Ratings: Big Brother final figures revealed as ITVX streaming success delivers record-breaking series

Big Brother has signed off its latest series with an average audience of 700,000 viewers for last night’s live final on ITV2, as Rochelle was crowned champion following almost eight weeks of nightly transmission.

According to figures from Digital-i, the final saw Rochelle take home the life-changing £100,000 cash prize, becoming the latest housemate to claim the Big Brother crown. Twinks finished as runner-up, with Yasmin, Samuel, Lynx and Catrin completing the final six in third, fourth, fifth and sixth place respectively.

While the overnight television audience might appear relatively modest, the bigger story for ITV is the phenomenal performance of Big Brother across streaming, with the franchise continuing to establish itself as one of ITVX’s most significant success stories.

The Big Brother brand has now surpassed 220 million streams on ITVX, underlining the scale of its digital audience and the importance of the format to ITV’s streaming ambitions.

The latest series and its companion programme, Big Brother: Late & Live, alone generated more than 56 million streams. That represents an increase of over 22 million streams, or an impressive 67%, compared with Big Brother and Late & Live last year.

ITV will be particularly encouraged by those figures given that this is officially the most-watched series since Big Brother returned to the broadcaster in 2023.

The success also comes against the backdrop of an increasingly competitive streaming market, with ITVX continuing to play a central role in ITV’s digital strategy. The platform enjoyed its best October on record, recording its biggest year-on-year increase in streaming outside of World Cup months, with an additional 90 million streams.

That makes Big Brother’s contribution particularly significant as ITV looks to demonstrate the strength and value of its streaming operation amid the developing takeover by Sky. The ability to deliver sizeable, returning audiences across both traditional television and on-demand platforms will be an important part of the proposition, with established entertainment brands such as Big Brother offering considerable value beyond their linear broadcast figures.

Since returning to screens in September for its fourth instalment on ITV, the reality format has once again captivated audiences with a diverse and dynamic cast. Individual personalities, evolving relationships and unpredictable antics have provided plenty of talking points throughout the series, helping maintain interest across its nightly broadcasts and companion coverage.

And there is already a sign that Big Brother’s future on ITV is firmly in the planning stages. Yesterday, wheretowatch.tv revealed that casting has opened for the 2027 series, suggesting the broadcaster is wasting little time in preparing for another return to the famous house.

For now, viewers can enjoy one final reunion with this year’s housemates, as Big Brother: The Reunion airs tonight at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX.

Big Brother and Big Brother: The Group Chat are also available to stream on ITVX.

While 700,000 viewers tuned in on average to watch Rochelle lift the trophy, the headline television figure only tells part of the story. With more than 220 million streams for the franchise and substantial year-on-year growth, Big Brother has delivered precisely the kind of multiplatform success ITV will want to see as it continues to build the future of ITVX.

Choose an article to read now…