Major national events drive continued growth on BBC iPlayer

The State Funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth II, Birmingham hosting the Commonwealth Games, England facing Germany in the final of Women’s Euro 2022, and the final stages of Wimbledon saw viewers coming to BBC iPlayer in huge numbers during the third quarter of the year.

Between July and September programmes were streamed 1.65 billion times, a record for the third quarter of the year and 7% up on the same quarter last year, keeping iPlayer well on track for its best year ever.

The day of the State Funeral, Monday 19 September, reported huge viewing on BBC iPlayer (well over 25m streams), including 10.1 million streams of the BBC’s State Funeral coverage. On BBC TV, the majority of the UK public – 32.5m – tuned in to BBC coverage of The State Funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth II, and at peak, 22.4m people were watching across all BBC channels.

Other key stats revealed by the BBC today include:

• The final of the Women’s Euro 2022 on Sunday 31^st July, in which England beat Germany 2-1 to make history was streamed 4 million times on iPlayer – alongside a peak broadcast TV audience of 17.4 million. The tournament was streamed 15.7 million times on iPlayer, and watched by 27.4 million on broadcast TV
• The most-watched boxset or live event of the quarter was the Commonwealth Games, which was streamed 52 million times on BBC iPlayer, over six times more than the last Commonwealth Games in 2018 – as well has being watched by 28.6m people on BBC TV channels
• New drama was very popular, with Marriage, The Control Room, and Crossfire all among the top episodes of the quarter. Returning series The Capture, was also among the top boxsets

Dan McGolpin, Director of BBC iPlayer, says: “The nation turns to the BBC for the big moments and for increasing numbers of people that means turning to BBC iPlayer. There was an extraordinary range of relevant programming available for all to view both before and after the BBC’s coverage of the State Funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and so many of this summer’s key sporting moments were captured live including the famous victories of the Lionesses. Once again BBC iPlayer provided something for everyone, from original drama such as Marriage to the intrigue and thrills of The Capture, the stunning landscapes of Frozen Planet II and the joyous return of Strictly Come Dancing.”  BCS Bureau