iPlayer requests reach 272 million
The popularity of the BBC’s iPlayer catch-up TV service continues to rise. Indeed, according to a report prepared by the investment bank RBC Capital Markets in February 2013, half of respondents preferred that website for watching movies or TV shows—the next most popular website, by some distance, was YouTube, cited by one-quarter of respondents.
Recent figures from the BBC in its “Monthly Performance Pack, March 2013” for the iPlayer further highlighted the platform’s increasing popularity. According to the report, there were 272 million requests for TV and radio programs in March 2013. This was up by 4% on the number for February and equaled the landmark high recorded in January—traditionally a strong performing month.
The most interesting statistic, though, saw tablets overtake mobile for the first time as the device of choice for consuming iPlayer content. In real terms—that is, in terms of the number of requests to each device type—tablets outperformed mobile devices by 200,000.
In terms of TV viewing alone, tablets actually overtook mobile devices in February, accounting for 18% of total iPlayer TV requests that month, vs. 17% for mobile. And this trend continued in March, with tablets’ share of requests gaining another percentage point.
What this BBC data clearly indicates is that UK consumers are becoming more and more comfortable using tablets for TV and video viewing. These figures are all the more remarkable given that smartphones are far more prevalent than tablets.
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