BBC iPlayer gets 236m programme requests in July

The BBC iPlayer received 236 million requests for TV content in July, with viewing on mobiles, tablets and connected TVs all up year on year.

This is according to official company stats, which revealed that episode one of new crime drama series In The Dark was the top viewed programme during the month with 1.62 million requests.

The July 7 episode of long-running soap opera EastEnders was the second most-watched show in the month at 1.22 million requests, while the final episode of the latest series of Doctor Who was third with 1.18 million views.

Overall EastEnders accounted for 16 of the top 20 most popular programmes across the month. However, by series, Top of the Lake, Poldark and Stacey Dooley Investigates all performed well.

“Watching BBC iPlayer through the TV is now easy to do and for many people it’s become their preferred way to view BBC programmes, both on demand and live,” said BBC controller of programming and daytime, Dan McGolpin.

“We release a wide selection of fresh content every month of the year and July saw strong performances from a mix of gripping drama series and challenging investigative documentaries.”