The BRIT Awards 2026 with Mastercard, held for the first time in Manchester, achieves its biggest-ever reach and impact

Record-breaking digital engagement, with more than 250 million organic views in the 48 hours post-show – up 275% on 2025 

Marked increase in demand for artists’ music post-show, led by Rosalia’s ‘Lux’ with a 583% surge    

The event remains the UK’s most significant youth-driving entertainment awards event on TV, achieving a 49% share of the coveted 16-34 audience bracket

The BRIT Awards 2026 with Mastercard today highlights its biggest uplift yet across its social channels, as well as significant Official Charts uplifts across performing artists and award winners on the night. The 2026 show marked the first time the UK’s biggest night in music has been staged outside of London in its five-decade history, and today’s figures show it has connected with more music fans at home and around the world than ever before.

The show was broadcast on ITV1 and ITVX in the UK and, for the first time, on ITV’s YouTube channel, as well as on BRITs’ YouTube channel for those outside of the UK, from the Co-op Live in Manchester on Saturday night (28th February). Hosted by Jack Whitehall, the show featured exclusive performances from Alex Warren; EJAE, Audrey Nuna and REI AMI, the singing voices from HUNTR/X; Harry Styles; Mark Ronson (with Dua Lipa and Ghostface Killah); Olivia Dean; RAYE; ROSALÍA (with Björk), SOMBR; and Wolf Alice, as well as an all-star tribute performance for Ozzy Osbourne fronted by Robbie Williams.

Olivia Dean took home the most awards of the night with four wins for Mastercard Album of the Year, Artist of the Year, Song of the Year with Mastercard (for the chart-topping collaboration with Sam Fender) and Pop Act.

Social media content on the BRITs owned channels (@BRITs) broke records once again, with video content from the 48 hours post-show amassing in excess of over 250 million organic views, an increase of 275% on last year.

Driving this phenomenal growth is Instagram, with 162 million views, up 400% from 32.4 million views in the same period last year. Followers of BRITs’ Instagram were treated to exclusive content throughout the night, including premium arrival videos of some of the biggest names to feature in this year’s show, such as Harry Styles, Olivia Dean, and ROSÉ, and stunning winners photography featuring the night’s victors, including Mark Ronson, Noel Gallagher, ROSALÍA, and more. The account, which doubled the number of posts when compared to the same period in 2025 to over 220, saw over 10 million likes across the 48 hours following the event, as well as just shy of one million content shares. 

Views of Facebook Reels topped 70 million for the first time, with highlights including clips from the spectacular all-star tribute to the late Ozzy Osbourne, Olivia Dean’s acceptance speech for Mastercard Album of the Year, and Dua Lipa’s surprise appearance during Mark Ronson’s medley of hits. 

YouTube broadcast the show to non-UK viewers once again for the 13th consecutive year, with views doubling compared to 2025, with over one million tuning in from overseas. There were over 4 million views of content on The BRITs’ YouTube channel, up from 1.3 million views on 2025, with all 10 performances from the ceremony amassing a total of 10 million views, including over two million for Harry Styles’ debut live performance of ‘Aperture’, and four million for ROSALÍA’s spectacular rendition of ‘Berghain’, featuring Björk.

Video views on TikTok also increased drastically, more than doubling from 9.3 million in the 48 hours following the show in 2025, to over 19 million in 2026. With all angles of the red carpet and show covered, fans had more access to the biggest night in British music than ever before. 

ITVX’s BRITs coverage saw impressive growth with over 2 million total streams to date, achieving an over 60% increase year on year. ITV1 was the biggest channel in the slot across all key demographics*, reinforcing the BRITs’ position as a tentpole live event. The 2026 show proved a hit with younger viewers as nearly half of the coveted 16–34 demographic watching TV during the timeslot were watching the BRITs. This 49% share meant The BRITs achieved the highest peak share for any commercial programme in the 2026 calendar so far. In a landmark first for the channel, The BRIT Awards 2026 was made available to stream on ITV’s YouTube for UK viewers, marking a highly successful digital expansion.

In the Official UK Albums Chart, performers and winning artists enjoyed marked increase in demand for their music post-show.  International Artist of the Year ROSALÍA saw a +583% increase with album ‘Lux’ new at 18; likewise International Group of the Year winners Geese have seen their album ‘Getting Killed’ back in the Top 40 at 33, with an uplift of +177%. In celebration of his two award wins, Sam Fender’s Mercury Prize winning album ‘People Watching’ also nudged into the Top 40 and moved up to 38 from 50 (+25%) with RAYE’s ‘My 21st Century Blues’ going from 61 to 50 (+19%). Olivia Dean’s ‘The Art of Loving’ has an uplift of 16% and SOMBR’s ‘I Barely Know Her’ sees an uplift of 10%.

In the Official UK Singles Charts, performing and winning artists have enjoyed an uplift in streams or sales. Breakthrough Artist winner Lola Young’s ‘Messy’ is up 18% from 81 to 67; Alex Warren’s ‘Ordinary’ moves up to 14 from 19 (+25%); Harry Styles’ ‘Aperture’ moves up 12% from 16 to 15. ‘Rein Me In’, the BRIT Award winning Song of the Year with Mastercard from Sam Fender and Olivia Dean, has seen an uplift of 18%.

The BRIT Awards 2026 was led by Chair of the BRITs Committee, Stacey Tang, Co-President of RCA Records, Sony Music UK, and the digital campaign was led by Edd Blower, Director, Audience Strategy & Growth, RCA UK, and BPI Director of Digital Giuseppe De Cristofano, who jointly co-chaired The BRIT Awards 2026 Digital Committee, working with content agency Cold Glass Productions. 

Dr Jo Twist OBE, CEO of UK record labels association, the BPI, which puts on The BRIT Awards every year, said:

“This year’s BRIT Awards 2026 with Mastercard were as groundbreaking as they were epic, and the show’s off-the-scale impact and reach has made it an even more powerful global stage for British artists and international talent. The first time outside of London, and embraced by Manchester in the most heart-felt way, including through a first-ever BRITs Fringe, we’re seeing record levels of digital engagement and media reporting, increased ratings, and a marked uplift in the sales and streams of the amazing music that we were privileged to celebrate on Saturday night.  

“Many congratulations to all our diverse winners and nominees, and with profound thanks to The BRITs Committee chaired by Stacey Tang, The BRITs Team, Jack Whitehall, and everyone who worked to create such a spectacular event. We’re grateful also to our amazing hosts Manchester and Co-op Live, and to our valued partners Mastercard, ITV, Meta, Neutrogena and others for helping to make this one of the best-ever BRITs!”

Giuseppe De Cristofano, BPI Director of Digital and Co-Chair of the BRIT Awards Digital Committee said:

“The move to Manchester has added a fresh lens to our campaign, the way the city has embraced the BRITs is unparallelled and has allowed us to capture new stories around the BRITs and share these with music fans all over the world. I am thrilled with the huge increase in engagement we’ve seen across our social output particularly with the increase in organic views across our Instagram content. The build-up to the Show was like no other culminating in incredible output from our social first red carpet to the Show itself. We continue to see our strategy to make the BRITs global pay off as we bring the BRITs conversation to new young audiences around the world.

“This is all helped by fantastic partners, a huge thank you to Josh Nicoll and the team at Meta, for their continued support across Instagram, along with the team at WhatsApp for powering the public vote for Song of the Year and International Song of the Year. I’d also like to thank the teams at ITV and YouTube for their support in making the YouTube live stream truly global for the very first time.  A big thanks to Edd Blower at RCA Records, my co-chair of the BRITs Digital Committee for his strategic vision, insight, passion and leadership throughout this campaign and to Toby Leveson here at BPI and the entire team at Cold Glass Productions for their dedication, passion and creativity in delivering another successful campaign.”

Edd Blower, Director of Audience Strategy & Growth, RCA Records and Co-Chair of the BRIT Awards Digital Committee said:

"This year felt like a genuine turning point for The BRIT Awards, and the digital campaign reflected that. The move to Manchester, the first global multi-platform livestream with YouTube crossing one million views ex-uk, organic Instagram Reels views increasing fivefold year on year. These are signs that The BRITs is finding new audiences and asserting itself as a truly global stage for British music. The move for public vote to Song of the Year and International Song of the Year, delivered in partnership with Meta & Whatsapp, further reflected that global ambition and opened the conversation to new audiences and brought more of the world into The BRIT Awards. 

“The fact that the teams at BPI and Cold Glass Productions achieved all of this while navigating a new venue speaks volumes, as they rose to every challenge with real creativity and commitment. 

“Growing up, I never missed a moment to watch live music on TV (and to study the drummers) so to be part of a team delivering The BRITs to millions of people worldwide is something I won't take for granted. Thank you to the members of this year's digital committee, a massive thank you to my co-chair Giuseppe De Cristofano for his drive and steady hand throughout, and finally to Stacey Tang for asking me to join her team."

Josh Nicoll, Music Label Partnerships Manager at Meta, said:

“Huge congratulations to Jo, Giuseppe, Edd and everyone across the BRITs team and committee on an outstanding BRIT Awards 2026 with Mastercard — early results are already showing impressive numbers and record levels of engagement.

“We’re proud of the role Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook played in helping the BRITs be the UK’s defining cultural moment in music — connecting fans to the build-up, the red carpet, and the performances in real time. With an incredible line-up of artists on the live show and the reach of the wider digital programme, the BRITs have travelled further than ever, resonating with audiences around the world. And it’s been especially exciting to see fans get directly involved through the WhatsApp public vote for Song of the Year and International Song of the Year — a brilliant example of how community and participation can elevate the show and help bring new audiences into the conversation.”

Mastercard continued their long-standing headline sponsorship of The BRITs as it moved into its 29th year. ITV remained the official broadcaster for the 34th year, with the awards airing on ITV, STV, ITVX and STV Player.  

These partnerships are vital in supporting and amplifying The BRITs’ vision and values, including fundraising for the awards’ charitable arm, The BRIT Trust, with a core pillar of the Trust the distribution of funds to charities which promote education and wellbeing through music, including The BRIT School and Nordoff and Robbins Music Therapy.