Latest UK streaming figures

In the third quarter of 2023, the number of UK households subscribing to video-on-demand services amounted to around 19.3 million.

Here are some of the latest stats from the biggest UK streaming services:

ITVX

ITVX started the year with 328 million streams in January alone, more than any other month on ITVX or its predecessor ITV Hub.

Sunday 28 January 2024 was the biggest single day for both the number of streams (14.8m) and streaming hours (6.1m) since December 2022.

The top shows and live events on ITVX in 2023 were:

1. Love Island All Stars – 43m streams
2. Mr. Bates V The Post Office – 22m streams
3. The FA Cup Liverpool v Norwich City – 11m streams
4. Trigger Point – 9m streams

With a monthly reach of 24.8 million, ITVX is the leading platform for commercial BVOD and since the rebranding to ITVX, there have been over 3 billion streams and over 40 million registered users.

The hours spent streaming on ITVX have increased by +60% since last year and there has been a +91% increase in awareness of the streaming service among adults.

1.5 million of 16-34-year-olds are using ITVX as the only way they watch content with 8-9 million of this age group watching ITVX monthly.

Channel 4

At the end of 2023, Channel 4 streaming had 28 million registered users. The amount of viewing minutes on Channel 4 exceeded 53.5 billion at the end of 2023, with a 24% rise.

Channel 4’s diverse programming contributed to a 24% year-on-year gain in viewership and nearly 10 billion more minutes in 2023.

The top streamed single episodes on Channel 4 in 2023 were:

1. The Great British Bake Off, Episode 1, Series 14 – 243 million viewing minutes
2. Russell Brand: In Plain Sight: Dispatches – 170 million viewing minutes

With a combined total of 6.8 billion viewer minutes, Married at First Sight Australia and Married at First Sight UK are the two most streamed programs of 2023.

Sky

SKY has a combined monthly reach of 47 million across linear & digital platforms with 42% of all adults watching Sky VOD every month.

Sky VOD has a 26% YOY viewing increase.

If you want to incorporate VOD advertising into your marketing mix, get in touch with us today!

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Sources: (Statista, 2023), (Kantar, 2023), ITVX, All4 & Sky

ITV’s New Platform ITVX

Yesterday saw the launch of ITV’s new and sparkly free streaming platform ITVX replacing ITV Hub as the new home of content for ITV. The new platform provides viewers with a more exciting and improved experience offering more new and exclusive programmes.

From launch, viewers will have access to over 10,000 hours of content in high definition, and ITVX will drop new and exclusive programmes every week of the year.

Viewers can look forward to seeing their favourite past and present programmes, plus documentaries, cult classics and hundreds of blockbuster films which will all now streamed for free.

All ITV’s channels will be available to livestream through ITVX, as well as additional themed channels (known as FAST channels), and a dedicated news section on ITVX.

ITVX will premiere a collection of top quality new dramas from 8th December, which will only be available for free on the streamer including A Spy Among Friends starring Damian Lewis and Guy Pearce. At least one flagship show will then launch on ITVX per week going forward.

Flagship ITV shows will all be available on ITVX on their first day of broadcast, allowing viewers to binge watch new dramas such as Stonehouse starring Matthew Macfadyen and Keeley Hawes. 

Over a thousand films will be made available to stream each year and ITVX will launch with an impressive array of documentaries and true crime collections plus factual commissions including The Rise and fall of Boris Becker.

Those viewers who love Science Fiction won’t be disappointed with a robust offering ranging from classics including Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet to the likes of Supernatural and Nikita. 

ITVX will represent a new and exciting way for news to be consumed by audiences. Viewers can expect to see a dedicated rail featuring the most significant and interesting stories, updated throughout the day.

ITVX’s Launch Campaign

ITVX, upon launching yesterday initiated a nationwide advertising campaign across TV, cinema, digital video, and outdoor.

The campaign aims to drive awareness, consideration and trial of ITVX and target “mainstreamers” with high impact and frequency during their launch period.

This is an audience segment, identified by research and first-party data, that increasingly watch TV content via streaming services, and are interested in “big, high quality, mainstream content”.

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