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• ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ iPlayer celebrates second birthday with record numbers reaching 88.2 million requests
• Top Gear most watched programme of the year on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ iPlayer
• Figures reveal popularity of ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ shows by device
• New data suggests that people take ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ iPlayer to bed

As ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ iPlayer approaches its second birthday on Christmas Day, new figures released by the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ reveal 2009 to be the most successful to date, with Top Gear being the most watched programme of the year.

With an average of over five million unique users a week, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ iPlayer is set to have its best Christmas yet.

New data also provides a fascinating insight into how users of ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ iPlayer, now available on more than 20 different devices, differ per platform. Mac and PS3 users of ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ iPlayer prefer comedy shows such as Mock The Week, while PC and Virgin Media users seem to be more keen on drama, with EastEnders and Waking The Dead proving to be more popular.

In an interesting insight into how people watch ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ iPlayer, new figures also reveal how people love to watch ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ iPlayer on their mobile phones with big peaks in traffic post 9.00pm, and again on Saturday and Sunday morning, suggesting that the nation is snuggling up with their favourite ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ programmes from the warmth and comfort of their own bed.

Erik Huggers, Director of Future Media and Technology, said: "³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ iPlayer has gone from strength to strength this year, with tens of millions of views each month.

"These figures show people are making the most of the choice they now have – whether it's watching EastEnders on your PC during your lunch break, listening to Desert Island Discs on the bus or watching Mock The Week in bed, viewing patterns change depending on the time and location of the audience.

"We'll be looking to increase the availability of the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ iPlayer on new platforms and devices in coming months and are looking towards more success in 2010."

The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ schedule is packed with exciting programmes this Christmas, and ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ iPlayer is the best place to catch up on anything you may have missed.

Great films including The Incredibles, Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End and the Oscar-winning La Vie En Rose are all going to be available, as is David Tennant's final outing in Doctor Who, the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special and, for the second year running, the Her Majesty The Queen's Christmas message will also be online for ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ iPlayer viewers.

So, no need to worry about burning the turkey or stewing the sprouts as you try to juggle your Christmas dinner plans around the TV schedule. ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ iPlayer makes the unmissable unmissable, thus reducing the probability of any culinary related disasters.

Notes to Editors

³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ iPlayer

Since its launch on Christmas Day 2007, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ iPlayer has grown to a service receiving more than 80 million requests per month for ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ TV and radio programmes.

The on-demand service from the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ allows UK audiences to catch up with their favourite ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ content broadcast over the last seven days, at a time that is suitable for them. Audiences have a choice of streaming or downloading their chosen programme and, with series catch-up, selected programmes are made available for the entire season.

First launched on the computer, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ iPlayer is now available on more than 20 devices, including on TV services, games consoles and mobile phones, providing UK audiences greater access to the wealth of content available from the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳.

Programme availability differs across the different platforms.

Monthly summary: November 2009:

November 2009 saw yet another step-change upwards in requests for TV and radio programmes on the online ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ iPlayer. In total there were 88.2 million requests, again boosted by a record-breaking 59.6 million for TV programmes and 28.6 million radio requests.

The new series of Top Gear received an outstanding 1.2 million requests for episode one, and Life, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Children In Need and Russell Howard's Good News also boosted the overall figures. For radio, football coverage, The Chris Moyles Show and The News Quiz were among most popular titles.

Computer usage still dominates ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ iPlayer use (86% of requests), but the re-launch of ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ iPlayer on Nintendo Wii has seen a rise in requests via this device.

Consistent with previous months:

The profile of ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ 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 November only 7% 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.

³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ 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, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ iPlayer is used far more in daytime than traditional radio listening, which peaks at breakfast-time.

TV Top 20: best-performing episode per title/series, 1 January to 13 December 2009

Ìý	Programme	Episode	Channel	Total streams
1	Top Gear: series 13	Ep. 1	³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two	1,671,100
2	Top Gear: series 14	Ep. 1	³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two	1,299,200
3	Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow	Ep. 1	³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ One	1,173,300
4	Gavin And Stacey: series 3	Ep. 1	³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ One	972,700
5	Question Time	22/10/09	³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ One	939,400
6	Life	Ep. 1	³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ One	869,000
7	Doctor Who: Planet Of The Dead	11/04/09	³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ One	811,800
8	Mock The Week: series 7	Ep. 8	³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two	656,500
9	Live At The Apollo: series 4	Ep. 1	³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ One	654,100
10	Horne And Cordon	Ep. 1	³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Three	614,800
11	Waterloo Road: series 5	Ep. 1	³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ One	605,900
12	Being Human	Ep. 1	³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Three	603,300
13	Torchwood: Children Of Earth	Ep. 1	³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ One	559,800
14	Merlin: series 2	Ep. 1	³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ One	489,400
15	Russell Howard's Good News	Ep. 1	³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Three	453,400
16	Kirsten's Topless Ambition	28/04/09	³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Three	453,200
17	Spooks: series 8	Ep. 1	³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ One	449,900
18	Shooting Stars: series 6	Ep. 1	³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two	447,000
19	QI: series 6	Ep. 9	³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ One	422,200
20	Robin Hood: series 3	Ep. 13	³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ One	414,100

Ìý

Audio Top 20: best-performing episode per title/series, 1 January to 13 December 2009

Ìý	Programme	Episode	Channel	Total streams
1	Test Match Special	21/08/09	5 Live Sports Extra	183,300
2	I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue: series 51	Ep. 1	Radio 4	167,000
3	5 Live Sport: Premier League 2009-10	14/03/09	5 Live	162,700
4	The Chris Moyles Show	06/07/09	Radio 1	129,700
5	Stephen Nolan	07/11/09	5 Live	115,800
6	Jo Whiley	18/09/09	Radio 1	90,700
7	Fry's English Delight: series 2	Ep. 1	Radio 4	86,800
8	Classic Serial: The Complete Smiley	Ep. 1	Radio 4	82,200
9	The News Quiz: series 69	Ep. 6	Radio 4	80,700
10	Desert Island Discs	29/11/09	Radio 4	79,900
11	Greg James	08/10/09	Radio 1	78,100
12	The Unbelievable Truth: series 4	Ep. 4	Radio 4	74,200
13	That Mitchell And Webb Sound: series 4	Ep. 2	Radio 4	68,000
14	Act Your Age	Ep. 1	Radio 4	66,800
15	Chart Show with Reggie Yates	29/11/09	Radio 1	66,400
16	Ken Bruce	11/05/09	Radio 2	65,800
17	Wimbledon: Men's Semi-Finals	03/07/09	5 Live	65,100
18	606	25/04/09	5 Live	64,900
19	Edith Bowman	10/03/09	Radio 1	64,800
20	The Now Show: series 26	Ep. 1	Radio 4	64,300

Source: iStats/TRP – Requests are combined for both simulcast and on-demand requests per title. Numbers rounded to the nearest 100 due to sampling methodology.

Note, this data is collected via a ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ internal data warehouse (iStats). The methodology adheres to industry standard guidelines as defined by JICWEBs and ABCe, with the exception that the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ data is based on a 25% sample of users and not 100%. The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ is working towards 100% sample over the coming months.

³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ iPlayer on Mobile requests by hour:

– ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ iPlayer on Mobile usage peaks in the evenings, between 7.00pm and midnight
– Usage on Friday and Saturday evenings is lower than on other evenings, as ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ iPlayer on Mobile users are likely to be out socialising
– The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ iPlayer on Mobile sees higher daytime usage at weekends, especially between 7.00am and 10.00am
– This means that overall usage is higher on Sundays, as they benefit from both high daytime usage and high evening usage.

DM