The BBC iPlayer has seen further record demand, with 1.5 billion streams delivered in the third quarter of 2021, up 20% on the same period the previous year, and by nearly 50% on the third quarter in 2019. The figures were boosted by the Olympics and the Euro 2020 final but dramas and documentaries were among the most requested programmes on the online video service.
The most requested programme was the opening episode of the submarine thriller Vigil, with 6.78 million streams during the quarter. There were 26.57 million requests across the series during the quarter.
The second most popular programme was the Euro 2020 men’s football final between England and Italy, requested more than 6.03 million times.
The third most requested programme was the documentary 9/11: Inside the President’s War Room, with 2.78 million requests.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympics was the most watched series across the quarter, requested 90.16 million times on the BBC iPlayer.
There were 74 million requests for the continuing serial drama EastEnders over the quarter, with the most requested episode receiving 1.88 million requests.
| Programme | Requests | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vigil Episode 1 | 6,779,000 |
| 2 | Euro 2020 Final: Italy vs England | 6,031,000 |
| 3 | 9/11: Inside the President’s War Room | 2,783,000 |
| 4 | Baptiste Series 2: Episode 2 | 2,715,000 |
| 5 | High: Confessions of an Ibiza Drug Mule | 2,471,000 |
| 6 | Match of the Day 11/09/2021 | 2,054,000 |
| 7 | Silent Witness Series 24: Redemption, Part 1 | 2,022,000 |
| 8 | EastEnders 06/08/2021 | 1,882,000 |
| 9 | Strictly Come Dancing Series 19: Week 1 | 1,769,000 |
| 10 | Bad Influencer: The Great Insa Con | 1,733,000 |
| Programme | Requests | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Olympics | 90,160,000 |
| 2 | EastEnders | 74,148,000 |
| 3 | Vigil | 26,572,000 |
| 4 | Silent Witness | 23,237,000 |
| 5 | Euro 2020 | 22,885,000 |
| 6 | Baptiste | 19,225,000 |
| 7 | Celebrity MasterChef | 17,362,000 |
| 8 | Wimbledon | 16,879,000 |
| 9 | Ghosts | 15,088,000 |
| 10 | Gossip Girl 2007-12 | 12,004,000 |
“These results show the fantastic breadth of content available for all on BBC iPlayer including the country’s biggest sporting moments, enthralling new drama series like Vigil and captivating documentaries like 9/11: Inside the President’s War Room,” said Dan McGolpin, the director of BBC iPlayer and channels.