Channel 4 recorded its biggest-ever month of streaming in October – including records for a single day’s views – driven by Married at First Sight UK and The Great British Bake Off.
The industry data released by Barb showed the channel registered 6.7 billion viewer minutes in October – the largest since official data was first recorded in November 2021.
Explosive exits, dramatic dinner parties, and whole lot of love and marital bliss in between, saw MAFS UK captivate viewers and become the biggest on-demand show on the streaming platform across the month. MAFS UK also became the biggest title across all broadcaster VOD in October for all viewers and for those aged 16-34, with VOD viewing for the show up +95% on October last year. The show registered 1.5 billion viewer minutes, with 45% of the programme’s total viewing in the month coming from VOD alone. Taskmaster, Gogglebox, Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, Partygate, Rick and Morty and The Great British Bake Off were the final ingredients that helped the ratings rise to new heights.
Wednesday 25 October ended as the biggest single day for Channel 4 streaming with 268 million viewer minutes, boosted by episodes of Channel 4 fan favourite programmes including The Great British Bake Off and MAFS UK from across the current series and the archive. These iconic shows, which have garnered a dedicated fan base over the years, continue to resonate with audiences and draw viewers of all ages. Channel 4’s ability to consistently produce and curate top-tier content is a testament to its commitment to delivering fresh, entertaining, and thought-provoking programming.
Channel 4 streaming’s single biggest VOD episode in the month was episode two of The Great British Bake Off, with a VOD average audience of 2.9 million, from its total audience in the month of 10.1 million, shortly followed by an episode of MAFS UK with a VOD average audience of 1.4 million, proving that the line-up of classic programmes, coupled with new and exciting offerings, has proven to be a winning formula.
Channel 4’s Chief Content Officer Ian Katz said: “I’m delighted to see viewers flocking to Channel 4 streaming in record numbers to enjoy brilliant shows – both live and on demand. For some time, Channel 4’s strategy has been to prioritise programmes that drive digital growth and become the UK’s public service streamer. The MAFS juggernaut keeps rolling, but this performance was a real team effort, with new titles, Channel 4 classics and Channel 4 News all contributing to our best-ever streaming performance. And November has got off to a brilliant start with Banged Up: Stars Behind Bars notching up our biggest-ever streaming launch for an unscripted format.”
Other new programmes and Channel 4 favourites contributed to the record-breaking month – with Hollyoaks, Made in Chelsea, Four in a Bed, Don’t Look Down for SU2C, Taskmaster, In Love & Toxic: Blue Therapy, Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, Channel 4 News and Gogglebox all featuring, as well as full boxsets including Frasier, The Big Bang Theory, Scandal, The Inbetweeners and The Good Doctor.
The record-breaking streaming figures underscore Channel 4’s digital-first strategy and follow the move to bring all Channel 4 services under a single brand across streaming and linear channels.
Channel 4’s previous biggest month came in April earlier this year, where audiences streamed more than five billion minutes of Channel 4 content.
Notes to Editors
• Channel 4 streaming has 28m+ registered users – including 85% of the UK’s young people
• Total streaming minutes as recorded by Barb show double-digit growth year on year for Channel 4 streaming – Jan-Oct 2023 was up +17%
• *Barb (Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board) is the broadcast industry’s standard for determining what people are watching
Source
Channel 4
