The Stage

BBC iPlayer receives record viewing requests over the Christmas season

Published Tuesday 6 January 2009 at 17:10 by Matthew Hemley

Online catch-up service BBC iPlayer received 41 million viewing requests in December, with programmes such as Gavin and Stacey and The Royle Family contributing to its success.

In the seven days from Christmas Day to December 31, there were eight million requests alone to view BBC programmes.

The most requested programme was Wallace and Gromit - A Matter of Loaf and Death, followed by Doctor Who.

Gavin and Stacey, The Royle Family, comedy Outnumbered and documentary Blackadder Rides Again all made the top 20, with 17 of the shows in the list having originally aired on BBC1.

December’s 41 million gave the iPlayer its biggest month since its launch in December 2007. The total number of requests for the year now stands at 271 million.

BBC Vision director Jana Bennett said: “This was an excellent Christmas for BBC Vision as audiences fully embraced on-demand alongside their traditional viewing. The fact that BBC1 delivered 17 out of the top 20 programmes on BBC iPlayer and nine out of ten on traditional TV continues to prove that our channel brands remain strong across all of our platforms.”