David Farnor | On 31, Jan 2019

Mrs. Wilson was the big winner on BBC iPlayer in December 2018, leading requests on the VOD service throughout the month.

December saw a total of 298 million requests, with an average of 9.6m requests per day. The majority of those were driven by Mrs. Wilson, the bizarre and captivating real-life story which starred Ruth Wilson as her own grandmother. All three episodes of the three-part drama were in the top 10 programmes on BBC iPlayer for December, with Episode 1 receiving 2.1m requests and the second just under 2m. Episode 3 generated 1.67m requests.

The programme’s strong performance pipped The Apprentice to the top spot for the month, as its Christmas Chocolate episode received 1.8 million requests.

A selection of new and classic box sets were available at Christmas, while earlier in the year BBC iPlayer added documentaries from Louis Theroux and Stacey Dooley, classic dramas like Pride and Prejudice and House of Cards, comedies like The League of Gentlemen and Miranda, and every episode of Doctor Who since the 2005 revival. It was the traditional festive TV specials, though, that proved the most popular over the holiday, with the Christmas day episode of EastEnders and the Call the Midwife Christmas special in the top 10 programmes for December, with 1.4m and 1.3m requests respectively.

They capped off a year in which Bodyguard, Killing Eve and McMafia were confimed as the top programmes requested on BBC iPlayer in 2018. The most popular show of the year was Bodyguard, with the first episode becoming BBC iPlayer’s biggest ever programme, with 10.8 million requests across the year. All six episodes of the thrilling drama appear in iPlayer’s top 10 programmes of the year. Smash hit Killing Eve came a close second, with 9.2m requests for episode one, followed by global thriller McMafia, with 4.7m requests.

Overall in 2018, 3.6 billion programmes were requested on iPlayer throughout the year. Other notable additions to BBC iPlayer in 2018 included live restart via the green button, as well as both the World Cup and Wimbledon being brought to viewers in Ultra-High Definition for the first time.

Dan McGolpin, Controller of Programming for the BBC, says: “In 2018 we saw people who use iPlayer increasing the amount of time that they spend watching programmes on it. Over the last 12 months viewers have enjoyed an increased number of box sets, along with other upgrades such as a selection of live Ultra HD programmes and increased personalisation. In a fiercely competitive market, with global streaming companies investing more and more in content, the challenge for 2019 is how to ensure that audiences can enjoy the full range and breadth of BBC programmes on iPlayer.”

Indeed, the BBC recently launched a public consultation on its plans to continue improving BBC iPlayer, making it a destination in its own right, with box sets, live programming and archive titles that champion quality UK content and offer great programmes for longer.

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