Watch out, Netflix and Sky TV! Channel 4 just broke streaming records in UK
It’s only been nine months since Channel 4 announced a dramatic shake-up to its business — culling five of its channels on Freeview and Sky TV, pushing to double its paid subscribers within the decade, and focusing on streaming with all new commissions. But the latest statistics suggest that its pivot to become a “digital-first public service streamer” might be paying off.
According to statistics seen by GB News, Channel 4 broke all streaming records in October, with its hit reality show Married At First Sight UK becoming the most-streamed title across all streaming platforms. The show sees single people matched by a panel of experts and marry total strangers — who they meet for the very first time on their wedding day.
The latest series helped Channel 4 quash major rivals including Netflix, Amazon’s Prime Video service — also going through a shake-up, BBC and ITV, with Married At First Sight UK becoming the most-streamed title in October. In total, the series accumulated an impressive 1.7 billion viewing minutes throughout the month. That record-breaking figure is equivalent to 13,318 years spent streaming the show on Channel 4, which was recently added to the Apple Vision Pro in another first for a UK broadcaster.
Channel 4 also celebrated its biggest single day for streaming views, reaching 6.4 million viewing minutes on one day in October.
GB News understands that the records don’t stop there, with viewing minutes on the Channel 4 streaming platform up 19% year-on-year so far in 2024 — the strongest of its biggest commercial competitors, including the likes of ITVX, Channel 4, Sky TV, Netflix, Disney+, and Prime Video.
It’s an impressive turnaround for the public broadcaster. Almost one year ago, Ofcom reported widespread viewer dissatisfaction with Channel 4’s streaming service, with users criticizing its usability and glitches.
The streaming app started life as 4oD, before it was rebranded to All4 in 2015, and then was renamed to Channel 4 last year. At the time, the broadcaster said its new one-name-fits-all approach reflects the fact that viewers “no longer distinguish between digital and linear content.”
According to the latest figures, the growth of the Channel 4 streaming service is largely driven by an influx of new users, with more than 30 million registered streaming users now on its platform.
The Great British Bake Off secured its position as the sixth most-viewed show in October, attracting 782 million viewing minutes. Other popular programmes fuelling the record-breaking month for Channel 4 included Gogglebox with 213 million viewer minutes and Taskmaster with 189 million viewer minutes. Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins also performed strongly, contributing 150 million viewer minutes to the monthly total.
Entertainment programming dominated the platform’s viewing habits, accounting for more than half of all streaming minutes, with shows like MAFS UK and Young Sheldon leading the way. Meanwhile, documentaries, like 24 Hours in Police Custody, represented 13% of all streaming minutes.
As mentioned, Channel 4’s record-breaking streaming performance aligns with its ambitious Fast Forward strategy, announced at the beginning of the year, which aims to transform the traditional broadcaster into a digital-first public service streamer by the end of the decade. As part of this major overhaul, Channel 4 started by closing five linear channels — 4MUSIC, The Box, Kiss, Magic and Kerrang — that were broadcast across Freeview, Sky TV and Virgin Media platforms over the last 12 months.
The Fast Forward strategy also confirmed a digital-first approach for all new commissions, with resources focused on genres proven to drive streaming growth, such as high-quality dramas, documentary series, comedy, and reality TV. Don’t expect to see a flood of new content from Channel 4 HQ though. According to the company, it wants a “ruthless focus on cut-through with fewer, stronger new titles that generate more scale and impact”.
In other words — it’s quality over quantity.
Channel 4 is also committed to improving its streaming platform through outsourced technology to enhance user experience. And it wants more people to pay for that bolstered streaming experience, with the broadcaster setting itself the goal of doubling paid subscribers by 2030, with its ad-free Channel 4+ service currently priced at £3.99 monthly or £39.99 annually.
Discussing the record-breaking streaming results from October, Channel 4’s Director of Streaming & Content Strategy, Kiran Nataraja told GBN: “Channel 4 streaming continues to break records, underlining the success of our Fast Forward strategy. Taken together with our social audience growth, with a trebling in UK views of full episodes of our programming on YouTube, it is clear Channel 4 remains the go-to for audiences on any device and via any platform, flocking to our compelling mix of well-loved brands and fresh made-for-streaming shows.”