ITVX streams are up 19% year-on-year in May 2026
ITVX enjoyed an excellent May. Its strongest on record, in fact. On Thursday, the company announced that total streams for the month were up 19% year-on-year. Things are likely to stay positive in June, thanks to the World Cup.
Drama was the biggest driver last month, prompting 92 million streams. Believe Me received 16 million streams alone. Meanwhile, Coronation Street and Emmerdale generated 58 million streams between them during, a 35% year-on-year increase.
With the World Cup about to kick off, and ITV one of the official broadcasters, I’d expect sport to challenge all of that. Indeed, both the linear channel and ITVX will air the first game of the whole tournament – Mexico vs South Africa on Thursday evening.
Mark Pougatch, Laura Woods and Semra Hunter are on hosting duties, with a variety of other pundits covering the tournament too. These include US Women’s Manager Emma Hayes, ex-players Roy Keane, Ian Wright, Gary Neville, Patrick Vieira and Karen Carney, as well as Europa League-winning former Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou. (His successor, Thomas Frank, will be on duty for the BBC.)
World Cup Coverage on ITVX and Beyond
One name not in the ITV squad is Eni Aluko. After her previous, unfair, criticism of Ian Wright, she is not involved in coverage of this tournament. I do not know who made the decision, but I suspect all involved realised that the pair working together was not tenable. Given he did not create the situation, it seems reasonable that Wright got the plane tickets to New York. Aluko, who has tried to apologise, has hardly furthered the course of female punditry by behaving how she did.
Away from the pundit and presenter rosters, one of the key concerns for Brits wanting to watch the games is kick-off times. Matches starting at 8pm, 9pm or 10pm BST are ok. A 3am start is pushing it, even for a night owl like me.
We’re luckier than some, though. Digital entertainment (games, gambling, crypto etc.) platform JB.com found that Indian fans have got the rawest deal. While the early game of the day begins at 9:30pm in India, the latest US kick-off time is 6.30am the next morning in India. Those living or holidaying in Greece can prepare themselves for all-nighters – going 7pm to 7am the next day to cover all three games.
Given the expected quality of some of the games in this hugely expanded tournament, it might be better to turn off TV and sleep instead.
About the Author
