July 2026

Year-over-year increase across matched locations — growth on every day of the week for the second month running — and the month closed on the three biggest days we’ve ever measured

July didn’t fade out — it accelerated. Wednesday 29, Thursday 30 and Friday 31 July each beat every day that came before them this year, and Friday 31 July delivered 16,351,985 impressions — a new matched-set daily record, a full 16% above June’s 14.1M high-water mark. Payday Friday met the summer holidays in full swing, and the network felt every bit of it.

Every day of the week grew again in July, from +15.8% on Sundays to +23.1% on Wednesdays — the midweek quietly becoming 2026’s strongest riser. 2026 finished ahead of 2025 on 27 of the 29 matched dates.

England’s schools broke up through the week of 20 July — and the network registered it almost to the day. Weekday audiences averaged 13.0M while terms were still running, then stepped up to 14.4M once the holidays began — an +11% within-month lift that turned the school run into all-day audiences. The month’s three biggest days all arrived with the holidays in full swing.

By mid-July, 2026 had already recorded more 30°C days than the whole of 1976, and became the first year on record to reach 35°C in May, June and July. The early-July heatwave peaked in London at 34.7°C on the 9th — and the network barely blinked, running within 2% of its Thursday average and +23% ahead of the same date last year. When the heat returned at 33.5°C on 29 July, it met the holidays and payday week head-on — and produced the record run that closed the month. Warm weather moves audiences around; it doesn’t remove them.