Channel 4 has announced streaming growth figures that show a 32 per cent year on year rise in viewer minutes.
The data, compiled by the Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board (BARB), showed that the UK broadcaster’s streaming audience increased by 7.3 billion viewer minutes for the January to June period, contributing to a 4 billion overall increase in viewing minutes across linear and streaming, said the company. Additionally, the data showed a rise in the proportion of Channel 4 viewing via streaming, up 29 per cent so far across 2024.
The figures represent an overall increase of 2.5 per cent, while BARB data shows an average 3 per cent fall in overall viewing minutes among major commercial broadcasters.
Ian Katz, chief content officer, Channel 4, said: “It’s great to see Channel 4’s long-term strategy of prioritising digital viewing and investing in distinctive, British streaming-first content bearing fruit. This data shows that, even in a challenging market, we can successfully grow our overall audience by attracting new digital natives and migrating existing viewers to digital platforms.
“At the heart of this is our streaming-first content strategy – a unique blend of distinctive drama such as The Gathering, must-watch documentaries like The Push and The Fall plus compulsive reality such as Married At First Sight. Channel 4 pioneered the transition to streaming among commercial broadcasters and these figures show we are accelerating our transition to becoming Britain’s first public service streamer.”
