BBC iPlayer Monthly Summary - October 2009

1. BBC iPlayer online Monthly press pack October 2009

2. Monthly summary – October 2009 • October 2009 saw another step-change upwards in requests for TV and radio programmes on the online BBC iPlayer. In total there were 79.3 million requests, boosted by a record-breaking 53.2m for TV programmes (radio requests were fairly stable on 26.1m). • Question Time on 22nd Oct, which had received widespread press attention received 0.9m requests across 22nd-31st and had a clear “halo effect” with user requests going up for other TV programmes in mid-series such as Life, Merlin and Buzzcocks. For radio, football coverage, The Chris Moyles Show and The News Quiz were among most popular titles. • Computer usage still dominates iPlayer use (85% of requests), but both the iPhone/iPod Touch and PS3 applications are still delivering significant numbers of TV requests (7% and 6% respectively). • Consistent with previous months: • The profile of iPlayer users is evening out over time in terms of male/female ratio, but remains strongly under-55 in terms of age, which is younger than the typical TV viewer or radio listener’s profile. • On-demand makes up the great majority of TV programme requests (in October only 4% of requests were for live simulcast streams), however two-thirds of requests for radio streams are for live programmes, as opposed to on-demand catch-up listening. For TV, 97% of requests are for streams, and 3% for downloads. • iPlayer is used for TV at roughly the same time of day as linear TV viewing, although there is proportionally more daytime and late-peak use. For radio, iPlayer is used far more in daytime than traditional radio listening, which peaks at breakfast-time.

3. Index Page Monthly requests 5 Average daily requests 6 Average daily users 7 Weekly requests 8 Weekly users 9 Top TV programmes 10 Top radio programmes 11 Platform type 12 Live vs on-demand 13 Use of iPlayer for TV by time of day 14 Use of iPlayer for radio by time of day 15 Profile of iPlayer users 16 Glossary 17

4. Notes on figures in this report • These notes apply to pages 5 to 16 in this pack and should be included as footnotes as relevant when quoting any of these figures. A glossary is on page 17. • This data is collected via a BBC internal data warehouse (iStats). The methodology adheres to industry standard guidelines as defined by JICWEBs and ABCe, with the exception that the BBC data is based on a 25% sample of users and not 100%. The BBC are working towards 100% sample over the coming months • In 2009 the BBC refined its methodology for measuring AV requests, so figures for 2007/8 are not comparable. There may be further changes in the data in future releases as we continue to refine the methodology • Please quote the source of these figures as “BBC iStats” • Unless specified otherwise, figures include requests for both on-demand catch-up (streams and downloads), or views of live simulcasts • We cannot report download playback due to data privacy restrictions • All data is for the UK only and excludes listening outside the UK • January data excludes 1-4 January 09 since changes were made to the measurement system on 5 January • This data includes requests via the iPlayer on any BBC website – whether on a programme, channel or station page, via the pop-out console, or on the iPlayer website itself • None of this data is for the iPlayer on Virgin cable - all is for the online iPlayer, available via computer / mobile / games consoles • This report does not include requests for web-only content (such as online news or sport coverage) – only requests for full-length programmes which have been transmitted on a TV channel or radio station

5. Monthly BBC iPlayer Online Requests Across October 09 the BBC iPlayer received a total of 79.3mrequests, the best month since launch in 2007 – driven by a record 53.2m requests for TV programmes, and supported by a strong 26.1m requests for radio programmes.

6. Average Daily BBC iPlayer Requests In October 09 the BBC iPlayer attracted an average of 2.6 millionrequests for programmes each day, the highest figure on record – 1.7m daily for TV programmes and an average of 0.8m for radio programmes.

7. Average Daily BBC iPlayer Users In October 09 the BBC iPlayer attracted an average of 1.1 millionusers each day, the highest figure on record – 0.7m requesting TV content only, 0.3m requesting radio content only, and 40,000 requesting both types of media.

8. Weekly BBC iPlayer Requests The last 2 weeks of October saw record numbers of TV programme requests, as a result of the Question Time event on 22nd driving higher levels of traffic to a range of programmes on the service. In the last week of the month there were 14.0m requests for TV programmes and 6.4m for radio programmes. A strong Saturday night line-up in particular (Strictly, Merlin) increased requests on Sundays and resulted in w/c 26 Oct being the strongest week ever on iPlayer. BBC iPlayer weekly requests - latest 6 months Torchwood 5-day special Technical problems * The data measurement systems failed over 10:00-20:00 on Sunday October 18th, so while users successfully received programmes, we did not record their usage of iPlayer.

9. Weekly BBC iPlayer Users Question Time week saw 5.8m users and an uplift of over +50% on the week before for users requesting TV content. Question Time BBC iPlayer weekly requests - latest 6 months Torchwood 5-day special Technical problems

10. BBC iPlayer - Top 20 TV Episodes October 2009 Question Time achieved an exceptionally high audience on iPlayer as it did on linear, but the influx of users also inflated figures for a range of other programmes over following weeks. BBC iPLAYER TOP 20 TV EPISODES– MOST-REQUESTED EPISODE PER SERIES BBC iPLAYER TOP 20 TV EPISODES– ALL • Total requests per episode • Question Time 22/10/09 928,000 • Life Episode 1 664,000 • Russell Howard's Good News Episode 1 410,000 • Mock the Week Series 6 Episode 1 371,000 • Never Mind the Buzzcocks Series 23 Ep 2 362,000 • EastEnders 23/10/09 353,000 • Merlin Series 2 Episode 3 334,000 • Michael McIntyre's Comedy R’show Ep 1 321,000 • Strictly Come Dancing Series 7 Ep 5 317,000 • Emma Episode 1 240,000 • Have I Got News for You Series 38 Ep 1 233,000 • Top Gear Series 8 Episode 1 231,000 • Criminal Justice Series 2 Episode 1 229,000 • How Not To Live Your Life Series 2 Ep 4 192,000 • Charlie Brooker's Gameswipe 29/09/09 185,000 • Shooting Stars Series 6 Ep 6 179,000 • The Armstrong & Miller Show Series 2 Ep 2 179,000 • Masterchef: The Professionals Series 2 Ep 29 173,000 • The World's Strictest Parents Series 2 Ep 1 157,000 • That Mitchell and Webb Look Series 2 Ep 3 156,000 • Total requests per episode • Question Time 22/10/09 928,000 • Life Episode 1 664,000 • Life Episode 2 474,000 • Russell Howard's Good News Episode 1 410,000 • Mock the Week Series 6 Episode 1 371,000 • Never Mind the Buzzcocks Series 23 Ep 2 362,000 • EastEnders 23/10/09 353,000 • Never Mind the Buzzcocks Series 23 Ep 1 353,000 • Merlin Series 2 Episode 3 334,000 • Merlin Series 2 Episode 4 323,000 • Michael McIntyre's Comedy R’show Ep 1 321,000 • Strictly Come Dancing Series 7 Ep 5 317,000 • EastEnders 09/10/09 302,000 • Strictly Come Dancing Series 7 Ep 6 290,000 • Never Mind the Buzzcocks Series 23 Ep 3 288,000 • Strictly Come Dancing Series 7 Ep 8 281,000 • EastEnders 20/10/09 271,000 • EastEnders 02/10/09 271,000 • EastEnders 22/10/09 264,000 • EastEnders 01/10/09 245,000 Note: excludes episodes which had been available for fewer than seven days at the end of the month.

11. BBC iPlayer - Top 20 Radio Episodes October 2009 The usual wide range of radio programmes was again present in the Top 20s in October. BBC iPLAYER TOP 20 RADIO EPISODES – MOST-REQUESTED EPISODE PER SERIES BBC iPLAYER TOP 20 RADIO EPISODES – ALL • Total requests per episode • 5 live Ukraine v England 10/10/20 151,000 • The Chris Moyles Show 13/10/09 94,000 • 5 live Prem Lg Man Utd v S’land 03/10/20 79,000 • The News Quiz Series 69 Episode 5 74,000 • Cricket 02/10/09 74,000 • 5 live Prem Lg Chels v L’pool 04/10/20 72,000 • Greg James 08/10/09 71,000 • The Chris Moyles Show 16/10/09 68,000 • The Unbelievable Truth Series 4 Ep 3 67,000 • The News Quiz Series 69 Episode 3 62,000 • The News Quiz Series 69 Episode 2 61,000 • The Unbelievable Truth Series 4 Ep 1 61,000 • The News Quiz Series 69 Episode 4 59,000 • The Unbelievable Truth Series 4 Ep 2 58,000 • The Chris Moyles Show 15/10/09 58,000 • The Chris Moyles Show 09/10/09 58,000 • Steve Wright in the Afternoon 08/10/09 56,000 • The Chris Moyles Show 02/10/09 55,000 • BBC Radio 1's Chart Show 11/10/09 55,000 • 5 live Prem Lg Man Utd v Bolton 17/10/09 52,000 • Total requests per episode • 5 live Ukraine v England 10/10/09 151,000 • The Chris Moyles Show 13/10/09 94,000 • 5 live Prem Lg Man Utd v S'land 03/10/09 79,000 • The News Quiz Series 69 Episode 5 74,000 • Cricket 02/10/09 74,000 • 5 live Prem Lg Chels v L'pool 04/10/09 72,000 • Greg James 08/10/09 71,000 • The Unbelievable Truth Series 4 Ep 3 67,000 • Steve Wright in the Afternoon 08/10/09 56,000 • BBC Radio 1's Chart Show 11/10/09 55,000 • 5 live Prem Lg Man Und v Bolton 17/10/09 52,000 • 606 03/10/09 50,000 • Fearne Cotton 16/10/09 46,000 • 5 live League Cup Asnl v L'pool 28/10/09 45,000 • Fearne & Jordin Sparks Lv Lnge 13/10/09 45,000 • 5 live Prem Lg A’ Vil v Man City 05/10/09 45,000 • Desert Island Discs 11/10/09 45,000 • That Mitchell and Webb Sound S4 Ep 6 40,000 • 5 live Champ Lg L'pool v Lyon 20/10/09 40,000 • Twilight Zone Series 2 Ep 9 36,000 Note: excludes episodes which had been available for fewer than seven days at the end of the month.

12. Requests by platform type – October 2009 Streams for computers are consistently dominating the type of content requested, across both TV and radio programmes. However iPhone requests are consistently making up a noticeable proportion of TV requests (7%), as are PS3 requests (6%) since the relaunch of the iPlayer on PS3 in September. TV Requests Radio requests (all streams) Streams vs downloads Device type Audio podcast requests are not included here since they are not available until after the publishing date for this pack.

13. Requests by on-demand catch-up vs live simulcast – Oct 09 On-demand requests for content dominate TV viewing via iPlayer, whilst for radio, live listening makes up just over two-thirds of all programme requests. TV Requests Radio requests

14. BBC iPlayer – use for TV by time of day, October 09 The scale for each line on this graph is different – TV viewing is far higher than iPlayer use. However it shows the relative usage pattern by time of day – with iPlayer use (for TV) being far closer to the pattern of TV viewing, than of internet use, with proportionally more viewing in daytime and late peak. TV peak - 35 million Internet peak – 29 million iPlayer peak – 155,000 Note: each line has a very different scale (see peaks) Sources– TV (aged 4+) from BARB Oct 09, internet (aged 2+) from Nielsen Sept 09, iPlayer Oct 09 iStats (line shows requests, but 134,000 is a count of users). See footnotes on slide 17 for more detail

15. BBC iPlayer – use for radio by time of day, October 09 The scale for each line on this graph is different – radio listening is far higher than iPlayer use. However it shows the relative usage pattern by time of day – with iPlayer use (for radio) being in-between the pattern of radio listening and internet use, with proportionally more listening in daytime and evening compared with the traditional linear breakfast peak. Radio peak - 15 million iPlayer peak – 35,000 Internet peak – 29 million Note: each line has a very different scale (see peaks) Sources - radio (aged 16+) from RAJAR Q2 09, internet (aged 2+) from Nielsen Sept 09, iPlayer October 09 iStats (line shows requests, but 35,000 is a count of users). See footnotes on slide 17 for more detail

16. iPlayer use by demographic – BBC monthly survey, August 09 Use of the iPlayer is measured on a BBC monthly survey of 700 UK adults. The demographic profile of iPlayer is slowly evening out in gender terms, but remaining strongly under-55. Age Gender User profiles - TV from BARB, radio from RAJAR, broadband from TNS survey 2000 adults

17. Glossary Stream – click to play instantly Download – save to your computer to play later We cannot report on playback of downloads due to technical and data privacy restrictions Users – a count of computer browers accessing the online iPlayer service So please note: if someone has a different computer at work and at home, they are counted twice. If a family watches on a computer together, only one browser is counted. This is the industry-standard way of counting “users” or “visitors” to websites. Requests – number of successful requests to stream or download a programme We only count successful requests, where a stream or a download actually start, rather than “clicks” which can be repeated if the user does not see an immediate reaction on the website. Catch-up / on-demand – programmes requested after they have gone out on “normal” TV/radio channels and are available on iPlayer Live / simulcast – streaming of live TV channels / radio stations on the website, at exactly the same time as broadcast on “normal” TV / radio Special footnotes for slides 14-15 TV data – BARB average audience, live overnights, by hour, 01-30 Sept 09, all individuals aged 4+, Total TV Radio data - RAJAR average audience, Q2 09, by hour, all adults 16+, all radio stations iPlayer - average requests over 01-30 September 09, by hour, all programmes, stream & downloading, live & on-demand, UK only Nielsen – September 09, user numbers (aged 2+ based on internet population estimate of 39 million individuals