By Andy Fry
The BBC says viewers and listeners “flocked to BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds in record numbers over the festive period”. EastEnders, Call the Midwife, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, The Traitors and Sam Ryder Rocks New Year’s Eve topped the list of most watched programmes on the iPlayer platform.
Looking across the entire “festive fortnight” (December 20 to January 2), programmes were streamed more times on iPlayer this year than last year – with December 23, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day showing the highest growth year on year (+25% or more). The week of Boxing Day to New Year’s Day marked iPlayer’s best-ever ‘festive week’ with programmes streamed 165m times.
On New Year’s Day, programmes were streamed +30 per cent more than last year – making it iPlayer’s third best day of all time, only behind two days during the FIFA World Cup 2022. Aside from the above mentioned titles, scripted series Call the Midwife, Death in Paradise, His Dark Materials, Strike and Happy Valley were also popular. Among kids shows, Hey Duggee, Bluey and Bing performed well.
Charlotte Moore, BBC’s chief content officer says: “Over the festive season, audiences chose the BBC in record breaking numbers on BBC iPlayer and Sounds for our world class content, signalling a brilliant start to 2023 on the BBC.”
Separately, the BBC has reported that, across both broadcast and on-demand viewing, it secured the top six most watched programmes on Christmas Day.
