The BBC’s on demand and streaming service, the iPlayer was launched for PC five years ago. Tempus fugit. To mark the occasion, Dave Price, head of iPlayer has taken a look at the growth of the service and it’s impressive reading.
From experimental beginnings in 2008 to becoming the number one brand in the UK according to YouGov, the iPlayer has certainly flourished and helped to change the way we consume broadcast television and radio.
The service is now available on 650 devices and platforms from TVs to gaming consoles and mobile devices. Check out the total requests for streams and downloads for TV and radio programs, that’s a shape that must be providing a very happy new year for the team.
Over Christmas, the iPlayer also seems to have done well. It’s not surprising given the amount of tablets and smartphones that were likely to arrive in Christmas stockings.
Price points out that Christmas day itself usually takes a dip, but that the following days see a peak where people decide to catch up on programs they missed.
Through Dec 22 – Jan 1 (excluding Virgin cable data which is not around yet) the iPlayer saw 77 million requests for TV and radio. The zenith was Jan 1 and the top choices were entertainment shows including Dr Who, Eastenders, Miranda and sitcom Outnumbered.
The shift in viewer habits was also prominent this year. In the blog post, Price notes that the Nexus 7, iPad and Kindle Fire HD were popular devices used to access the iPlayer.
Image Credit: Dan Taylor / Flickr
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