The most interesting question in UK streaming right now isn’t which global platform is biggest – it’s how global platforms and homegrown broadcasters are starting to look increasingly alike. May 2026 illustrated that tension clearly, with international streaming services and UK broadcasters competing across the same connected TV surfaces, often deploying the same playbooks. The May U.K. Streamer of the Month report explores how that contest translated into visibility rankings across the country’s streaming services.

International platforms dominated May’s top positions, with live sport and premium originals each proving their worth as visibility drivers. Netflix had a particularly distinctive month, reinforcing something the wider industry is beginning to accept: the lines between a streaming service and a broadcaster have genuinely blurred – and Netflix winning Broadcaster of the Year at the Broadcast Awards 2026 made that point more literally than most. How the global platforms stacked up against one another, and against the domestic competition, is explored in the May U.K. Streamer of the Month report.

UK broadcasters were far from absent. BBC iPlayer held a strong position throughout the month, driven in part by one of May’s most unusual visibility stories: Sir David Attenborough’s 100th birthday prompted a wave of promotional activity across multiple competing platforms simultaneously, with broadcasters and streaming services alike curating Attenborough programming in his honour. It was a reminder that cultural authority still converts into connected TV prominence, even in a landscape increasingly shaped by data-driven discovery.

May also arrived with a significant regulatory backdrop that points to where the market is heading. Ofcom’s proposed framework – which would bring major streaming platforms under broadcast-style UK regulation for the first time – signals just how fully streaming has entered the mainstream. 

So which services topped the UK streaming rankings in May 2026, which titles drove the strongest visibility, and how did global platforms, domestic broadcasters and cultural moments combine to shape the month’s competitive landscape? Full app rankings, title analysis and device insights are available in the May U.K. Streamer of the Month report.