BBC’s iPlayer catch-up service tops 100 million

The iPlayer catch-up service operated by the BBC has been used 100 million times in a single month for the first time with the UK public broadcaster reporting a spike in use over the Christmas period. The UK public broadcaster said that the most popular show was a special of Top Gear, the BBC motoring magazine show. It was streamed 1.1 million times.

Other popular shows included a two-part Doctor Who special, which was streamed 1.4 million times and comedy series Gavin & Stacey, which was streamed 688,300 times, according to BBC statistics.

Two movies were in the most-watched list: Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean with 422,600 streams and Pixar’s The Incredibles with 323,400.
The BBC said that an increasing number of iPlayer requests are coming from games console users. It claims one in eight requests now comes from a Wii or PS3 user.

Meanwhile, the BBC said its flagship BBC One channel won the 2009 ratings fight. It took a primetime share of 22.9% and an overall 20.9% share.