BBC Three and BBC iPlayer deliver record performances

The BBC has released its end of year figures, with BBC Three and BBC iPlayer delivering record performances.

BBC Three’s best recording week ever fell over the two week Christmas and New Year period, between December 22 to January 4, with a 51% share among its target audience of 16-34 year olds.

The results finish off a successful year for the channel, which has seen year on year growth of 16% among its target audience.

December was also a good month for the BBC’s popular VoD service, iPlayer, which received 41 million requests to view BBC TV programmes in December alone – the biggest month since its launch a year earlier.

The total number of requests for the BBC iPlayer for the year now stands at 271 million, from December 25 2007 to December 25 2008, according to the corporation.

Danny Cohen, controller of BBC Three, said: “Having our best week ever has rounded off a fantastic year for BBC Three. The channel’s young audience share grew by 16% in 2008, and we’re delighted that young viewers are finding so much to enjoy on the channel.”

Erik Huggers, director of BBC FM&T, added: “This confirms that 2008 was the year of the BBC iPlayer. The service evolved dramatically throughout its first 12 months – we’ve just introduced downloading for Mac and Linux users, and a special version of BBC iPlayer for CBBC – and the innovation will continue in 2009.

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