Days after stinging criticism was published in The Sunday Times, ITV says streaming service ITVX has broken records. But the number of overall streams continues to flatline.
- ITVX reports 6 billion streams over two years
- 77% increase compared to bug-ridden predecessor ITV Hub
- Drama and sport drives streamers to ITVX.
ITV says ITVX has broken audience milestones as the streaming service turns two this weekend.
The broadcaster says ITVX “has outpaced all other major streaming platforms in terms of growth in viewer hours since its launch.”
In the two years since launch ITVX has had six billion streams, growth of 77% versus the two years prior to launch – which included the two years of lockdown when other streamers were booming. ITVX’s predecessor, the ITV Hub, was notorious for bugs.
Live sport has delivered some of ITVX’s biggest audiences – with ITVX’s five biggest sporting events, three Euro 2024 matches and one 2022 World Cup audience, attracting nearly 70 million streams combined. The 25 Euro 2024 matches on ITVX this summer attracted 133 million streams.
It’s the first time since ITV has given a detailed update on the progress of its streaming service since June. It follows a report in The Sunday Times, revealing criticism of ITV’s streaming strategy. The newspaper revealed the service had been subject to cost-cutting and staff involved in setting up the service had recently left the broadcaster.
Top ITVX shows revealed
Looking at ITVX viewing alone, and based on streams to most watched episode – Mr Bates vs The Post Office takes the crown as ITVX’s most watched commissioned title of 2024, very closely followed by hit reality show, Love Island, and I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!. Drama thrillers Red Eye starring Jing Lusi and Richard Armitage and Trigger Point starring Vicky McClure complete the top five most streamed commissioned titles on ITVX since launch.
ITVX now includes a programme library containing over 21,000 free hours of content.
Analysis: Stats reveal flatlining stream totals
ITVX officially launched on 8th December 2024. Four months and one day later, on Easter Sunday 9th April 2023, ITV reached the milestone of one billion streams.
Despite individual programmes driving audiences to ITVX, stats released by ITV over the last two years confirms the streaming service is stuck with around one billion stream requests every four months.
By the time of its one year anniversary, ITVX had hit 2.7 billion streams, or just under one billion streams per four month period. The three billion stream milestone was then hit over Christmas 2023.
As it now reaches the second anniversary of its launch, ITVX has now hit six billion streams. That works out as a year-on-year increase – 3.3 billion streams in ITVX’s second year, versus 2.7 billion in its first.
Reaching six billion streams in time for its anniversary means the service continues to average at one billion streams every four months.
However, ITV right to point out that ITVX has grown substantially in its first two years compared to the last two years of its predecessor ITV Hub.
ITV also says the number of streams to its news pop-up service has increased 29% year-on-year. ITVX first launched in 2022 with a short-form news service. This expanded in December 2023 to include a regular pop-up channel with live coverage of major news events, which may account for much of the year-on-year increase.
ITVX FAST channel reduction
Finally addressing the cut in the number of streaming-only channels on ITVX, first reported by RXTV last year, ITV says it has “refined” its offer to 12 channels. Most streaming channel viewers are under 55, according to ITV. The broadcaster confirmed streaming channel hours have increased by 60% year-on-year, but couldn’t share baseline figures for that statistic.
By: Marc Thornham | Image: ITVX screenshot