Viewers flocked to the BBC in record numbers between Christmas and New Year, with BBC iPlayer setting a new festive record of 141 million programmes streamed during New Year week (December 27th – January 3rd), up 6 per cent on the same week the year previously. The New Year has also started with a bang, with programmes streamed 143 million times on iPlayer last week.

BBC iPlayer recorded its best festive day ever, with 22 million streams on January 2nd, boosted by the arrival of the box set of The Tourist. The series is currently the third most successful drama launch of all time on iPlayer – having been streamed over 18 million times to date

In addition, BBC All-Screens+7 data (which reports on all viewing across linear BBC TV and BBC iPlayer during the first seven days of availability) shows during the period December 20th – January 4th:

• Happy New Year Live! with an average audience of over 10.5 million – the first episode of The Tourist (8.9m) and The Queen’s Christmas Broadcast (8.3m) were the most watched programmes on BBC TV and BBC iPlayer combined
• Christmas specials of Death in Paradise (8m), Call the Midwife (7.9m) and Strictly Come Dancing (7.4m) also performed well – along with new dramas A Very British Scandal (7.1m) and Around the World in 80 days (6m) which were watched live and on-demand by millions within their first seven days of availability

Figures for the festive period also show:

• Viewers were gripped by new dramas on iPlayer, with the first instalment of A Very British Scandal topping the list of most streamed episodes across the festive period (December 21st – January 3rd) with 2.3 million streams. The first episode of outback drama The Tourist (1.6m) and finale of psychological thriller The Girl Before (1.6m) also proved hugely popular, along with Christmas Day staples including the Call the Midwife Christmas special (1.6m) and EastEnders (1.5m)
• Drama in the Square was a hit throughout Christmas and New Year, with EastEnders streamed 15.9 million times between December 21st – January 3rd, making it the most streamed brand.

“2022 on the BBC has started with a bang with record viewing across Christmas and New Year on BBC iPlayer,” declared Charlotte Moore, BBC’s Chief Content Officer. “Millions of people chose to watch our unrivalled range of box-sets and Christmas specials live on our channels, or binge on-demand across the festive season – paving the way for the BBC’s centenary, a landmark year that will look forward and celebrate British creativity across the whole of the UK.”

The top 20 episodes across linear BBC TV and BBC iPlayer during the first seven days following transmission between December 20th and January 4th are:

BBC iPlayer’s top episodes per programme from Tuesday December 21^st to Monday January 3^rd are:

Other posts by Colin Mann:

1. Analysis: SVoDs drive $220bn content spend
2. A TikToking clock heading towards regeneration – or not?
3. European pay-radio: Getting ready

Categories: Articles, Broadcast, Catch Up, OTT, OTT, VOD

Tags: BBC iPlayer, Charlotte Moore, The Tourist