It's 'Bluey House' now, as London awards show for its cultural success

Bluey arrives at Australia House in London with a brass band playing. ()

Bluey has received a special recognition award from the Australian High Commissioner in London acknowledging its significant cultural impact in the UK and around the world.

Australia House was transformed into “Bluey House” for the ceremony on Sunday morning, which featured a marching band procession, much to the delight of young onlookers.

As Bluey appeared out of Australia’s oldest diplomatic mission, the beloved character was greeted to loud cheers and applause.

“It’s great that Bluey has expanded all over the world and it’s not just an Australian thing,” 14-year-old Henry said.

Eight-year-old Annaliese found the performance “amazing” and “the music was really catchy”.

High Commissioner Stephen Smith said this was a special one-off award.

“I will award today the highest honour I’m authorised to give,” he said.

Show creator Joe Brumm paid tribute to “everyone who helped bring Bluey to life”.

“Our beautiful country is a character in the show just as much as any of the dogs, so to have brought it into the living rooms of the whole world, encouraging people to come and visit is something I’ll always be proud of,” he said in a statement.

Worldwide cultural success

There are more than 150 episodes of the show which is one of the most watched children’s programs internationally.

In the United States, the show had a viewership of 43.9 billion minutes last year, second only to the legal drama Suits, according to a Nielsen report.

But Bluey doesn’t just captivate people on screens.

This award recognises Bluey’s overall cultural impact, and there are numbers to back it up.

New figures released show in 2023:

• British children aged between three and six spent 110 million hours playing with Bluey toys
• Over one million hours were spent playing Bluey video games
• Globally, families spent over 700,000 hours at Bluey related live events 

Back home, the most recent season has attracted more than 11 million total views.

High Commissioner Stephen Smith said the show was a “fantastic cultural ambassador for Australia”.

“It allows modern day Australian stories to be taken to the world,” he said.

More than 60 countries broadcast Bluey, with the success of the show playing a role in soft diplomacy.

“It enables us through our creative and cultural diplomacy to create links with the United Kingdom in a way in which otherwise is not possible,” Mr Smith said.

The award ceremony coincided with an unexpected extra episode of the show titled Surprise!.

Cancellation rumours have recently been circulating online but a producer of the program confirmed to BBC Radio 4 last week the show would be returning.

Stream the new Bluey episode, Surprise!, on ABC iview now, and catch Bluey’s 28-minute special The Sign on ABC iview.