This is the detail companion page for Latest In The TV Market: February 2025. It expands the February 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 February 2025: 27 Jan 2025 – 02 Feb 2025, 03 Feb 2025 – 09 Feb 2025, 10 Feb 2025 – 16 Feb 2025, 17 Feb 2025 – 23 Feb 2025, 24 Feb 2025 – 02 Mar 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 February 2025 BARB weeks were led by Call the Midwife, Britain's Got Talent, Unforgotten. This is a monthly best-of view rather than a list of every high-rating episode.
| Rank | Programme | Broadcaster | Audience | Best Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Call the Midwife | BBC | 7.00m | 17 Feb 2025 – 23 Feb 2025 |
| 2 | Britain's Got Talent | ITV | 6.85m | 17 Feb 2025 – 23 Feb 2025 |
| 3 | Unforgotten | ITV | 6.79m | 24 Feb 2025 – 02 Mar 2025 |
| 4 | Death in Paradise | BBC | 6.36m | 27 Jan 2025 – 02 Feb 2025 |
| 5 | The Apprentice | BBC | 6.10m | 24 Feb 2025 – 02 Mar 2025 |
| 6 | Silent Witness | BBC | 5.91m | 03 Feb 2025 – 09 Feb 2025 |
| 7 | Michael McIntyre's Big Show | BBC | 5.64m | 17 Feb 2025 – 23 Feb 2025 |
| 8 | The 1% Club | ITV | 5.30m | 17 Feb 2025 – 23 Feb 2025 |
| 9 | EastEnders | BBC | 5.29m | 17 Feb 2025 – 23 Feb 2025 |
| 10 | Gladiators | BBC | 5.11m | 27 Jan 2025 – 02 Feb 2025 |
Top 15 Commercial-Channel Programmes
With BBC entries removed, the leading commercial environments were headed by Britain's Got Talent, Unforgotten, The 1% Club. 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 | Britain's Got Talent | ITV | 6.85m | 17 Feb 2025 – 23 Feb 2025 |
| 2 | Unforgotten | ITV | 6.79m | 24 Feb 2025 – 02 Mar 2025 |
| 3 | The 1% Club | ITV | 5.30m | 17 Feb 2025 – 23 Feb 2025 |
| 4 | The Bay | ITV | 4.88m | 24 Feb 2025 – 02 Mar 2025 |
| 5 | Coronation Street | ITV | 4.75m | 10 Feb 2025 – 16 Feb 2025 |
| 6 | The Masked Singer | ITV | 4.63m | 10 Feb 2025 – 16 Feb 2025 |
| 7 | Six Nations Championship: ENG v FRA | ITV | 4.57m | 03 Feb 2025 – 09 Feb 2025 |
| 8 | Emmerdale | ITV | 4.38m | 17 Feb 2025 – 23 Feb 2025 |
| 9 | Six Nations Championship: ENG v SCO | ITV | 4.12m | 17 Feb 2025 – 23 Feb 2025 |
| 10 | Out There | ITV | 3.97m | 03 Feb 2025 – 09 Feb 2025 |
| 11 | Six Nations Championship: IRL v ENG | ITV | 3.86m | 27 Jan 2025 – 02 Feb 2025 |
| 12 | Gogglebox | Channel 4 | 3.69m | 17 Feb 2025 – 23 Feb 2025 |
| 13 | Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? | ITV | 3.36m | 10 Feb 2025 – 16 Feb 2025 |
| 14 | FA Cup: MUN v LEI | ITV | 3.35m | 03 Feb 2025 – 09 Feb 2025 |
| 15 | Grantchester | ITV | 3.35m | 24 Feb 2025 – 02 Mar 2025 |
Market Insight
February sits between New Year activation and the spring build. It can be a good planning window for advertisers that need efficient coverage before Easter, summer travel and bigger entertainment moments put more pressure on airtime.
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
Public-facing activity usually includes finance, insurance, travel, retail, food delivery, dating, entertainment subscriptions and early spring home categories. The opportunity is to combine broad linear reach with BVOD frequency where lighter viewers matter.
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
The public mood remains shaped by household finances and public-service debate. Campaigns that reduce complexity and make the consumer benefit obvious have an easier job.
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
February weather can move viewing and response quickly. Cold snaps tend to help in-home categories, while milder weeks can bring earlier travel, retail and leisure messaging forward.
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
The near-term watch is Cheltenham, Mothering Sunday planning, Easter retail and early spring travel. Brands should be thinking about short promotional windows, family occasions and whether linear TV or BVOD is the better route for reaching lighter viewers as routines begin to shift.
Sources
- BARB Weekly Top 50 Shows, C7 public dashboard data, weeks used: 27 Jan 2025 – 02 Feb 2025, 03 Feb 2025 – 09 Feb 2025, 10 Feb 2025 – 16 Feb 2025, 17 Feb 2025 – 23 Feb 2025, 24 Feb 2025 – 02 Mar 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.
Back to the February 2025 market review | Detail page permalink.