Newly-consolidated BARB data shows Channel 4 delivered its biggest-ever Q1 streaming audience across the start of 2026, attracting over twenty billion streaming minutes across the first three months of the year – its biggest ever for the period – with an original Northern drama leading the line in the battle for viewers.
The figures are up over a fifth (22%) year on year, while C4’s share of commercial impacts (SOCI) – a measure of its viewing among commercial broadcasters – among 16-34s rose by almost a fifth (18%). On both counts, the year-on-year growth was ahead of its peers.
Front of the pack for the North was The Forge’s adaptation of Leeds novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford’s tale of a Yorkshire maid made good, A Woman of Substance, which bagged the biggest episode one linear share (20%) for a new Channel 4 drama since The Accident in 2019, and the most streaming views for a new drama since It’s a Sin in 2021 (averaging 1.6 million streaming views per episode) – another Northern success story, with Russell T Davies on writing duty, Nicola Shindler and Red Productions producing, and Manchester serving as the backdrop, even if it was pretending to be London.
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Other top performers included:
Handcuffed Last Pair Standing: One of Channel 4’s biggest unscripted streaming launches ever as episode one accumulated more than 2 million streaming views.
Married At First Sight Australia: The number one title across all broadcaster streaming services in March with more than one billion minutes streamed in March (and a guilty pleasure in at least one PN household – what is Bec on?!)
Dirty Business: Best-performing factual drama on streaming since Help (2021); 2.4 million viewers for episode one and 232 million minutes streamed across the series.
Secret Genius: 2.1 million episode one viewers; 167 million minutes streamed to the series.
Patience: streaming minutes up 69% year on year (series one and two combined).
The Great Pottery Throw Down: Streaming minutes up 29% year on year to 677 million – with series nine the biggest to date for linear share (16.5%).
What Not To Eat: With 1.7 million viewers to episode one, the most-watched new series in the 8pm slot since Handmade: Britain’s Best Woodworker in 2021.
The BARB data cements Channel 4’s leadership in converting young viewers to streaming. Its 16-34 viewers streamed 56% of their overall Channel 4 viewing across Q1 – a higher percentage than any other commercial broadcaster and reaching a new high in March with 61%.
Across the period Channel 4’s 16-34 streaming minutes rose by 14% year on year – driven by coverage of the Africa Cup of Nations (42 million 1634 streaming minutes) and The Great Pottery Throw Down nearly doubling its 1634 streaming minutes to 103 million. Across social, YouTube Views to full episodes of Channel 4 shows were up 11% year on year driven by true crime such as 24 Hours In Police Custody and Social Media Monsters.
Ian Katz, chief content officer, said “With two new hit unscripted formats, our biggest drama on streaming in five years and one of the most impactful shows of the year in Dirty Business, Channel 4 has attracted viewers in droves this year, despite intense competition for audiences. I’m delighted that our purposeful and distinctive slate, driven by returning hits and bold new bets, is attracting young viewers and starting important conversations. With several more major unscripted launches and a string of brilliant new dramas and comedies coming to air in the next few months, 2026 is shaping up to be memorable year on Channel 4”
