All 4 achieved its biggest ever month of streaming in January 2021 with almost double the number of views compared to the same month last year (+91%) thanks to the huge success of brand new five-part drama It’s A Sin.
The series has already had 6.5 million views on All 4, making it the streaming services’ biggest ever instant box set, third biggest series to date and most binged new series ever. Episode one has become All 4’s most popular drama launch on record.
From multi-BAFTA Award-winning writer Russell T Davies (Queer As Folk, A Very English Scandal, Years and Years, Doctor Who), It’s A Sin follows the story of the 1980s, the story of AIDS, and charts the joy and heartbreak of a group of friends across a decade in which everything changed.
Launching to critical acclaim on Friday 22nd January the entire series was made immediately available to stream on All 4, contributing towards its biggest ever week and month of viewing.
During its debut week Channel 4’s exclusive It’s A Sin social content reached 4 million users across Facebook, You Tube, Twitter and Snapchat whilst the show’s hashtag #ItsASin was seen by over 83m people.
After seven days’ consolidation (taking account of time-shifted viewing on a TV over that period) the series’ launch episode pulled in an average audience of 3.3 million viewers and 14.5% share of the viewing audience. It’s impressive 18.4% share of 16-34 year old viewers makes it Channel 4’s best drama launch for young viewers in three years (Since Kiri, Jan 2018).
Ian Katz, Chief Content Officer said: “The extraordinary performance of It’s a Sin is a reminder that powerful drama with something important to say about the world can also be commercially successful. It has also demonstrated how our strategy of box-setting shows on All 4 can bring a greater combined linear and digital audience to a show than a traditional release pattern. It's been a key driver of All 4 viewing in a month that has seen our digital viewing on our own platforms up by more than 90% compared to the same period last year.”
With over 13,000 hours of content, All 4 is the UK’s largest free streaming service. Other top titles in January that viewers couldn’t get enough of include Married at First Sight Australia, Ackley Bridge, Taskmaster, Gogglebox, 24 Hours in Police Custody (also attracted its biggest ever linear audiences on Channel 4), Grand Designs (biggest C4 ep in nine years), Junior Bake Off (biggest ever C4 ep), Back, First Dates and exclusive box sets like One Tree Hill and The West Wing.
All 4 has 24 million registered users, including 80% of all 16-24 and 16-34 year olds in the UK and is the youngest-profiling UK public service broadcaster streaming service.
Channel 4 is on track to reach its biggest January share of linear viewing in seven years for all viewers (6.0% YTD) as well as 16-34 year olds (8.5%).
January’s success follows a record breaking 2020 for All 4 and linear viewing on Channel 4 when digital views grew by a third (+31% vs 2019) and linear viewing share across all hours grew by +3%.
Channel 4 launched its new Future4 strategy in November, with new targets to double viewing to All 4 by 2025 and deliver 30% of revenues from digital advertising and 10% from non-advertising. In 2020 digital viewing made up a record 12.5% of Channel 4 viewing – its highest ever level, as both Channel 4 and its viewers continue to move at pace to a digital world.