The Signal

UK Movement Intelligence by Data Jam

October 2026

Audience movement trends across the UK

Like-for-Like Growth

+28.1%

Year-over-year increase across matched locations. 2026 finished ahead on all 31 days, and Saturday 3 October delivered the highest daily figure in any edition of The Signal.

October 2025

365M

impressions, like-for-like

October 2026

467M

impressions, like-for-like

Peak Day

16.5M

3 Oct, Saturday, a new high

Avg Daily

15.1M

+28% vs 2025 (11.8M)

Why like-for-like?

We compare only locations that were active in both October 2025 and October 2026: same venues, same measurement zones. This isolates genuine audience growth from network expansion, giving you the true market signal. The matched locations in this report represent a consistent, comparable set across both years.

Daily Movement

October 2026 vs 2025, with event overlays

New high (Saturday 3 October, 16.5M)

Chart shows 1–31 October. Every date is complete in both years, so all 31 days are in the comparison.

What Drove Movement

👑

A New High: 16.5M

The highest daily figure in The Signal so far

October opened with a run of big days: Friday 2 October at 16.17M, then Saturday 3 October at 16.50M, above July’s 16.35M high-water mark. In all, six October days passed 16M.

2 Oct

16.2M

Friday

3 Oct

16.5M

New high

17 Oct

16.4M

Saturday

✅

Ahead on All 31 Days

+28.1% across a complete month

Every one of October’s 31 days was complete in both years, and 2026 finished ahead on all of them. 467.3M impressions against 364.7M a year earlier, with the average day up from 11.8M to 15.1M.

Mon15.4M avg+31.0%

Tue15.0M avg+27.6%

Wed15.0M avg+25.7%

Thu15.2M avg+27.5%

Fri15.7M avg+29.1%

Sat15.7M avg+27.2%

Sun13.1M avg+27.7%

☔

Rain Didn’t Stop It

88mm of rain in London, more than August and September combined

October was the wettest month of the autumn in London. The network barely noticed: Friday 23 October, with 15mm of rain, delivered 16.2M impressions, +36% on last year, and the wet Saturday that followed still reached 15.7M.

🎓

Half-Term Kept It Going

Weekdays averaged 15.6M in the last week of October

Many schools in England were on half-term in the last week of October. Weekday audiences averaged 15.6M from 26 to 30 October, the strongest week of the month, and Monday 26 October reached 16.0M, the biggest Monday of the autumn.

Day of Week

Average daily impressions by day of week: like-for-like, same weekday in each year

Mon

+31.0%

Tue

+27.6%

Wed

+25.7%

Thu

+27.5%

Fri

+29.1%

Sat

+27.2%

Sun

+27.7%

Every day of the week grew by more than 25%. Monday led October at +31.0% YoY. Saturday and Friday were the biggest days by volume at 15.8M and 15.7M average, and every weekday averaged around 15M or more.

Time of Day

Average impressions per hour, October 2026: weekdays against weekends

Weekdays peak at 5pm, at nearly 1.2M impressions an hour, with lunchtime close behind. Weekends are bigger from 9am to 3pm; weekdays take over from 4pm into the evening.

For planners

What October means for your bookings

Every day from Monday to Saturday averaged around 15M impressions or more, so the whole week delivers.

Weekdays peak at 5pm, at nearly 1.2M impressions an hour; weekends peak at 2pm.

Neither rain nor half-term caused a dip: the wettest Friday delivered 16.2M, and half-term week was the month’s strongest.

Methodology

Data sourced from Data Jam's UK measurement network across retail, leisure, entertainment, transport, and hospitality venues. Like-for-like comparison uses only locations active in both October 2025 and October 2026. All impressions are raw audience counts, and no dates needed estimating. Year-over-year figures compare all 31 dates, which were complete in both years. Day-of-week averages compare the same weekday in each year. 2026 outperformed 2025 on all 31 matched date pairings. Temperature and rainfall: London daily values (Open-Meteo archive). Time-of-day averages use complete days only.