ITVX marks its second anniversary on December 8th, 2024, celebrating significant growth in viewer engagement across various content genres since its launch. A key factor in this success has been live sport, with Itvx Euro 2024 coverage playing a pivotal role in attracting substantial audiences.
Live sporting events have consistently drawn some of ITVX’s largest viewership numbers. Notably, ITVX’s top five sporting events include three matches from Euro 2024 on ITVX and one from the 2022 World Cup, collectively amassing nearly 70 million streams. The 25 Euro 2024 matches broadcast on ITVX this past summer alone captivated audiences, generating an impressive 133 million streams. This highlights the power of ITVX Euro 2024 in driving platform engagement and attracting a large sports-loving audience.
Alt text: Jubilant England fans cheering and celebrating a goal during a Euro 2024 match broadcast on ITVX.
Beyond sports, ITVX has also seen remarkable success with its commissioned programs. Analyzing viewership data solely within ITVX, and based on streams to the most-watched episode, “Mr Bates vs The Post Office” emerges as ITVX’s most popular commissioned title of 2024. Closely following are the reality TV juggernauts, “Love Island,” and “I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!”. Completing the top five most streamed commissioned titles on ITVX since its inception are drama thrillers “Red Eye,” starring Jing Lusi and Richard Armitage, and “Trigger Point,” featuring Vicky McClure.
Drama has proven to be the most consumed genre on ITVX, accounting for a staggering 1.5 billion streams. Titles such as “Red Eye,” “After The Flood,” “Trigger Point,” “The Long Shadow,” “Joan,” “Until I Kill You,” and the aforementioned “Mr Bates vs The Post Office” have all resonated strongly with streaming audiences. For these dramas, over 40% of their total viewership originated from streams via ITVX, showcasing the platform’s effectiveness in extending the reach of ITV’s drama offerings. In 2024, ITV innovatively began releasing major commissioned dramas on ITVX in the early morning, ahead of their primetime broadcast on ITV1, catering to the evolving viewing habits of modern audiences.
Reality television also stands as a dominant force in streaming. Since ITVX’s launch, “Love Island” has accumulated a massive 640 million streams, demonstrating its enduring popularity and ITVX’s strength as a destination for reality content.
Alt text: Aerial view of the Love Island villa, showcasing the popular reality show available for streaming on ITVX.
Kevin Lygo, ITV’s Managing Director of Media and Entertainment, commented on ITVX’s success: “Two years on, ITVX is now firmly established as a superior streaming destination, offering a wealth of must-watch content.” He further emphasized ITV’s leading position in UK viewership for 2024, highlighting “Mr Bates vs The Post Office” as the most-watched UK drama and ITV’s coverage of England’s Euro 2024 match against the Netherlands, which peaked at 21.6 million viewers, as the year’s biggest sporting audience. Lygo also noted the significant streaming growth for “I’m A Celebrity” and the phenomenal streaming numbers for “Love Island,” solidifying ITVX’s position in the streaming landscape.
Lygo continued, “ITVX is the home of our biggest shows, but so much more too, with over 21,000 free-to-view hours of programming and films. We have transformed the viewer experience on ITVX, making it easier to discover, more accessible, more prominent and better to navigate – with an ever-changing mix of personalised content recommendations. And we have increased our investment in marketing and this has enabled us to reach more viewers more consistently, reacting to trends and preferences.” He concluded by expressing his satisfaction with ITVX’s growth, recognizing it as the UK’s fastest-growing streaming platform over the past two years.
The peak UK audience of 2024 was indeed ITV’s coverage of the England vs. Netherlands Euro 2024 match, reaching 21.6 million viewers across ITV1 and ITVX. “Mr Bates vs The Post Office” holds the title for the biggest drama audience of 2024 to date, with 15.1 million viewers tuning into the final episode. ITV has also dominated the new drama scene in 2024, with four out of the top 10 new dramas – “Mr Bates vs The Post Office,” “Red Eye,” “Until I Kill You,” and “After The Flood” – surpassing both BBC and Netflix in this category.
Reality TV continues to thrive on ITVX. “The Only Way is Essex” has garnered 100 million streams, alongside “Big Brother,” which, since its return to ITV in 2023, has also reached 100 million streams, encompassing streams for “Celebrity Big Brother” and “Big Brother: Late and Live.” “I’m a Celebrity” leads the entertainment genre and is currently experiencing its highest ever ITVX viewership. In the initial two weeks of the current series, it was streamed 53 million times, a 23% increase from the previous year and a remarkable 205% increase compared to 2021.
Alt text: ITVX homepage interface displaying prominent Euro 2024 content and branding, highlighting sports streaming availability.
ITV’s long-running soaps, “Coronation Street” and “Emmerdale,” have collectively amassed 600 million streams since ITVX launched, ranking among the platform’s top-performing titles. These flagship dramas now have a dedicated section on ITVX, with episodes available daily at 7 am, ahead of their evening ITV1 broadcast.
The content library on ITVX now exceeds 21,000 free hours, a substantial increase from the 4,000 hours available at the beginning of 2022. The archive includes popular acquired box sets such as “Family Guy,” “One Tree Hill,” “The Originals,” “Love/Hate,” “Love and Death,” and “The Twelve,” alongside beloved UK series like “Vera,” “Midsomer Murders,” “Unforgotten,” “Benidorm,” and “Broadchurch.”
ITVX also boasts one of the UK’s largest free-to-stream film libraries, featuring top movies including the “Harry Potter” film series with over 10 million streams, the James Bond collection with over 6 million, and blockbusters such as “Gladiator,” “Mamma Mia,” “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,” and, more recently, the original “Star Wars Trilogy” and “Rogue One.”
ITVX was among the first UK streaming services to introduce FAST Channels, and its refined offering now includes a top 12 channels, such as The Only Way is Essex, ITVX Kids, and ITVX Sport. These FAST channels are delivering 60% more streaming hours than the previous year, with two-thirds of FAST channel viewers being under 55. Streams to the dedicated news service on ITVX have also increased by 29% year-on-year, with ITVX News accumulating half a billion streams since launch. Euro 2024 on ITVX has undoubtedly contributed to this overall growth, attracting viewers and enhancing the platform’s appeal as a comprehensive streaming destination.
ITVX Viewing Highlights
- Top 5 most-watched commissioned programs on ITVX since launch (excluding Sport): 1) Mr Bates vs The Post Office, 2) Love Island, 3) I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!, 4) Red Eye, 5) Trigger Point.
- Top 5 biggest program titles on ITVX since launch based on total streams: 1) Love Island and Love Island All Stars, 2) ITV’s soaps Coronation Street and Emmerdale, 3) Euro 2024, 4) Good Morning Britain, 5) Towie and Big Brother.
- Top 5 most streamed sporting events on ITVX since launch: 1) England v Netherlands Euro 2024, 2) England v France World Cup 2022, 3) England v Slovakia Euro 2024, 4) England v Slovenia Euro 2024, 5) Spain v Germany Euro 2024.
