Connected TV scores for BBC iPlayer over Christmas


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Editor

| 09 January 2016




Connected TVs were the most popular devices for the BBC iPlayer over the so-called ‘festive fortnight’ of the 2015 Christmas holidays, which ran from 21–31 December 2015.



Audience data revealed that unique browsers on connected TVs up 32% on the same period in 2014. Connected TVs accounted for 38% of unique browsers, followed by 24% on tablets, 22% on computers and 17% on mobiles.

In absolute terms, mobile and tablet usage remained popular, with 391,000 app downloads on the iPlayer throughout the period, peaking on Christmas Day when there were 90,000 downloads of the app.

Flagship soap EastEnders delivered five of the top six most-requested episodes on the on-demand platform over the period, peaking at 1.459 million requests, with reality show The Apprentice Final in second place (1.306 million) and the top ‘Christmas special’ being comedy Mrs Brown’s Boys (969,200). The two dramas Luther, And Then There Were None followed closely behind.

“Christmas was an extremely popular time for watching programmes on BBC iPlayer - and not just people viewing on computers, tablets and phones,” said Dan Taylor-Watt, head of BBC iPlayer. “We’ve seen a real surge in people watching the best of the BBC through connected TVs. So, whether it was bringing the family together to watch cliff-hangers from Albert Square, drama like And Then There Were None or hilarious antics from Mrs Brown, more and more people were watching BBC iPlayer on the biggest screen in the house.”