Channel 4 records its biggest Christmas week on linear TV in over a decade for 2025

It was a strong Christmas for Channel 4 on linear TV, new data has revealed.

The broadcaster had its most-watched Christmas week on traditional TV since 2012, according to ratings data from BARB.

Channel 4 saw a larger increase in traditional TV viewership compared to other channels. Its viewership rose by 9% year-over-year, while BBC One decreased by 17%, BBC Two grew by 3%, ITV1 by 2%, and 5 by 7%.

Channel 4 also saw significantly more growth in streaming viewers compared to other broadcasters. During the week of Christmas, their streaming minutes increased by 48% compared to the previous year. This outperformed the BBC (down 21%), Sky (down 12%), 5 (up 20%), and ITV (up 16%).

In December, Channel 4 saw a 13% increase in streaming viewers aged 16-34 compared to the previous year, largely due to coverage of the Africa Cup of Nations.

Popular Channel 4 programs like Big Fat Quiz of the Year, 24 Hours in Police Custody, The Great British Bake Off’s holiday episodes, and Taskmaster Champion of Champions all contributed to this increase.

Want to see this content?

We can’t display this content because of a security measure called reCAPTCHA. To see it, please sign out of your Contentpass account.

This news follows recent reports showing Channel 4 is the fastest-growing streaming service. Viewers streamed 36% more content on the platform in September compared to the previous year.

Across the month, viewer minutes totalled more than 6 billion – a record for the broadcaster.

Authors

Molly MossTrends Writer

Molly Moss writes about the newest trends in television, movies, and other entertainment for TopMob. She has a master’s degree in journalism and has contributed to major publications like The Guardian, The Times, and The Sun Online.

  • Visit us on Twitter

Read More

2026-01-07 13:04