‘Huge potential for BBC iPlayer in the living room’

BBC iPlayer has recorded its highest ever number of programme requests – with 1.94 billion TV and radio requests across all platforms in 2011.

Computers are still the most popular device to access the iPlayer, accounting for two thirds of all viewing, however, there was a huge uptake in usage via smartphones, tablets and connected TVs in December.

The corporation’s figures show that seven million programmes were requested on TV sets, 13 million on smartphones and 10 million on tablets in the Christmas month.

The 187 million total requests on the iPlayer during December is a 29% increase on December 2010. It recorded its busiest-ever week after Christmas (29.7 million requests) – Sherlock was the most-watched programme with 623,000 views in one single day.

However, Top Gear‘s India special was the most popular show over the festive season with 1.7 million views.

“While 2011 was a remarkable year for BBC iPlayer across the board, the real story was growth of iPlayer on TVs, mobile phones, and tablets, outpacing PC growth many times over,” Daniel Sanker, the BBC’s general manager for programmes and on demand, said. “We see huge potential for BBC iPlayer on the living room set in 2012 – the natural home for great TV – as audiences switch on to the benefits of connected TV.”

Read the Rapid TV News article here.