January 2019
Performance Report
Richard Bell, BBC iPlayer
BBC Communications
07725641207 | [email protected]
January 2019 summary
Slide 2
• BBC iPlayer started 2019 off with a bang, and not just from the coverage of the New Year’s Eve fireworks! January saw 356m requests, up 8% on December
• The average number of requests increased to 11.5m requests per day in January 2019. This was a large increase on December 2018, which saw an average of 10.6m requests per day.
• Drama reigned in January, and Luther was the best of the best. Episode 1 of Series 5 was the most requested programme with 3.7m requests. New series of Silent Witness, Call the Midwife and Les Miserables dominated the rest of the top 20.
• TV platforms remain the largest platform for BBC iPlayer, with overall share increasing to 59% in January
• Live requests for programmes and events on BBC decreased very slightly in January to 17%.
Consistent with previous months:
• The profile of BBC iPlayer users remains strongly under-55 in terms of age, which is younger than the typical TV viewer’s profile (although more in line with home broadband users).
• BBC iPlayer is used for TV at roughly the same time of day as linear TV viewing, although there is proportionally more daytime and later-peak use.
Index
Slide 3
Page Content
4-5 Monthly BBC iPlayer TV programme requests
6 Weekly TV programme requests by device type
7 Live vs on-demand TV requests
8 Notes about the data in this report
9 Top TV programmes
10 Use of BBC iPlayer for TV viewing by time of day
11 Profile of BBC iPlayer users
12 Glossary
86
127
145
212
242
273
250
298
328 356
Jan
-09
Ma
r
Ma
y
Jul
Se
pt
No
v
Jan
-10
Ma
r
Ma
y
Jul
Se
p
No
v
Jan
-11
Ma
r
Ma
y
Jul
Se
p
No
v
Jan
-12
Ma
r
Ma
y
Jul
Se
p
No
v
Jan
-13
Ma
r
Ma
y
Jul
Se
p
No
v
Jan
-14
Ma
r
Ma
y
Jul
Se
p
No
v
Jan
-15
Ma
r
Ma
y
Jul
Se
p
No
v
Jan
-16
Ma
r
Ma
y
Jul
Se
p
No
v
Jan
-17
Ma
r
Ma
y
Jul
Se
p
No
v
Jan
-18
Ma
r
Ma
y
Jul
Se
pt
No
v
Jan
Monthly BBC iPlayer requests across all platforms, since 2009
Slide 4
BBC iPlayer started 2019 off with a bang, and not just from the coverage of the New Year’s Eve fireworks! January saw 356m requests, up 8% on December
Mil
lio
ns
of
req
ue
sts
pe
r m
on
th
Data missing*
Measurement correction*
TV requests artificially inflated*
DATA SOURCE CHANGE
January: 356m
* Please refer to slide 8 for guide notes on months with data caveats
January figures shown on graph
2.9
4.1
4.7
6.8
7.8
8.8 8.1
9.6
10.6 11.5
Jan
-09
Ma
r
Ma
y
Jul
Se
pt
No
v
Jan
-10
Ma
r
Ma
y
Jul
Se
p
No
v
Jan
-11
Ma
r
Ma
y
Jul
Se
p
No
v
Jan
-12
Ma
r
Ma
y
Jul
Se
p
No
v
Jan
-13
Ma
r
Ma
y
Jul
Se
p
No
v
Jan
-14
Ma
r
Ma
y
Jul
Se
p
No
v
Jan
-15
Ma
r
Ma
y
Jul
Se
p
No
v
Jan
-16
Ma
r
Ma
y
Jul
Se
p
No
v
Jan
-17
Ma
r
Ma
y
Jul
Se
p
No
v
Jan
-18
Ma
r
Ma
y
Jul
Se
pt
No
v
Jan
Average daily BBC iPlayer online requests
Slide 5
Mil
lio
ns
of
req
ue
sts
pe
r d
ay
(a
ve
rag
e m
on
thly
)
The average number of requests increased to 11.5m requests per day in January 2019. This was a large increase on December 2018, which saw an average of 10.6m requests per day.
TV requests artificially inflated*
Data missing *
Measurement correction*
DATA SOURCE CHANGE
January: 11.5m
Please refer to slide 8 for guide notes
January figures shown on graph
46 42 43 39 42
29 32 31 29 37
67 69 62 60 60
126 122 146 147
209
-
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
Ma
y-1
6
Jul-1
6
Se
p-1
6
No
v-1
6
Jan
-17
Ma
r-1
7
Ma
y-1
7
Jul-1
7
Se
p-1
7
No
v-1
7
Jan
-18
Ma
r-1
8
Ma
y-1
8
Jul-1
8
Se
p-1
8
No
v-1
8
Jan
-19
Mill
ion
s
DATA SOURCE CHANGE
28% 17% 16% 15% 14% 12%
18%
11% 12% 11% 10% 10%
20%
25% 26% 22% 22%
17%
31% 47% 46%
52% 53% 59%
4% 1% 1% 1% 1% 2%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Ma
y-1
6
Ju
l-16
Se
p-1
6
No
v-1
6
Ja
n-1
7
Ma
r-17
Ma
y-1
7
Ju
l-17
Se
p-1
7
No
v-1
7
Ja
n-1
8
Ma
r-18
Ma
y-1
8
Ju
l-18
Se
p-1
8
No
v-1
8
Ja
n-1
9
Unknown
TV Platform
Tablet
Mobile
Computer
Slide 6
% of requests Number of requests (millions)
Requests for TV programmes by device type
DATA SOURCE CHANGE
TV platforms remain the largest platform for BBC iPlayer, with overall share increasing to 59% in January
Please refer to slide 8 for guide notes.
92
%
93
%
93
%
93
%
93
%
89
%
81
%
72
%
85
%
85
%
83
%
85
%
83
%
84
%
83
%
84
%
82
%
79
%
82
%
83
%
82
%
82
%
81
%
82
%
82
%
79
%
81
%
81
%
80
%
74
%
78
%
85
%
84
%
84
%
83
%
82
%
83
%
8%
7%
7%
7%
7%
11
%
19
%
28
%
15
%
15
%
17
%
15
%
17
%
16
%
17
%
16
%
18
%
21
%
18
%
17
%
18
%
18
%
19
%
18
%
18
%
21
%
19
%
19
%
20
%
26
%
22
%
15
%
16
%
16
%
17
%
18
%
17
%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Ja
n-1
6
Fe
b-1
6
Ma
r-16
Ap
r-1
6
Ma
y-1
6
Ju
n-1
6
Ju
l-16
Au
g-1
6
Se
p-1
6
Oc
t-1
6
No
v-1
6
De
c-1
6
Ja
n-1
7
Fe
b-1
7
Ma
r-17
Ap
r-1
7
Ma
y-1
7
Ju
n-1
7
Ju
l-17
Au
g-1
7
Se
p-1
7
Oc
t-1
7
No
v-1
7
De
c-1
7
Ja
n-1
8
Fe
b-1
8
Ma
r-18
Ap
r-1
8
Ma
y-1
8
Ju
n-1
8
Ju
l-18
Au
g-1
8
Se
p-1
8
Oc
t-1
8
No
v-1
8
De
c-1
8
Ja
n-1
9
On-demand Live
Live versus on-demand requests for TV programmes
Slide 7
% requests for TV programmes
Please refer to slide 8 for guide notes.
DATA SOURCE CHANGE
Live requests for programmes and events on BBC decreased very slightly in January to 17%.
Notes: Source switched from iStats AV to Streamsense in Adobe Digital Analytix (iStats) in July 2016
Notes for figures in this report
Slide 8
Data issues to note
• Figures for Sky are undercounted in June 2017 by approximately 0.5m requests.
• Figures for Virgin Cable and Sky are estimates for September 2016. Games console requests were undercounted in January 2016, and Android devices were undercounted from 16th to 31st March 2016.
• TV requests were inflated in August and September 2015 by around 18-25%, please treat these figures with caution when looking at trends.
• Some TV request data was not captured in March 2015 (estimated 17m requests). Some TV request data is also missing for 2014 - about 3.5m requests in August and 11.5m requests in September from computer devices, and about 6m requests are missing in December, across all device types. We are not including these estimates in the graphs in this report.
The remainder of this report excludes data from Virgin Media cable and Sky. The data arrives later than that from other platforms and is not currently consolidated within BBC Digital Analytics systems.
These notes below apply to all the data in this pack and should be included as footnotes when quoting any of these figures. A glossary is on the final page of the pack.
• Prior to July 2016, requests data was measured via a BBC in-house system (BBC iStats AV). Since July 2016 the source has changed to StreamSense by Adobe Digital Analytix. Data is broadly comparable, and most step-changes are due to device categorisation correction, and a small amount of data missing from BBC iStats AV (such as live TV viewing on TV platforms, and webcasts).
• In 2009 the BBC refined its methodology for measuring AV requests, so figures for 2007/8 are not comparable.
• Note on the top 20 lists for TV episodes: these show the most-requested individual episodes for the month, for interest, but only represent a fraction of all the episodes available on iPlayer. They are indicative only, since they do not represent total request numbers per series, and are only measured in the calendar month.
• Unless specified otherwise, figures include requests for both on-demand catch-up (streams and downloads), or views of live simulcasts. All data is for the UK only. Requests are counted for BBC iPlayer on any BBC website or application – whether on a programme, channel or station page, or on the BBC iPlayer websites or bespoke mobile or TV apps. This report does not include requests for web-only content (such as online news or sport coverage). Webcasts are only included if they have been made available through BBC iPlayer. Figures in this report include requests for programmes which are only on iPlayer, as well as for programmes previously shown on linear TV. On average this has boosted the totals by 2% since 2014.
BBC iPlayer - top 20 TV episodes, January 2019 (excluding Virgin Media cable and Sky)
Slide 9
Luther Series 5 Episode 1 3,710,000
Luther Series 5 Episode 2 2,590,000
Luther Series 5 Episode 3 2,443,000
Luther Series 5 Episode 4 2,331,000
Silent Witness S22 Two Spirits, Part 1 2,184,000
EastEnders 01/01/2019 1,575,000
Silent Witness S22 Two Spirits, Part 2 1,503,000
Les Miserables Series 1 Episode 1 1,489,000
EastEnders 04/01/2019 1,409,000
EastEnders 03/01/2019 Part 2 1,284,000
Call the Midwife Series 8 Episode 1 1,257,000
Silent Witness S22 Lift Up Your Hearts, Part 1 1,256,000
EastEnders 08/01/2019 1,251,000
Silent Witness S22 Lift Up Your Hearts, Part 2 1,125,000
Silent Witness S22 To Brighton, to Brighton: Part 2 1,123,000
Silent Witness S22 To Brighton, to Brighton: Part 1 1,088,000
EastEnders 11/01/2019 Part 2 1,077,000
Les Miserables Series 1 Episode 2 1,068,000
Doctor Who Resolution 1,059,000
EastEnders 15/01/2019 1,057,000
Luther Series 5 Episode 1 3,710,000
Silent Witness S2 Two Spirits, Part 1 2,184,000
EastEnders 01/01/2019 1,575,000
Les Miserables Series 1 Episode 1 1,489,000
Call the Midwife Series 8 Episode 1 1,257,000
Doctor Who Resolution 1,059,000
The FA Cup 2018/19 Fourth Round: Arsenal v Man Utd 976,000
Death in Paradise Series 8 Episode 1 945,000
Luther Series 1 Episode 1 943,000
Match of the Day 2018/19 19/01/2019 940,000
The Greatest Dancer Series 1 Episode 1 865,000
Mrs Brown's Boys Xmas Specials 2018 Mammy's Motel 760,000
Cuckoo Series 5 Ivy Arrives 599,000
The ABC Murders Series 1 Episode 1 593,000
Would I Lie to You? Series 12 Episode 7 564,000
Bing Toy Party 544,000
Danny Dyer's Right Royal Family Series 1 Episode 1 543,000
Casualty Series 33 Episode 18 510,000
Call the Midwife Christmas Special 2018 506,000
Michael McIntyre's Big Show Series 4 Episode 7 498,000
BBC iPlayer Top 20 TV episodes – most requested episode per series Total requests per ep.
BBC iPlayer Top 20 TV episodes – All Total requests per ep.
Drama reigned in January, and Luther was the best of the best. Episode 1 of Series 5 was the most requested programme with 3.7m requests. New series of Silent Witness, Call the Midwife and Les Miserables dominated the rest of the top 20.
Please refer to slide 8 for guide notes
06:0
0
07:0
0
08:0
0
09:0
0
10:0
0
11:0
0
12:0
0
13:0
0
14:0
0
15:0
0
16:0
0
17:0
0
18:0
0
19:0
0
20:0
0
21:0
0
22:0
0
23:0
0
00:0
0
01:0
0
02:0
0
03:0
0
04:0
0
05:0
0
BBC iPlayer – use for TV online by time of day, January 2019
Slide 10
The scale for each line on this graph is different – traditional 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 closer to the pattern of TV viewing, than of internet use, with proportionally more viewing in daytime and late peak.
Please refer to slide 12 for guide notes
iPlayer TV peak – 920,000
Internet peak – 28.4 million
No
te:
ea
ch
lin
e h
as
a v
ery
dif
fere
nt
sca
le
(se
e p
ea
ks)
TV peak – 28.5 million
Slide 11
In Q4 2018 there were slightly more women using BBC iPlayer than men, and it remains predominantly under-55 years in terms of age.
TV & iPlayer Product: demographics of BBC iPlayer users
Gender (latest 4 quarters) Age (latest 4 quarters)
Sources: ART (1000 UK adults each month) or CMI from Q1 14 onwards / BARB. Data up to Q4 2018 for Home Broadband and All TV, Q4 2018 for iPlayer users.
METHOD CHANGE IN 2014
38% 31% 28%
32% 35%
33%
30% 34% 38%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Users of BBC iPlayer Home broadband
users
All TV viewers
55+
35-54
16-34
43%
40%
39%
37%
46%
45%
45%
39%
38%
39%
40%
39%
39%
35%
37%
38%
37%
32%
19%
21%
22%
23%
19%
18%
18%
25%
30%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
55+
35-54
16-34
48% 49% 49%
52% 51% 51%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Users of BBC iPlayer Home broadband
users
All TV viewers
Women
Men
57%
52%
52%
51%
52%
50%
48%
47%
48%
44%
48%
49%
49%
48%
50%
52%
53%
52%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Women
Men
Glossary
Slide 12
• Requests – the number of successful requests to stream or download a programme. We only count successful requests, where a stream or a download actually starts, rather than “clicks” which can be repeated if the user does not see an immediate reaction on the website. Requests are made up of two components:
• Stream – click to play instantly
• Download – save to your device to play later. We report download playback, rather than downloads, where possible.
• Catch-up / on-demand – programmes requested after they have gone out on traditional TV and are available on BBC iPlayer.
• Live / simulcast – streaming of live TV channels on the service, at exactly the same time as broadcast on traditional TV. Since May 2016, this data also includes webcasts of live events that are available through BBC iPlayer but not available on linear TV.
Extra footnotes for slide 10 showing data for time of day • TV data – BARB average audience, live overnights, by hour, all individuals aged 4+, Total TV
• BBC iPlayer - average requests, by hour, all programmes, stream & downloading, live and on-demand, UK only
• Nielsen – user numbers, aged 2+ based on internet population estimate of 38 million individuals
