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ITV says The Blame is tracking as the UK’s biggest new drama across any channel or streaming platform in 2026, based on 14 days of viewing. Its launch episode had averaged 6.6 million viewers “so far” when ITV shared the figure on 6 October, and the audience was still rising.

What record did The Blame break?

The record claim comes from ITV: the broadcaster says the six-part drama is tracking as the UK’s biggest new drama of 2026 across channels and streaming platforms, using a 14-day viewing period. The claim is not an independently verified ranking in the available reporting. ITV’s release does not detail the measurement methodology or how viewing was divided between ITVX and linear television.

The Blame, starring Michelle Keegan, was released on ITVX on 20 September 2026 and was the service’s top title for September at the time ITV reported its figures.

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How many people watched The Blame?

ITV said the launch episode had averaged 6.6 million viewers “so far” as of its 6 October update. The figure was provisional: ITV said viewing continued to rise. It refers to the first episode, not the total audience for all six episodes or a final series-wide tally. ITV’s announcement gives the 14-day basis for its record claim but does not provide a fuller audience-measurement breakdown.

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What does ITVX’s 3 billion streams figure mean?

ITVX passed 3 billion streams on 9 September 2026, according to ITV. That is a platform-wide stream count, not the number of people who watched The Blame. ITV also said the service recorded more than 1 billion streams in the third quarter of 2026, its third consecutive quarter above that mark. A stream count and an episode’s viewer audience are different measures and should not be compared as if they were interchangeable.

For historical context, ITV reported 383 million streams on ITVX in January 2026, then a monthly record above the previous high of 375 million in June 2024. Those are monthly totals for the whole service, not audience figures for an individual programme.

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Other audience figures in ITV’s update

ITV reported several separate programme figures alongside The Blame update. They measure different titles and should not be added to or confused with its 6.6 million launch-episode figure.

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  • Trigger Point’s first episode had reached 6.0 million viewers “so far,” according to ITV.
  • Big Brother streams were up more than 50% year on year, based on 19 episodes to date.
  • The two-part 70 Up finale had an audience of 4.3 million and rising.
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How to read ITV’s numbers

  • 6.6 million: ITV’s provisional figure for viewers of The Blame’s launch episode as of 6 October 2026.
  • 14 days: the viewing period ITV attached to its claim that the show was tracking as 2026’s biggest new drama in the UK across channels and streaming platforms.
  • 3 billion streams: ITVX’s service-wide milestone reached on 9 September 2026, not the audience for The Blame.

ITV’s February 2026 release provides the earlier monthly platform totals. Radio Times also covered ITV’s figures, but the available account does not independently confirm the cross-platform ranking.

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