Smart TVs drive record iPlayer views

The BBC’s catch-up service received 213m requests in October, up by 20% year-on-year, with the majority of growth generated from video which saw 165m requests over the four week period. The average number of daily requests for content is 6.2m, driven by a 7% month-on-month increase in TV shows to 4.7m.

Internet connected TVs, games consoles and platform operators, such as BT Vision and Virgin Media accounted for 43m views, 20% of all requests, with mobiles and tablet devices responsible for 49m (23%) requests.  

Head of BBC iPlayer Dave Price said in a blog about the figures: “This shows the extent to which internet-connected devices are really starting to penetrate the market and the fact that BBC iPlayer is available on a large range of mobiles and tablets out there.”

He added that the recent launch of the iPlayer on Sky+ was considered a key milestone by the broadcaster. “We see internet-connected TVs as the platform of the future. It’s no big surprise that when at home, audiences like to watch TV on the best screen in the house - the TV,” said Price.

TV stats

Two of the top three most popular shows viewed on iPlayer in October, Hunted and Merlin, have been dropped by the BBC over the last few weeks.

Russell Howard’s Good News again performed strongly via the catch-up service, along with one off docs Panorama: Jimmy Savile – What The BBC Knew and Top Gear 50 Years of Bond Cars.