This is the detail companion page for Latest In The TV Market: March 2025. It expands the March 2025 view with BARB programme data, commercial-channel highlights, market context, public campaign signals, UK news and the next relevant TV planning watch.
Data basis: BARB Weekly Top 50 Shows, 7-day consolidated viewing, using all populated BARB weeks overlapping March 2025: 24 Feb 2025 – 02 Mar 2025, 03 Mar 2025 – 09 Mar 2025, 10 Mar 2025 – 16 Mar 2025, 17 Mar 2025 – 23 Mar 2025, 24 Mar 2025 – 30 Mar 2025, 31 Mar 2025 – 06 Apr 2025. The programme tables dedupe repeated strands, so soaps and returning series appear once using their strongest audience across the included weeks. Because BARB reports weekly, some selected weeks cross a calendar-month boundary.
Top 10 Programmes
The strongest deduped programme strands across the available March 2025 BARB weeks were led by Unforgotten, Protection (PKA Witness Protection), Call the Midwife. This is a monthly best-of view rather than a list of every high-rating episode.
| Rank | Programme | Broadcaster | Audience | Best Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Unforgotten | ITV | 6.79m | 24 Feb 2025 – 02 Mar 2025 |
| 2 | Protection (PKA Witness Protection) | ITV | 6.78m | 31 Mar 2025 – 06 Apr 2025 |
| 3 | Call the Midwife | BBC | 6.66m | 24 Feb 2025 – 02 Mar 2025 |
| 4 | Britain's Got Talent | ITV | 6.34m | 03 Mar 2025 – 09 Mar 2025 |
| 5 | The Apprentice | BBC | 6.10m | 24 Feb 2025 – 02 Mar 2025 |
| 6 | Death in Paradise | BBC | 5.93m | 24 Mar 2025 – 30 Mar 2025 |
| 7 | Beyond Paradise | BBC | 5.56m | 24 Mar 2025 – 30 Mar 2025 |
| 8 | The 1% Club | ITV | 5.09m | 31 Mar 2025 – 06 Apr 2025 |
| 9 | The Bay | ITV | 5.05m | 03 Mar 2025 – 09 Mar 2025 |
| 10 | Gladiators | BBC | 4.97m | 10 Mar 2025 – 16 Mar 2025 |
Top 15 Commercial-Channel Programmes
With BBC entries removed, the leading commercial environments were headed by Unforgotten, Protection (PKA Witness Protection), Britain's Got Talent. This is the more practical list for spot-TV planning because it removes repeat episodes and shows the strongest commercial or non-BBC programme strands.
| Rank | Programme | Broadcaster | Audience | Best Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Unforgotten | ITV | 6.79m | 24 Feb 2025 – 02 Mar 2025 |
| 2 | Protection (PKA Witness Protection) | ITV | 6.78m | 31 Mar 2025 – 06 Apr 2025 |
| 3 | Britain's Got Talent | ITV | 6.34m | 03 Mar 2025 – 09 Mar 2025 |
| 4 | The 1% Club | ITV | 5.09m | 31 Mar 2025 – 06 Apr 2025 |
| 5 | The Bay | ITV | 5.05m | 03 Mar 2025 – 09 Mar 2025 |
| 6 | Grace | ITV | 4.77m | 31 Mar 2025 – 06 Apr 2025 |
| 7 | Coronation Street | ITV | 4.60m | 31 Mar 2025 – 06 Apr 2025 |
| 8 | World Cup: Qualifiers: ENG v LVA | ITV | 4.27m | 24 Mar 2025 – 30 Mar 2025 |
| 9 | World Cup: Qualifiers: ENG v ALB | ITV | 4.26m | 17 Mar 2025 – 23 Mar 2025 |
| 10 | Emmerdale | ITV | 4.20m | 24 Feb 2025 – 02 Mar 2025 |
| 11 | Gogglebox | Channel 4 | 3.94m | 24 Mar 2025 – 30 Mar 2025 |
| 12 | Bradley & Barney Walsh: Breaking Dad | ITV | 3.54m | 31 Mar 2025 – 06 Apr 2025 |
| 13 | Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? | ITV | 3.53m | 10 Mar 2025 – 16 Mar 2025 |
| 14 | 99 to Beat | ITV | 3.47m | 17 Mar 2025 – 23 Mar 2025 |
| 15 | The Great Pottery Throw Down | Channel 4 | 3.36m | 03 Mar 2025 – 09 Mar 2025 |
Market Insight
March is a bridge into spring. Easter timing, tax-year messaging, travel planning and retail promotions can all shift demand, while programme schedules begin to carry more spring entertainment and factual volume.
Across this period, the useful planning frame is total TV rather than linear alone: linear still provides fast reach, while BVOD and connected TV help add targeting, frequency control and lighter-viewer coverage. Public market context can be tracked through IPA Bellwether, Thinkbox and broadcaster trading updates.
Public Campaign Signals
Advertisers are typically more visible in travel, retail, automotive, finance, home, garden, grocery and entertainment. Copy should be ready to move from winter value into spring action.
This section is deliberately based on public campaign and category signals only. It does not use private spot logs, client data or internal monitoring sources.
Political And Economic Background
Economic confidence and household affordability remain the key filter. Advertisers should assume viewers are comparing offers and looking for proof before committing.
For the wider economic read, the most useful public references are the ONS inflation releases and the Bank of England monetary policy updates. The TV buying implication is consistent: when consumers feel pressure, creative needs to make the benefit easy to understand.
UK News And Weather
Changeable spring weather can make short-term response uneven. Regional copy and flexible airtime can help when sunshine, storms or cold spells alter behaviour.
The Met Office weather and climate updates are a useful public reference for understanding when weather may have shifted viewing patterns or short-term response.
Upcoming TV Planning Watch
April is the immediate planning focus: Easter, school holidays, bank holidays and the first larger travel and outdoor-retail windows. Advertisers should have copy ready for both value-led family spending and more optimistic spring leisure messages, because weather and pay-cycle timing can change response quickly.
Sources
- BARB Weekly Top 50 Shows, C7 public dashboard data, weeks used: 24 Feb 2025 – 02 Mar 2025, 03 Mar 2025 – 09 Mar 2025, 10 Mar 2025 – 16 Mar 2025, 17 Mar 2025 – 23 Mar 2025, 24 Mar 2025 – 30 Mar 2025, 31 Mar 2025 – 06 Apr 2025.
- IPA Bellwether reports.
- Thinkbox commercial TV research and planning resources.
- ONS inflation releases.
- Bank of England monetary policy updates.
- Met Office weather and climate updates.
- FIFA World Cup 2026.
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