BBC iPLAYER RECORDS ITS BEST QUARTER EVER IN FIRST THREE MONTHS OF 2022
New dramas including The Tourist, The Responder, This is Going to Hurt, The Rules of the Game, and Chloe helped BBC iPlayer record its best quarter ever.
January to March saw iPlayer’s strongest start to a year ever - with viewers streaming programmes a record 1.83 billion times in the first three months. These figures are in addition to the millions of viewers who enjoyed these gripping dramas on broadcast TV.
Other big hits included returning favourites The Apprentice, Peaky Blinders and Killing Eve, as well as strong performances for The Winter Olympics and new natural history series The Green Planet.
New figures also show the BBC had the highest weekly reach of any provider during the first quarter of 2022 – with millions tuning in to watch programmes on broadcast TV as well as record-breaking viewing on iPlayer.
BBC iPlayer’s top ten most-watched episodes per series between January and March 2022 are:
Rank - Programme - Episode - Streams
1 - The Tourist - Episode 1 - 6.1m
2 - The Responder - Episode 1 - 5.2m
3 - Peaky Blinders - Black Day - 5.1m
4 - The Apprentice - Cruise Ship - 4.4m
5 - This Is Going To Hurt - Episode 1 - 4m
6 - Four Lives - Episode 1 - 3.8m
7 - Rules of the Game - Episode 1 - 3.5m
8 - Killing Eve - Just Dunk Me - 3.2m
9 - Chloe - Episode 1 - 3.2m
10 - The Green Planet - Tropical Worlds - 3m
Dan McGolpin, director of BBC iPlayer, says: “BBC iPlayer is more popular than ever in 2022 and the rollout of a more modern look has helped the service to notch-up its best ever quarter across the first three months...
“A formidable and thrilling collection of brand new drama series feature heavily on the most-watched programme lists with The Tourist narrowly ahead of The Responder in first position for top episode and there has been a breath-taking choice available from the Winter Olympics to Green Planet, so it was fantastic to see the long-awaited return of The Apprentice make the top slot for total viewing across a full series...
“Together with the last-ever instalments of Peaky Blinders and Killing Eve landing towards the end of the quarter, two of iPlayer’s most popular programmes of all time, there really is something for everyone whether you’re in the mood for classic boxsets or brand new shows.”