ITV recorded a total of 3.4 million viewers watched the Love Island final across ITV2 and ITV Hub last night, making it the biggest finale since 2019, and an increase of 100,000 viewers year-on-year.

The closing episode broke streaming records according to the broadcaster, with over 250 million streams this series, making it the most-watched series ever on ITV Hub.

The series averaged 2.7 million viewers across the eight-week run, making it the second-highest rating after the 2019 series, ITV confirmed.

However, when catch-up data and ITV Hub audiences across all devices were factored in, ITV noted the consolidated series average currently stood at 4.6 million. The second highest-rated series to date.

According to BARB overnight figures, the live linear audience peaked on ITV2 at 3.17 million viewers in the individuals 4+ category at 10.30pm when Ekin-Su and Davide were crowned winners of the series.

During the 9pm to 10.30pm timeslot, BARB figures showed the average audience on ITV2 for the last episode of the reality dating show was 2.82 million, with the highest share of the timeslot with 18.9% share (individuals 4+).

For the adults 16- 34 audience, the final episode garnered an average audience of 1.20 million, a peak of 1.36 million at 10.30pm and a 60.8% share of viewing in the timeslot, per the overnight data.

Consolidated average audience viewing on a TV set (not all devices) for the the series from 6 June to 24 July was 3.14 million, according to data produced by BARB and Mediatel Connected.

Sponsors of the show this year included an official coffee partner (Emmi Caffe Latte), network sponsor (O2), returning beauty sponsor (Boots), its first pre-loved fashion sponsor (eBay replacing fast fashion sponsors), and its first “fan partner” in Reddit. Just Eat has been the lead sponsor since 2019.

ITV and Lifted Entertainment (part of ITV studios) have confirmed there will be two series on ITV2 and ITVX next year, making a total of sixteen weeks of Love Island content.

The first series will start in South Africa in the New Year and the second series will take place in Mallorca in the summer.

Read more on Love Island series eight here: 

Love Island tops UK most-viewed programmes

Love Island attracts average audience of more than 3m so far

Love Island opens series 8 with 2.8 million peak

Love Island series 8 ‘will be the true litmus test of its popularity’

• HBO partners with Snap to bring dragons to life
  Snap and HBO Max are bringing dragons from House of the Dragon to cities around the world via location-based augmented reality experiences.
• ITV nets Google and KFC as World Cup coverage sponsors
  In brief: Google Pixel and KFC Delivery will sponsor ITV’s FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 coverage.
• CNN Originals hub launches on Discovery+
  In brief: The offering on Discovery+ includes over 800 episodes of programming across CNN Original Series, CNN Films, and HLN Original Series.
• Streaming surpasses cable TV for first time
  Streaming usage surpassed cable audiences for the first time ever last month, according to Nielsen.
• CNN cancels Reliable Sources, Brian Stelter exits
  In brief: The Sunday morning program, which celebrated its 30th anniversary this year, will air its final show this Sunday, August 21.