BBC iPlayer records ‘strongest month to date’

Killing Eve

The BBC iPlayer on-demand service recorded its strongest month to date in October, boosted by the popularity of hit series Killing Eve, Doctor Who and The Cry.

BBC iPlayer recorded 334 million requests in October, up 18% year-on-year, with a new record for average daily requests of 10.8 million.

Based on number of requests, October beat all previous records, surpassing this January’s score of 328 million and last December’s 327 million.

Killing Eve had six episodes in the top ten. The first episode is the most popular programme of the month, with over 3.5m requests, followed by Jodie Whittaker’s first episode as the Doctor in the new series of Doctor Who, with over 2.9m requests.

The Cry, starring Jenna Coleman, also performed very well, with 2.9 million requests for the first episode and over two million for the second. Other highlights include the return of The Apprentice, the continued success of Strictly Come Dancing, and the first episode of new drama Informer, which got over a 1.7 million requests.

TV platforms accounted for 56% of all iPlayer requests in October. Requests for live programmes remained consistent at 16%.

Slightly more women than men – 51% to 49% – used the service in the third quarter of this year. Some 31% of iPlayer users were over 55, compared with 38% of TV viewers, while 33% of iPlayer users were in the 35-54 age range and 36% were under 35.

Dan McGolpin, controller of programming for the BBC, said: “It’s been a fantastic autumn for BBC iPlayer. Bodyguard and Killing Eve are the two strongest performing series ever and in October we set a new record for daily requests, which gave us our highest ever monthly total. Together with the return of Doctor Who, The Apprentice and Strictly BBC iPlayer offers a unique mix of brand new programmes alongside some of the nation’s best-loved shows.”