BBC hails the ‘biggest year ever’ for iPlayer

The BBC has revealed that 2016 was the “biggest year ever” for the iPlayer with an average of 243 million monthly requests. 

The BBC said that October and November saw the highest average number of daily requests the BBC iPlayer has ever seen, with 11.7 million in each month.

Unveiling official iPlayer numbers, the corporation said that episode one of nature series Planet Earth II was the most-viewed programme of the year so far, receiving 3.84 million requests.

BBC Three, the youth skewing network which went online-only earlier this year, was also credited for having “a good year” with the first episode of drama Thirteen proving the second most popular of any series with 3.23 million requests.

In third place was the England vs Wales football match from this summer’s Euro 2016 tournament, which received 2.85 million requests on the iPlayer, followed by episode one of spy drama The Night Manager with 2.76 million clicks.

The top 10 was rounded out with another episode of Planet Earth II, four episodes of The Great British Bake Off, and another episode of Thirteen.

“The extraordinary Planet Earth II tops the most popular list in this record breaking year for BBC iPlayer. In 2016, it has enabled audiences to enjoy a range of high quality programmes when and where they want to, and find content they might otherwise have missed,” said director of BBC Content, Charlotte Moore.

“From Bake Off, The Night Manager, Thirteen, Sherlock, Our Girl, Fleabag and even live football – it’s an exceptional service that we will be taking to the next level in 2017.”