The Serpent and David Attenborough propel BBC iPlayer to its biggest week ever
More than 162 million programmes were streamed in seven days
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Your support makes all the difference.BBC iPlayer broke a viewership record in the first week of 2021, with more than 162 million programmes being streamed.
True crime drama The Serpent and David Attenborough’s nature documentary A Perfect Planet were among the most popular series to be streamed at the start of 2021.
Long-running soap EastEnders was also cited among the week’s most-watched programmes, as well as forensic drama Traces.
According to the BBC, the week also saw another record be broken, as 4.1 million people under the age of 35 signed into their BBC account to use the broadcaster’s flagship streaming service.
Pretty Little Liars, The FA Cup, A Teacher, The Serpent and A Perfect Planet proved most popular with this younger demographic.
The huge start to the year follows a banner year for the BBC’s viewing figures, as 2020 broke several records of its own.
Across 2020, there were 5.8 billion programmes streamed on iPlayer, representing an increase of 31 per cent compared to the year before.
The most-streamed shows were the Sally Rooney adaptation Normal People, cat-and-mouse crime drama Killing Eve, reality competition Strictly Come Dancing and the second series of divorce drama The Split.
Viewers in the UK can watch the latest BBC series by visiting the iPlayer website or downloading the app.
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