1

Online Monthly press pack

January 2010

Dan Maynard, Publicist, BBC iPlayer

BBC Marketing, Communications & Audiences
T. 020 8008 5294 | M. 07912 583654 | E.Daniel.Maynard@bbc.co.uk

Please refer to slide 4 for guide footnotes

 2

Monthly summary – January 2010

• The month of January again saw records broken for TV and radio requests on BBC iPlayer.
In total there were 120 million requests across all platforms (both online platforms
and devices and BBC iPlayer on Virgin Media TV combined).

• The week of 4-10 January set a new record for total requests (23.8m) and radio requests
(8m), boosted by catch-up viewing following the Christmas holiday, such as Doctor Who
and Gavin and Stacey , and audio cricket coverage. On 11th January the new Chris Evans
Breakfast show also attracted high request numbers.

• Requests from PC/Macs continued to dominate in January for both TV and radio content,
however requests for TV programmes via BBC iPlayer on Nintendo Wii increased +1 point
to 4% of the total number, and PlayStation®3 requests again delivered a further 8%.

Consistent with previous months:

• The profile of BBC iPlayer users is fairly stable at around 60% male / 40% female, and
remains strongly under-55 in terms of age, which is younger than the typical TV viewer or
radio listener’s profile.

• On-demand makes up the great majority of TV programme requests (in January only 8%
of requests were for live simulcast streams), however two-thirds of requests for radio
streams are for live programmes, as opposed to on-demand catch-up listening.

• BBC iPlayer is used for TV at roughly the same time of day as linear TV viewing, although
there is proportionally more daytime and late-peak use. For radio, BBC iPlayer is used
far more in daytime than traditional radio listening, which peaks at breakfast-time.

Please refer to slide 4 for guide footnotes

 3

Index
Page

Overview for BBC iPlayer across all platforms 4

Monthly requests 6

Average daily requests 7

Average daily users 8

Weekly requests 9

Weekly users 10

Top TV programmes 11

Top radio programmes 12

Platform type 13

Live vs on-demand 14

Use of iPlayer for TV by time of day 15

Use of iPlayer for radio by time of day 16

Profile of iPlayer users 17

Glossary 18

Please refer to slide 4 for guide footnotes

 4

Total Monthly BBC iPlayer Requests across all platforms

120.3
114.8
106.7
97.4
87.3 84.6 87.3
78.3 80.6
75.9 76.1
68.5
61.5
Millions of requests

Jan- Feb- Mar- Apr- May- Jun- Jul-09 Aug- Sep- Oct- Nov- Dec- Jan-
09 09 09 09 09 09 09 09 09 09 09 10

Virgin Media data arrives later than online stats, therefore the remainder of this report is only
for the online BBC iPlayer, available via computer / mobile / games consoles.

Please refer to slide 4 for guide footnotes

 5

Notes on figures in this report

These notes apply to pages 5 to 17 in this pack and should be included as footnotes as
relevant when quoting any of these figures. A glossary is on page 18.
• This data is collected via a BBC internal data warehouse (BBC iStats). The methodology adheres to
industry standard guidelines as defined by JICWEBs and ABCe, with the exception that the BBC
data is based on a 25% sample of users and not 100%. The BBC are working towards 100%
sample over the coming months
• In 2009 the BBC refined its methodology for measuring AV requests, so figures for 2007/8 are not
comparable. There may be further changes in the data in future releases as we continue to refine
the methodology
• Please quote the source of these figures as “BBC iStats”
• Unless specified otherwise, figures include requests for both on-demand catch-up (streams and
downloads), or views of live simulcasts
• We cannot report download playback due to data privacy restrictions
• All data is for the UK only and excludes listening outside the UK
• This data includes requests via BBC iPlayer on any BBC website – whether on a programme,
channel or station page, via the pop-out console, or on the BBC iPlayer website itself
• None of this data following is for BBC iPlayer on Virgin Media’s TV service - all is for the
online BBC iPlayer, available via computer / mobile / games consoles
• This report does not include requests for web-only content (such as online news or sport
coverage) – only requests for full-length programmes which have been transmitted on
a TV channel or radio station

• The data for the month of January 2009 excludes the date 1st – 4th January, since changes were
made to the measurement system on 5th January 09
Please refer to slide 4 for guide footnotes
 6

Monthly BBC iPlayer Online Requests

During January 2010, BBC iPlayer received a total of 100m requests, the best month
since launch again – driven by a record 68.2m requests for TV programmes, and also a
record number of requests for radio programmes at 32.3m.

120

100.5
100 93.4
89.0
Monthly Requests (millions)

79.3 32.3
80 28.2
70.6 68.8 71.0
29.3
63.5 64.5
60.8 61.3 26.1
60 54.4
25.7 25.5 26.5
46.8 25.4
26.8 23.6 24.7
18.4
40 16.1
65.2 68.2
59.6
53.2
20
44.9 43.3 44.5
36.0 36.7 37.1 39.1 36.5
30.8

0
Jan-09 Feb-09 Mar-09 Apr-09 May-09 Jun-09 Jul-09 Aug-09 Sep-09 Oct-09 Nov-09 Dec-09 Jan-10

TV Requests Radio Requests

Please refer to slide 4 for guide footnotes

 7

Average Daily BBC iPlayer Requests

January 2010 saw BBC iPlayer attract an average of 3.2 million requests for
programmes each day, the highest figure to date – a record 2.2m daily for TV
programmes and an average of 1m for radio programmes.

3.5
3.20
3.00
3
2.90

2.60
Average Daily Requests (millions)

1.00
2.5 2.37 1.00 0.90
2.28 2.22
2.05 2.02 2.08 2.04
1.94 0.80
2
1.73 0.83 0.88
0.82
0.66 0.86 0.79 0.82 0.82
1.5
0.60

2.10 2.20
1 2.00
1.70
1.45 1.40 1.48
1.29 1.18 1.24 1.26 1.22
0.5
1.14

0
Jan-09 Feb-09 Mar-09 Apr-09 May-09 Jun-09 Jul-09 Aug-09 Sep-09 Oct-09 Nov-09 Dec-09 Jan-10

TV Requests Radio Requests

Please refer to slide 4 for guide footnotes

 8

Average Daily BBC iPlayer Users

In January 2010, BBC iPlayer attracted an average of 1.3 million users each day – 0.9m
requesting TV content only, 0.3m requesting radio content only, and 50k requesting both
types of media.

1.4
1.29
1.21 1.22
1.2
1.05 0.32
0.3 0.29
0.96
1.0
0.90
User agents (millions)

0.87 0.05
0.84 0.27 0.05
0.81 0.80 0.80 0.80 0.05
0.77 0.28
0.8
0.26 0.04
0.27
0.27 0.24 0.24 0.25
0.26 0.04
0.26 0.04
0.6 0.03
0.03 0.03 0.03 0.03
0.03
0.03
0.86 0.88 0.91
0.4
0.74
0.60 0.64
0.54 0.53 0.54 0.53 0.57
0.48 0.51
0.2

0.0
Mar-09

Apr-09

Jul-09

Nov-09
Jan-09

Feb-09

Jun-09

Aug-09
May-09

Sep-09

Dec-09

Jan-10
Oct-09
Users of TV Only Users of Both Users of Radio Only

Please refer to slide 4 for guide footnotes

 9

Weekly BBC iPlayer Requests

The first week of January topped the last week of December with the highest weekly
requests on record, overall (23.8m) and for Radio programme requests (8m).

BBC iPlayer weekly requests - latest 6 months

25 23.8
Christmas holiday
22.7 22.5
21.9 21.6 21.9 22.0 22.3
21.5
20.4 20.7
19.8 19.9
19.3
20 18.7 5.0 8.0
7.0 6.8 7.9 7.4
17.0 6.8 7.7 7.1
16.7 16.6 16.7 16.7 6.8
16.1 6.4
Weekly Requests (m)

15.9 15.8 *
15.6 6.1
15.3 15.5 6.7
6.4 4.9
15
5.8 5.7 5.8
6.5 6.0
5.7 6.3 6.1 6.4 5.3
5.6

10
17.3
15.8
15.0 14.8 15.1 14.4 14.8 14.4 15.1
13.7 14.0 13.2 14.0 13.9
12.9
10.9 10.7 11.0 11.2 10.2
5 9.7 9.8 9.7 9.7 9.7 10.1

0
02 Nov

09 Nov

16 Nov

23 Nov

30 Nov

04 Jan

11 Jan

18 Jan

25 Jan
03 Aug

10 Aug

17 Aug

24 Aug

31 Aug

07 Sep

14 Sep

21 Sep

28 Sep

07 Dec

14 Dec

21 Dec

28 Dec
05 Oct

12 Oct

19 Oct

26 Oct

* Technical problems TV Requests Radio Requests

The data measurement systems failed over 10:00-20:00 on Sunday October 18th, so
Please refer to slide 4 for guide footnotes while users successfully received programmes, we did not record their usage of iPlayer.
 10

Weekly BBC iPlayer Users

Total weekly user numbers in January 2010 peaked in w/c 11th January at 5.9m, the
highest figure to date.

BBC iPlayer weekly requests - latest 6 months 5.9

6 5.8
5.7
5.4 5.4
5.3
5.2 5.2 5.2 5.2
5.0 5.0
1.3 4.9 1.4
5 4.8 4.8
0.9 1.5
1.2 1.5 1.2
1.2 1.1
1.1
4.2 4.2 4.2 4.2 4.2 1.1 1.1
* 1.3 0.9
4.0 0.4 1.1 0.4
3.9 3.9 0.5
4 3.8
3.7 3.7 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.4
User agents (m)

0.4 0.4 0.5

1.1 1.1 1.1 1.0
0.4 0.4 0.4
1.3 0.4 0.4
1.2 1.0
1.3 1.2
1.0 1.0
3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3
0.3 0.3
0.3
0.3 0.3 0.3
0.3

2 4.1 4.1
3.9
3.7 3.6 3.6 3.7 3.7 3.7
3.5 3.5 3.5 3.5
3.3 3.3
2.8 2.8 2.8 2.8
2.5 2.6 2.6
2.4 2.4 2.3 2.4
1

0
02 Nov

09 Nov

16 Nov

23 Nov

30 Nov

04 Jan

11 Jan

18 Jan

25 Jan
03 Aug

10 Aug

17 Aug

24 Aug

31 Aug

07 Sep

14 Sep

21 Sep

28 Sep

07 Dec

14 Dec

21 Dec

28 Dec
05 Oct

12 Oct

19 Oct

26 Oct

Users of TV Only Users of Both Users of Radio Only * Technical problems

Please refer to slide 4 for guide footnotes

 11

BBC iPlayer - Top 20 TV Episodes January 2010

Christmas / New Year specials such as Doctor Who and Gavin and Stacey attracted significant
catch-up requests in early January.

BBC iPLAYER TOP 20 TV EPS – ALL BBC iPLAYER TOP 20 TV EPS – MOST-REQUESTED EP PER SER
Total requests per Ep Total requests per Ep
1 Top Gear Series 14 Ep 7 1,135,000 1 Top Gear Series 14 Ep 7 1,135,000
2 Doctor Who: The End of Time Part 2 831,000 2 Doctor Who: The End of Time Part 2 831,000
3 Gavin and Stacey Series 3 Ep 6 700,000 3 Gavin and Stacey Series 3 Ep 6 700,000
4 Mock the Week Series 8 Ep 1 658,000 4 Mock the Week Series 8 Ep 1 658,000
5 Tracy Beaker Returns Episode 1 565,000 5 Tracy Beaker Returns: Ep 1 565,000
6 Top Gear Series 14 Bolivia Special Ep 6 525,000 6 Hustle Series 6 Ep 1 523,000
7 Hustle Series 6 Ep 1 523,000 7 EastEnders 15/01/10 498,000
8 EastEnders 15/01/10 498,000 8 Live at the Apollo Series 5 Ep 6 479,000
9 Live at the Apollo Series 5 Ep 6 479,000 9 The Incredibles 25/12/09 417,000
10 EastEnders 05/01/10 463,000 10 QI Series 7 Genius Ep 6 359,000
11 EastEnders 01/01/10 455,000 11 Sun, Sex and Holiday Madness 07/01/10 355,000
12 Hustle Series 6 Ep 2 429,000 12 Rock and Chips 24/01/10 314,000
13 EastEnders 22/01/10 420,000 13 Coming of Age Series 2 Ep 1 289,000
14 The Incredibles 25/12/09 417,000 14 Heroes Series 4 Ep 1 278,000
15 Being Human Series 2 Ep 1 415,000 15 Newswipe Series 2 Ep 1 264,000
16 Hustle Series 6 Ep 3 408,000 16 Friday Night with Jonathan Ross Series 18 Ep 2 241,000
17 EastEnders 08/01/10 403,000 17 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 241,000
18 EastEnders 19/01/10 401,000 18 Survivors Series 2 Ep 1 240,000
19 EastEnders 14/01/10 393,000 19 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest 229,000
20 EastEnders 07/01/10 388,000 20 How Earth Made Us Ep 1 222,000

Note: excludes episodes which had been available for fewer than seven days at the end of the month.
Please refer to slide 4 for guide footnotes
 12

BBC iPlayer - Top 20 Radio Episodes January 2010

Cricket coverage featured heavily in January’s top radio list, while the new Radio 2 Chris
Evans Breakfast show also attracted significant requests.
BBC iPLAYER TOP 20 RADIO EPISODES
BBC iPLAYER TOP 20 RADIO EPISODES – ALL – MOST-REQUESTED EPISODE PER SERIES
Total requests per episode Total requests per episode
1 Test Match Special 07/01/10 238,000 1 Test Match Special 07/01/10 238,000
2 Chris Evans Breakfast 11/01/10 120,000 2 Chris Evans Breakfast 11/01/10 120,000
3 Test Match Special 14/01/10 118,000 3 The News Quiz Series 70 Episode 1 78,000
4 Test Match Special 04/01/10 118,000 4 5 Live Prem 09-10 B’ham City v Man Utd 66,000
5 Test Match Special 04/01/10 117,000 5 Greg James 18/01/10 66,000
6 Test Match Special 06/01/10 116,000 6 Steve Wright in the Afternoon 18/01/10 62,000
7 Test Match Special 05/01/10 109,000 7 BBC Radio 1's Chart Show 24/01/10 60,000
8 The News Quiz Series 70 Episode 1 78,000 8 The Chris Moyles Show 20/01/10 60,000
9 Test Match Special 15/01/10 78,000 9 Just a Minute Series 56 Episode 1 57,000
10 The News Quiz Series 70 Episode 2 76,000 10 Ken Bruce 11/01/10 52,000
11 The News Quiz Series 70 Episode 3 75,000 11 Fearne Cotton Lost Prophets Live Lounge 51,000
12 5 Live Prem 09-10 B’ham City v Man Utd 66,000 12 Football 20/01/10 51,000
13 Greg James 18/01/10 66,000 13 History of the World In 100 Objects Ep 1 47,000
14 Test Match Special 03/01/10 64,000 14 The Now Show Series 29 Episode 6 44,000
15 Steve Wright in the Afternoon 18/01/10 62,000 15 Jeremy Vine 11/01/10 42,000
16 BBC Radio 1's Chart Show 24/01/10 60,000 16 606 09/01/10 41,000
17 The Chris Moyles Show 20/01/10 60,000 17 Annie Mac 22/01/10 39,000
18 BBC Radio 1's Chart Show 17/01/10 59,000 18 Scott Mills 15/01/10 36,000
19 Test Match Special 16/01/10 59,000 19 The Archers 11/01/10 35,000
20 The Chris Moyles Show 22/01/10 58,000 20 The Unbelievable Truth New Year Special 35,000

Note: excludes episodes which had been available for fewer than seven days at the end of the month.
Please refer to slide 4 for guide footnotes
 13

Requests by platform type – January 2010

Requests from PC/Macs continued to dominate in January, however requests for TV
programmes via the Nintendo Wii increased to 4%, and PlayStation®3 requests remained
stable at 8%.

TV Requests Radio requests

(all streams)
Streams vs Device type
downloads 4%
3

3
4

9 7 6 3 3 1
9 7 9

10 3 6
3 3
9 8

9 8

10 8

9 8
11 11 11 11 12 12 12
Wii
Other mobile Wii

PS3 Other mobile

iPhone/iTouch PS3
97

97

97

97
96

96

96

87 87
80

81

86 86 85 85 86
78

79

78
76

iPhone/iTouch
74

Mac
PC Mac
PC
Nov 09
Jul 09
Nov 09
Jul 09

Aug 09

Sep 09

Dec 09

Jan 10
Aug 09

Sep 09

Dec 09

Jan 10

Oct 09
Oct 09

Nov 09
Jul 09

Aug 09

Sep 09

Dec 09

Jan 10
Oct 09
Download requests
Stream requests

NB: There are currently issues with measuring iPhone iPlayer data

Audio podcast requests are not included here since they are not available until after the publishing date for this pack.
Please refer to slide 4 for guide footnotes
 14

Requests by on-demand catch-up vs live simulcast – Jan 2010

On-demand (catch-up) requests for programmes continued to dominate TV viewing via
BBC iPlayer in January. For radio programmes online, live listening requests increased
again by +2 points to make up 74%.

TV Requests Radio requests

5% 6% 2% *
4% 7% 8% 8%

66% 68% 67% 69% 72% 72% 74%

95% 94% 98% 96% 93% 92% 92%

34% 32% 33% 31% 28% 28% 26%

Jul-09 Aug-09 Sep-09 Oct-09 Nov-09 Dec-09 Jan-10 Jul-09 Aug-09 Sep-09 Oct-09 Nov-09 Dec-09 Jan-10

Simulcast Simulcast
On-demand On-demand

* There were technical problems measuring some simulcast streams in September and October

Please refer to slide 4 for guide footnotes

 15

BBC iPlayer – use for TV by time of day, January 2010

The scale for each line on this graph is different – TV viewing is far higher than BBC iPlayer
use. However it shows the relative usage pattern by time of day – with BBC iPlayer use
(for TV) being far closer to the pattern of TV viewing, than of internet use, with
proportionally more viewing in daytime and late peak.

Internet and TV usage patterns by time of day

Note: each line has a very different scale (see peaks)

(scales adjusted for comparison)

TV viewers

BBC iPlayer TV requests iPlayer peak – 201,000

TV peak – 28.4 million
Internet users (any website) Internet peak – 28.9 million
0

0
:0

:0

:0

:0

:0

:0

:0

:0

:0

:0

:0

:0

:0

:0

:0

:0

:0

:0

:0

:0

:0

:0

:0

:0
06

07

08

09

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

00

01

02

03

04

05
Sources– TV (aged 4+) from BARB Jan 10, internet (aged 2+) from Nielsen Jan 10,
iPlayer Jan 10 iStats
Please refer to slide 4 for guide footnotes See footnotes on slide 17 for more detail
 16

BBC iPlayer – use for radio by time of day, January 2010

The scale for each line on this graph is different – radio listening is far higher than BBC
iPlayer use. However it shows the relative usage pattern by time of day – with BBC
iPlayer use (for radio) being in-between the pattern of radio listening and internet use, with
proportionally more listening in daytime and evening compared with the traditional linear
breakfast peak.

Internet and radio usage patterns by time of day

Note: each line has a very different scale (see peaks)

(scales adjusted for comparison)

iPlayer peak – 94,000 Internet peak – 28.9 million

Radio peak - 14 million
Radio listeners

BBC iPlayer requests for radio

Internet users (any website)

0

0
:0

:0

:0

:0

:0

:0

:0

:0

:0

:0

:0

:0

:0

:0

:0

:0

:0

:0

:0

:0

:0

:0

:0

:0
06

07

08

09

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

00

01

02

03

04

05
Sources - radio (aged 16+) from RAJAR Q3 09, internet (aged 2+) from Nielsen Jan 10,
iPlayer Jan 10 BBC iStats
Please refer to slide 4 for guide footnotes See footnotes on slide 17 for more detail
 17

BBC iPlayer use by demographic

Use of BBC iPlayer is measured on a BBC monthly survey of 700 UK adults. The demographic
profile of BBC iPlayer has stabilised for gender, and remains strongly under-55.

100% 100%
20 16 16 17 16 15 14
31 21
80% 37 41 41 42 41
43 44 80%

41 39 41 42 40 55+
60% 60% 42
39 43
Women
35-54
40% 40%
70 Men
63 59 59 58 59 15-34
57 56
20% 41 43 45 43 43 46
20% 38 38

0% 0%
Jan- Apr- Jul- Oct- Jan- Apr- Jul- Oct- Jan- Apr- Jul- Oct- Jan- Apr- Jul- Oct-
Mar Jun Sep Dec Mar Jun Sep Nov Mar Jun Sep Dec Mar Jun Sep Nov

Gender Age
15
55+ 23
36 34
Women 42
48 52 51
42
35-54 41
36 34
Men

15-34
58
52 48 49 43
37 32
30

Users of BBC All broadband All TV viewers All radio Users of BBC All broadband All TV All radio
iPlayer on PC users listeners iPlayer on PC users viewers listeners

Please refer to slide 4 for guide footnotes User profiles - TV from BARB, radio from RAJAR (Q3 09), broadband from TNS survey 2000 adults
 18

Glossary

Stream – click to play instantly

Download – save to your computer to play later

We cannot report on playback of downloads due to technical and data privacy restrictions

Users – a count of computer browers accessing the online BBC iPlayer service
So please note: if someone has a different computer at work and at home, they are counted twice. If a family watches on
a computer together, only one browser is counted. This is the industry-standard way of counting “users” or “visitors” to
websites.

Requests – number of successful requests to stream or download a programme

We only count successful requests, where a stream or a download actually start, rather than “clicks” which can be repeated
if the user does not see an immediate reaction on the website.

Catch-up / on-demand – programmes requested after they have gone out on “normal”
TV/radio channels and are available on BBC iPlayer

Live / simulcast – streaming of live TV channels / radio stations on the website, at

exactly the same time as broadcast on “normal” TV / radio

Special footnotes for slides 14-15

TV data – BARB average audience, live overnights, by hour, 01-31 Dec 09, all individuals
aged 4+, Total TV
Radio data - RAJAR average audience, Q3 09, by hour, all adults 16+, all radio stations
BBC iPlayer - average requests over 01-31 December 09, by hour, all programmes, stream
& downloading, live & on-demand, UK only
Nielsen – December 09, user numbers (aged 2+ based on internet population estimate of
39 million individuals
Please refer to slide 4 for guide footnotes