| 19 January 2021
In what has been the with biggest week ever for the service, the first full week of the year, 4–10 January 2021, has seen a surge in viewing for the BBC iPlayer as viewers streamed 162 million programmes.
Leading the charge for the live, VOD and catch-up platform were programmes such as The Serpent, A Perfect Planet, Traces and flagship EastEnders. The week also saw a record 4.1 million people aged under-35 sign into their BBC Account to watch BBC iPlayer with Pretty Little Liars, The FA Cup, A Teacher, The Serpent and A Perfect Planet proving popular with the key demographic.
The mega first week came on the heels of a record-breaking 2020 for the BBC iPlayer – which saw 5.8 billion programmes streamed from January-December 2020, up 31% compared with 2019. Attributing drivers for the growth, the BBC said the iPlayer’s surge in 2020 was accelerated by an expanded catalogue of drama, comedy, and documentary box sets and longer availability for many films.