“Goliath of digital support.”
Hollyoaks has won the Best Digital Support for a Programme award for the third year in a row at the Broadcast Digital Awards 2024.
One judge described the soap as the “Goliath of digital support” with its streaming-first format and bonus online content, while another said it brings “difficult subjects to the forefront in a social-first way”.
One example of this was during the ‘Ode to My Juliet’ episode. The storyline tackled teenage cancer and saw Juliet Nightingale diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. She later died from the disease.
During the special episode, viewers were encouraged to use the hashtag #OdeToMyJuliet to share their own experiences of the issue.
The hashtag was viewed two million times, with a judge describing it as an “impressive example of social delivering meaningful impact”.
Another judge described the ‘Death of an Influencer’ episode as a “lovely way to bring content creators into the storylines and build the Hollyoaks brand out to a youth audience”.
In the episode, influencer Rayne Royce was found dead in the swimming pool as part of a whodunnit storyline and featured cameos from real-life influencers.
The judges said Hollyoaks “continues to find new ways to appeal to its audiences outside of its linear offering and is standalone in its own right”.
Other winners at the awards ceremony included BBC Three winning Channel of the Year, Rob and Romesh Vs… picked up the award for Best Entertainment Programme and Slow Horses won Best Drama Programme.
Hollyoaks streams first online via Channel 4 each weekday at 7.30pm. Episodes then air on E4 the following day, before getting their YouTube premiere a week after that.
