The BBC announced that its streaming video app iPlayer had a record year in 2017.
On average, people watched 272 million iPlayer videos per month and made 3.3 billion viewing requests overall — an 11% increase in viewership.
The opening episodes of Blue Planet II, Taboo and Doctor Foster topped the list of most-watched videos.
“BBC iPlayer now offers a broader range of relevant choices personalised for all,” said the BBC’s controller for programming Dan McGolpin. He added that “it will get better still over the coming year.”
Two new features and an app upgrade may have helped iPlayer break records.
“From the Archive” unlocks popular content from the BBC’s vaults and “Box Sets” keeps entire TV series in the iPlayer app for longer.
In addition, the BBC made the iPlayer app more seamless across devices. Viewers can now pause on-demand or live TV on one device and resume on another.
What’s Next?
In a preview of what’s to come in 2018, Blue Planet II was the first program that iPlayer streamed in 4K Ultra HD and high dynamic range.
“In 2018,” said the head of iPlayer Dan Taylor-Watt, “we’ll be looking to build on these successes and continue to make BBC iPlayer a must-visit destination in its own right.”
As long as you live in Great Britain. The BBC still applies a geofence that prevents anyone outside the UK from using the iPlayer.
Chris Casper is a former tech industry product manager who escaped from California for New Mexico. Now he writes about science and tech while searching for the perfect green chile sauce.
