Channel 4 has revealed a snapshot of the nation’s viewing habits for 2025, in a roundup of facts that reveal how audiences spent their time in front of the screen – plus a look back on content highlights from the year.

This year to date has seen the broadcaster achieve what it describes as “significant streaming success”, with viewer minutes reaching 69 billion – up 14 per cent year on year – as it continues its transformation into a digital-first public service streamer.

Some viewers took part in marathon reality TV binges, while others streamed Christmas classics long before December began, with individual, collective, and festive viewing habits all captured in Channel 4’s roundup.

• The nation started the festive season early, with 87 million minutes of Christmas content streamed in November alone, including films such as Home Alone, Die Hard, Father Christmas and Terry Pratchett’s The Abominable Snow Baby.
• The region celebrating the festive season the earliest was London, streaming 16 million minutes of Channel 4’s Christmas content in November, followed by the North West (9 million) and East of England (9 million).
• Some got in the festive spirit even earlier, with 80 people streaming Christmas classic The Snowman on the hottest day of the year, as temperatures soared to 35.8C on July 1st.
• A Place in the Sun also saw a surge in viewership as winter arrived, with November delivering the highest monthly streaming performance (2.14 million views) for the show, as viewers looked for sunny respite.
• The average viewer streamed over 1,000 minutes of Channel 4 content in 2025.

Channel 4 also hit several milestones this year with total audience of all individuals raising (+2 per cent), share of 16-34 viewing going up (+1 per cent) and ABC1 share also up (6 per cent).

The broadcaster marked a year of standout successes across various genres, including Virgin Island, which became the biggest launch for young audiences in over 20 years. Game of Wool was recognised as the most significant format launch since The Jury and Bonnie Blue: 1000 Men and Me was the channel’s most streamed documentary ever. Detective series Patience achieved the highest drama debut since It’s a Sin, while Mitchell and Webb Are Not Helping saw the largest comedy launch since 2018.

Ian Katz, Chief Content Officer, Channel 4, commented: “We believe people should be able to enjoy the Channel 4 shows they love whenever they want them but, really, who watches The Snowman in the middle of a heatwave? I’m delighted that a string of hits from Virgin Island and Game of Wool to Patience and Trespasses have driven another year of Channel 4 streaming growth and we’re expecting millions of viewers to catch up with some of the great shows they missed over the Christmas break.”

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Categories: Articles, Broadcast, Catch Up, Consumer Behaviour, Content, Research, VOD

Tags: Channel 4, Christmas, Die Hard, Home Alone, streaming