MAFS UK drives 1,200 years of viewing and biggest streaming day for Channel 4 as most watched British commercial streaming title

18 October 2024

• MAFS helps ensure October 16 was biggest day ever for Channel 4 streaming
• Launch show of Great British Bake Off most streamed episode on commercial streaming
• Channel 4 streaming continues to outpace market; viewing minutes up 21% year on year
• Growth fuelled by new series of Celebs Go Dating & Trump’s Heist, plus debut of The Great

Married at First Sight UK was the most streamed show across British commercial broadcaster on-demand (BVOD) platforms* in September, with fans binging more than a millennium - 1,200 years - of viewing time in September. The show helped Channel 4 streaming to its biggest day ever on its owned and operated platforms with 6.3million views on October 16.**

According to new Barb data, Married at First Sight UK secured 667 million viewer minutes in September. Meanwhile, the first episode of The Great British Bake Off recorded the biggest launch audience of any commercial BVOD show* in September, with 155 million viewer minutes, while on linear the launch show pulled in 0.9 million 16-34s; the biggest youth audience across all linear channels in September. 

The data comes as Channel 4 streaming continues to outpace the market, with growth so far this year (+21% year on year) the strongest of the top six commercial streamers as defined by viewer minutes***.

Figures for the month of September also show Channel 4 audiences were boosted by coverage of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, with streaming views up 85% on that achieved across the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

Growth was further fuelled by launches including the new series of Celebs Go Dating – the second most-watched show on Channel 4 streaming in September with 218 million viewer minutes – plus the debut of documentary Trump’s Heist. With 17 million viewer minutes, it is the inside story of how, in the wake of his 2020 election defeat, Donald Trump loyalists set out to engineer victory. Meanwhile, comedy-drama The Great was the tenth most-watched show on Channel 4 streaming in September with 69 million viewer minutes.

Across 2024 so far, streaming makes up 40% of Channel 4’s 16-34 total viewer minutes; making it the youngest-skewing streamer among commercial PSBs.

The Barb data also shows the channel continues to grow its overall audience, with a 3% year on year increase in viewing across streaming and linear combined in September.  Across 2024 so far, the proportion of all Channel 4 viewing via streaming is up 20% year on year.

Kiran Nataraja, Director of Streaming & Content Strategy, Channel 4, said: “We’re delighted to see our big returners delivering record numbers, with MAFS UK topping the commercial BVOD charts and becoming one of the most talked about shows of the autumn. Furthermore, the success of the Paralympics, Bake Off and a fantastic series of Celebs Go Dating underlines our continued streaming success with audiences flocking to event TV and well-loved brands.”