Channel 4 has extended its lead in the UK streaming market, retaining its position as the fastest-growing major commercial streamer in October on the back of record-breaking viewing among younger audiences.
Citing BARB data, the broadcaster said its streaming viewer minutes grew 24% year on year last month, reaching a new high of 8.6 billion minutes and outperforming other leading commercial streamers. The performance follows a record September in which Channel 4’s streaming minutes climbed 36% to more than 6 billion, as previously reported by Broadband TV News.
Channel 4 set several further records in October, including a best-ever month of 222 million views – the first time its streaming service has passed the 200 million monthly mark – and a record day of 7.7 million views on 7 October. The growth was driven by an “Altogether Different” line-up led by The Great British Bake Off, Married at First Sight UK, Educating Yorkshire, 24 Hours in Police Custody, Taskmaster, Hunted and Hollyoaks.
Chief content officer Ian Katz said the “record-breaking performance” underlined Channel 4’s transformation into a “public service streamer”, arguing that the mix of established franchises and newer reality, factual and entertainment formats is resonating with viewers and advertisers.
Among 16-34s, Channel 4 delivered 2.2 billion streaming viewer minutes across October, the highest volume of any commercial BVOD service, and remained the youngest-profiling player in the market with 27% of its audience in that age group. Six of the top 10 commercial BVOD titles for 16–34 viewer minutes came from Channel 4, led by Married At First Sight UK, which generated 683 million minutes – more than double Big Brother in second place – alongside Taskmaster on 124 million minutes and Educating Yorkshire on 80 million.
Streaming is now the dominant way younger viewers watch the broadcaster: 59% of Channel 4’s 16-34 viewing came via streaming in October, an all-time high and ahead of other British commercial broadcasters. Linear performance remains strong, with Channel 4 claiming six of the top 10 commercial linear titles among 16–34s in the month, including The Great British Bake Off (814,000 viewers), 24 Hours in Police Custody (435,000) and Gogglebox (294,000).
