BBC iPlayer usage up 342 per cent in five years
David Farnor | On 05, Aug 2014
Usage of BBC iPlayer has soared 342 per cent in the last five years.
The Beeb’s VOD service notched up 260 million views in June 2014, up 9 per cent on the same month last year and up a staggering 184 million compared to the same month in 2009 – a sign of just how big a part of everyday viewing habits the site has become. Indeed, there were 8.7 million requests per day in June 2014, 700,000 higher than June 2013 and a whopping 7 million higher than in June 2009.
These figures, though, are not even the highest recorded by the BBC: March 2014 remains the peak month so far, with 320 million requests. Indeed, June saw the World Cup take place, in theory distracting viewers away from their usual TV viewing habits. Nonetheless, with the BBC playing a key role in the tournament’s coverage, iPlayer enjoyed a lot of attention.
One-off BBC Three drama Murdered By My Boyfriend was the most popular programme last month with nearly 2 million requests, closely followed by David Beckham documentary Into The Unknown, which received 1.2 million requests.
Live viewing increased, meanwhile, across both TV and radio last month thanks to the sporting events taking place. On TV, the Brazil v Chile game generated over 1 million requests (1.04m, to be exact), with over half of those (600k) generated by live streams.
Taking into account both TV and radio, computers remain the most used platform to watch BBC iPlayer content, but combined, tablets and mobiles drive more activity, as viewers enjoy the chance to catch-up on content – sporting and otherwise – on the go.
The profile of BBC iPlayer users has also evened out over time in terms of male/female ratio, with an almost 50/50 split. Nonetheless, it remains strongly under-55 in terms of age, younger than the typical TV viewer or radio listener’s profile – and, unsurprisingly, more in line with typical home broadband users.