Love Island woos viewers as reality show tops ITV streaming charts
Love Island topped the rankings for ITV’s most streamed shows this year as the pandemic helped drive up the broadcasters’ viewing figures.
The most recent series of the wildly popular reality TV show, which was filmed in South Africa, racked up 130m requests on the channel’s on-demand platform ITV Hub.
This topped the list and marks the highest number of views ever recorded on the streaming service.
Love Island’s runaway success eclipsed viewing figures for ITV’s daytime favourites Good Morning Britain and This Morning, which pulled in 42m and 28m requests respectively.
I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!, which was this year filmed in a castle in North Wales rather than its traditional setting in Australia, bagged 26m views.
ITV also enjoyed success for dramas such as White House Farm and Liar, which recorded 13m and 11m requests respectively.
Des, a three-part drama starring David Tennant as notorious serial killer Dennis Nilsen, achieved the platform’s biggest ever audience average, with 2.4m viewers per episode within 28 days of catch-up.
The figures will come as a boost to ITV as it looks to shake off a coronavirus-induced advertising slump and shift its focus towards streaming.
The broadcaster last month said revenue to September had dropped 16 per cent to £1.9bn, but forecast a rebound in ad spend in the crucial fourth quarter.
However, ITV is looking to double down on its on-demand services amid a decline in traditional TV viewing and growing pressure from streaming giants such as Netflix and Amazon.
The company has unveiled plans to set up a new business division dedicated to ITV Hub and Britbox, its joint streaming service with the BBC.
Rufus Radcliffe, managing director of ITV On Demand, hailed a “milestone” year for the channel’s streaming platform.
“These viewer requests and average audience figures demonstrate the strong appetite for our content across genres and we look forward to further expanding our offering on the service as we go into 2021.”