The introduction of box-sets of classic and recent shows has helped the BBC iPlayer deliver its best-week on record.
Shows including Peaky Blinders and Line of Duty were brought back to the iPlayer in a bid to fend off competition to the BBC’s terrestrial output from the likes of Netflix and Amazon.
Christmas week (Monday December 25 to Sunday December 31) was BBC iPlayer’s best ever week, both for requests (69.2 million) and for weekly hours (25.6 million). That was considerably up on December 25-31 last year, when there were 58.6m requests and 22.5m hours watched.
Peaky Blinders, following the gang wars of 1919 Birmingham, has so far achieved 8 million requests. The shows will be withdrawn in the next few days.
Charlotte Moore, BBC Director of Content, said: “It’s hugely exciting to see such unprecedented numbers come to BBC iPlayer this Christmas. The public have responded in their millions to the amazing range of content we’ve offered – and for those who are loving our special Christmas box set collection there are still a few days to go.”
The most popular show on BBC iPlayer over the festive period (18-31 December) was the Christmas Day episode of EastEnders, which saw 1.6 million requests as tragedy struck the Branning family on the roof of the Queen Vic.
The soap has nine episodes in the top 20, which also saw strong showings for the Apprentice final, the finale of Peaky Blinders fourth series, Doctor Who’s Twice Upon a Time special and the Mrs Brown’s Boys Christmas special.
