The return of Police corruption thriller Line of Duty delivered the BBC iPlayer its biggest single episode of the year.
The first episode of the Jed Mercurio-penned drama was streamed 8.7 million times – also more than any single episode across the whole of last year. Viewers also took advantage of the availability of the previous five series, with the show streamed a total of 127 million times in the first six months of the year.
Dan McGolpin, Director, BBC iPlayer and channels, said: “There’s been a step-change in the popularity of BBC iPlayer over the last two years and during the first half of 2021 we’ve seen further growth including some incredible numbers for Line of Duty, the best half-year on record for EastEnders and a spectacular performance for Euro 2020.”
In all BBC shows were streamed on the iPlayer over 3.3 billion times between January and June this year, up 8% on the same period last year, and up a massive 59% on the same period in 2019 following huge growth in early 2020.
Like many streaming services, iPlayer has benefitted from the continued draw to streaming services during the pandemic.
| Rank | Programme | Episode | Streams |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Line of Duty | Series 6 - episode 1 | 8,745,000 |
| 2 | The Serpent | Series 1 - episode 1 | 6,092,000 |
| 3 | Time | Series 1 - episode 1 | 5,572,000 |
| 4 | Line of Duty | Series 1 - episode 1 | 5,190,000 |
| 5 | Euro 2020 | Round of 16: England v Germany | 5,113,000 |
| 6 | Bloodlands | Series 1 - episode 1 | 4,638,000 |
| 7 | The Pact | Series 1 - episode 1 | 4,201,000 |
| 8 | Traces | Series 1 - episode 1 | 4,078,000 |
| 9 | Line of Duty | Series 2 - episode 1 | 3,541,000 |
| 10 | A Perfect Planet | Episode 1 - Volcano | 3,484,000 |
