Hit BBC shows Killing Eve, Doctor Who and The Cry have helped BBC iPlayer to achieve its best month ever.
Across the month there were a record-high 334 million requests, up 18 per cent on the same month last year, and setting a new record for average daily requests at 10.8 million. October is now BBC iPlayer’s best month on record, sitting ahead of January this year (328 million) and December last year (327 million).
The most popular episodes for the month are dominated by Killing Eve, which has six episodes in the top ten. The first episode is the most popular programme of the month, with over 3.5m requests, followed by Jodie Whittaker’s first episode as the Doctor in the new series of Doctor Who, with over 2.9m requests.
The Cry, starring Jenna Coleman, also performed very well, with 2.9m requests for the first episode and over 2m for the second. Other highlights include the return of The Apprentice, the continued success of Strictly Come Dancing, and the first episode of new drama Informer, which got over a 1.7m requests.
The top ten most popular episodes for October are:
| Rank | Programme | Episode | Requests |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Killing Eve | Series 1 Episode 1 | 3,555,000 |
| 2 | Doctor Who | Series 11 Episode 1 | 2,962,000 |
| 3 | The Cry | Series 1 Episode 1 | 2,924,000 |
| 4 | Killing Eve | Series 1 Episode 7 | 2,430,000 |
| 5 | Killing Eve | Series 1 Episode 6 | 2,332,000 |
| 6 | Killing Eve | Series 1 Episode 8 | 2,286,000 |
| 7 | The Apprentice | Series 14 Episode 1 | 2,263,000 |
| 8 | Killing Eve | Series 1 Episode 5 | 2,237,000 |
| 9 | Killing Eve | Series 1 Episode 4 | 2,194,000 |
| 10 | The Cry | Series 1 Episode 2 | 2,087,000 |
The top ten most popular episodes per series for October are:
| Rank | Programme | Episode | Requests |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Killing Eve | Series 1 Episode 1 | 3,555,000 |
| 2 | Doctor Who | Series 11 Episode 1 | 2,962,000 |
| 3 | The Cry | Series 1 Episode 1 | 2,924,000 |
| 4 | The Apprentice | Series 14 Episode 1 | 2,263,000 |
| 5 | Informer | Series 1 Episode 1 | 1,793,000 |
| 6 | Strictly Come Dancing | Series 16 Episode 5 | 1,395,000 |
| 7 | Bodyguard | Series 1 Episode 6 | 1,360,000 |
| 8 | EastEnders | October 9, 2018 | 1,071,000 |
| 9 | This Country | October 13, 2018 | 859,000 |
| 10 | Match of the Day 2018/19 | October 20, 2018 | 753,000 |
Dan McGolpin, controller of programming for the BBC, said: “It’s been a fantastic autumn for BBC iPlayer. Bodyguard and Killing Eve are the two strongest performing series ever and in October we set a new record for daily requests, which gave us our highest ever monthly total. Together with the return of Doctor Who, The Apprentice and Strictly BBC iPlayer offers a unique mix of brand new programmes alongside some of the nation’s best-loved shows.”
ABOUT KAUSER KANJI
Kauser Kanji has been working in online video for 19 years, formerly at Virgin Media, ITN and NBC Universal, and founded VOD Professional in 2011. He has since completed major OTT projects for, amongst others, A+E Networks, the BBC, BBC Studios, Channel 4, DR (Denmark), Liberty Global, Netflix, Sony Pictures, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation and UKTV. He now writes industry analyses, hosts an online debate show, OTT Question Time, as well as its in-person sister event, OTT Question Time Live.