Reception and Adoption
Before the launch in December 2007, the BBC had hoped the service would reach half a million users in its first six months. This turned out to be a gross underestimate, as 3.5 million programmes were streamed or downloaded in the first three weeks alone. The Guardian described these figures as "remarkably promising".
In its first year, 2008, growth continued at an impressive rate. By April, the iPlayer accounted for around five percent of all UK Internet traffic, and had approximately five million page views per day by June. In December, it was announced that more than 180 million programmes have been watched on iPlayer since its release. During the BAFTAs in May, the iPlayer won the "Interactive Innovation Service/Platform" Award, beating Channel 4's 'Big Art Mob' and the Bebo 'Open Media Platform'. The streaming of programmes forms the lion's share of the success, outnumbering downloads eight to one in January 2008, and 97:3 in October 2009.
In the month of October 2009, it was revealed that the site experienced 70 million requests and transferred seven petabytes of data. Television formed about two thirds of all requests, with radio making up the rest. Most TV was streamed from pre-recorded footage, whereas live streaming was preferred of radio. Eighty-five percent of requests were from computers, with much of the rest coming from iPods, iPhones and PS3s (from a total of 15 platforms). The most popular TV programme of 2009 was Top Gear, and the most popular radio was that reporting The Ashes.
The success of iPlayer may be down to a "long tail" effect, with users seeking out niche programmes; programmes broadcast on digital channels are doing remarkably well. However, this is expected to change with the introduction of booking programmes to download in advance, and automatic downloading of the next episode.
The demands of the iPlayer have met with some concern and criticism from UK ISPs due to the added bandwidth the service will need. Several ISPs, notably Tiscali, have called on the BBC to partially fund network upgrades to cope with iPlayer traffic. The BBC responded by saying that the iPlayer was driving demand for broadband subscriptions.
By May 2010, the site was getting 123 million monthly play requests. The service was being used by 40 per cent of online adults in the UK by March 2012.
Read more about this topic: BBC I Player
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