BBC iPlayer Breaks New Record of 100 Million Requests

New figures released today show that BBC iPlayer reached a new landmark, as the on-demand service broke 100 million requests for programmes in a month for the first time.

The service, which is now available on more than 20 devices, allows people to catch up with their favourite BBC programmes using their TV, mobile phone or computer. The final two weeks of December 2009 saw a huge increase for people accessing BBC programmes through their games console. One in eight of all TV requests are now coming from either a Nintendo Wii or Sony PS3 console, which is an increase of 74% since November 2009.

The final Wake Up To Wogan and the race for 2009's Christmas number one saw the week commencing 14 December become the record week for radio requests in BBC iPlayer history, while the week of 28 December saw 17.3 million requests come in for TV alone, setting a new record for TV programme requests in a week.

The figures also reveal the Top 20 programmes on the service over Christmas, with Top Gear's Bolivia Special being the most popular TV programme, and day two of the England v South Africa Test Match being the most popular radio programme.

EastEnders, Gavin & Stacey and Doctor Who all performed strongly, while two of the family blockbuster films shown on the BBC also featured in the Top 20, proving that people are really happy to watch both short and feature length programmes on-demand.

Erik Huggers, Director of Future Media and Technology, said: "Breaking the 100 million barrier is a great way to kick off 2010 and these figures show that by offering simple and varied access to BBC iPlayer people are really finding it easy to catch up with their favourite programmes at a time that suits them.

"I expect more people to start using the service as we continue to make it more widely available and I'm looking forward to some of the new innovations we have coming to the service later on in the year."

iPlayer Landmarks

• BBC iPlayer breaks 100 million requests, with record numbers at the end of 2009
• New Year's Day was most popular day for people "iPlayer-ing" over Christmas
• Terry Wogan's departure and battle for Christmas No. 1 helps BBC iPlayer to achieve record numbers of Radio requests
• 1.3 million requests for David Tennant's final appearance as Doctor Who
• One-in-eight requests for TV programmes now coming from a games console