Further detail: February 2025 TV market detail page | TV Market Update hub.
February 2025: final editorial review
- Call the Midwife – BBC – 14.8m
- Unforgotten – ITV – 14.5m
- Britain’s Got Talent – ITV – 14.3m
- Death in Paradise – BBC – 13.2m
- The Apprentice – BBC – 12.8m
- Silent Witness – BBC – 12.6m
- Michael McIntyre’s Big Show – BBC – 11.7m
- The Bay – ITV – 11.3m
- Amandaland – BBC – 11.1m
- The 1% Club – ITV – 11.1m
February was much more commercially useful than January because ITV had several entries with scale: Unforgotten, Britain’s Got Talent, The Bay and The 1% Club. That gave advertisers a better mix of drama, entertainment and broad-adult reach. BBC shows still dominated parts of the table, but ITV had enough weight to make premium peaktime buying feel more active and less like a consolation prize.
Notable campaign areas were travel, finance, automotive consideration, retail, health, charity and value-led grocery. The month sat between winter and spring, so advertisers could still buy with some efficiency before Easter and Q2 pressure built. News attention remained shaped by the economy, public services, Ukraine and the new US administration, all of which helped trusted TV and news environments feel commercially useful.
The buying read: February was a good month to build TV reach before spring cost pressure. BGT and ITV drama created fame moments, while broader airtime and BVOD could do the frequency work.
February 2025: full market review update
Top 10 by audience: Call the Midwife BBC 14.8m; Unforgotten ITV 14.5m; BGT ITV 14.3m; Death in Paradise BBC 13.2m; The Apprentice BBC 12.8m; Silent Witness BBC 12.6m; Michael McIntyre BBC 11.7m; The Bay ITV 11.3m; Amandaland BBC 11.1m; The 1% Club ITV 11.1m.
Campaigns: ITV was strong through Unforgotten, BGT, The Bay and The 1% Club. Travel, finance, auto, retail and health/charity campaigns had natural roles.
Politics, weather and news: Economy, public services, Ukraine and the new US administration kept news audiences engaged.
Buying implication: BBC/SVOD peaks show attention but are not spot-buyable; buy ITV, Channel 4, Sky Media, Channel 5, UKTV or BVOD where the audience is commercially accessible.