Well, this is a bit of a shocker. ITV has announced that ITVBe will be closing its doors this June after 11 years of reality TV drama and gossip.
The free-to-watch channel, that’s been a staple of Freeview and Freesat and has given us countless TOWIE arguments and Real Housewives wine-throwing moments, is being replaced by something completely different – a new quiz channel.
ITVBe: The Home Of Guilty Pleasure
For those who’ve never stumbled across it while channel-hopping, ITVBe launched back in October 2014 as ITV’s dedicated reality TV and lifestyle channel.
It’s available to everyone with a telly via Freeview (Channel 28), Freesat (Channel 119), Sky (Channel 131), Virgin Media (Channel 119) and Freely (Channel 22) – and on ITV’s streaming service, ITVX.
The channel quickly became the go-to destination for Essex-based drama when The Only Way Is Essex moved there from ITV2, and it’s also been home to The Real Housewives of Cheshire, plus various international Housewives franchises.
Unlike many entertainment channels these days, ITVBe has remained completely free to watch throughout its run (but with adverts, of course) – a proper rarity when it feels like we’re being asked to fork out for yet another subscription every other week.
Why is ITV pulling the plug?
Reading between the lines, ITV seems to be consolidating its reality content to strengthen ITV2’s position as its main entertainment channel for younger audiences.
This feels like a classic case of a broadcaster trying to keep its traditional channels relevant in the streaming age.
With Netflix, Disney+ and the rest nabbing more viewers every day, ITV clearly wants a stronger, more focused ITV2 that can still pull in those valuable 16-34 year olds.
And let’s be honest – maintaining separate channels for slightly different flavours of reality TV probably isn’t the most efficient use of resources in 2025.
Where are all the shows going?
Don’t panic if you’re a TOWIE devotee or can’t miss the latest Housewives drama – your shows aren’t disappearing. They’re all moving to what ITV is calling a “supercharged” ITV2 from June:
- The Only Way Is Essex returns to ITV2, where it actually began life before moving to ITVBe
- The Real Housewives of Cheshire jumps to ITV2
- All the international Housewives shows are making the move too
- Everything will still be available to stream on ITVX if you prefer to binge
Interestingly, TOWIE will celebrate its 15th anniversary with a special series this autumn, making the move something of a homecoming for the Essex crew.
What’s ITV2 going to look like now?
With all these shows moving over, ITV2 is setting itself up as reality TV central. The channel already pulls in the most 16-34 year old viewers of any digital channel in the UK, and this move will only strengthen that position.
The new and improved ITV2 line-up will include:
- Love Island (which has been streamed a ridiculous 2.2 billion times to date)
- Big Brother
- TOWIE
- The Real Housewives franchises
- Olivia Attwood’s shows including Bad Boyfriends and The Price of Perfection
These will sit alongside ITV2’s existing mix of animated comedies like Family Guy, original shows like G’Wed and Transaction, plus various blockbuster movies.
There’s also a brand new commission that’ll see Sam Faiers return to our screens for the first time since 2021, reuniting with her sister Billie Shepherd for Sam & Billie: Sister Act.
This comes after Sam stepped away from The Mummy Diaries and Billie continued with Billie & Greg: The Family Diaries until 2024.
What’s replacing ITVBe?
Rather than just letting the channel die, ITV is replacing ITVBe with something completely different – ITV Quiz.
As you might have guessed from the name, this will be a channel dedicated to quiz and game shows from ITV’s back catalogue.
The broadcaster hasn’t revealed exactly which shows will feature, but we’d expect to see reruns of popular formats like The Chase, Tipping Point, and possibly classic shows like Who Wants to be a Millionaire.
This new channel builds on ITV’s experience with FAST channels (that’s Free Ad-Supported Television) on ITVX, suggesting it’ll be heavily ad-supported and relatively inexpensive to run.
For more news on TV and streaming, sign up for our free newsletter.
I thought for one moment that it’s ditching the content, and for me, I wouldn’t miss it. The content is to clutter up another channel.
I also thought young people didn’t watch linear TV.
One advantage of watching linear telly is that, it gives you ideas for what on-demand content to search for.