecting on the success of the Gladiators re-boot amongst family audiences

3rd April 2024 11:32

By Helen Menzies, Research Director

Have you been watching the re-boot of Gladiators on the BBC? We certainly have in my house and according to the data we are not alone. Gladiators has been a huge hit for the BBC, in fact it has been the biggest entertainment launch for a new series in seven years with 28 day figures showing that 9.8m viewers watched the first episode, with the series averaging 8.3 million viewers in the run up to the final. Unsurprisingly, a second series has already been commissioned.

As a Millennial parent, I could certainly feel the power of the Gladiators. I was 8 years old when it was first broadcast in 1992 and I was so excited when I heard it was returning as it meant I could share it with my 6 year old son. The re-boot has been timed perfectly to tap into a desire for nostalgic co-viewing, where parents can re-live their youth enjoying movies and shows from the 90s, along with their children. With wars around the world, the cost of living and climate crises, it is no wonder that increasingly many people want to escape into the welcoming, safe arms of TV entertainment.

However, family co-viewing has declined significantly since the 90s. When Gladiators was first broadcast there was much less choice on TV, with only 4 main free-to-air channels plus Sky if you were lucky. According to Barb (the industry’s standard for understanding what people watch) there were 17 reported channels in 1992. That compares to a whopping 279 reported channels in 2023, not to mention the myriad of streaming services such as Disney Plus and Netflix that many families now have access to.

With so much choice and often multiple screens (in multiple rooms), families are less likely than ever to sit down and watch the same thing at the same time. In some recent qualitative research we ran with families, one of the Dads in our study said,

“I guarantee you right now downstairs at the moment my wife is in the front room watching the television, my youngest daughter will be sat next to her on her iPad watching YouTube and my elder daughter will be in the other room watching something on Netflix or Disney+.” Gladiators has bucked this trend and has become appointment to view television for many families on a Saturday night.

A great deal of the success of the re-boot is down to the fact that so much of the original format has been left un-changed. Sitting down to watch it as adults we were exclaiming with glee as old favourites such as Duel and Gauntlet came on, not to mention the Travelator! It brought back such happy memories and parents’ excitement for the show rubs off on their kids. With family-friendly action, ‘easy to hate’ characters such as Viper, and easily repeatable catchphrases, the show ticks so many boxes.

Gladiators, Ready!

The grand final aired at the end of March and the foam fingers have now been packed away until Series 2. In the fight for Saturday night ratings, it will be interesting to see what, if anything, can fill the Gladiator sized hole in the schedule until then.

If you want to find out what children, young people and their families are thinking, contact our kids and youth specialist Research Director, Helen Menzies.