Olympic Opening Ceremony helps BBC iPlayer hit record viewing figures for 2012

The BBC has revealed its viewing figures for the iPlayer catch-up and on-demand service from 2012, and the figures are record breaking.

In 2012 we had some huge events, and unsurprisingly these have catapulted viewing figures to all-new highs. However, it’s been the rise of smartphone and tablet usage that has really boosted figures, with a whopping 177% increase in the use of iPlayer on mobile devices.

The BBC saw 14 million downloads of its iPlayer app on all platforms in 2012, with 300,000 app downloads taking place on Christmas day alone. With gadgets like the Google Nexus 7, iPad Mini and iPod Touch being some of the most popular Christmas gifts, it’s hardly surprising that a popular app such as iPlayer was downloaded so many times.

A new feature that allows users to download TV and Radio shows for watching offline has been trialled only on iOS devices for the past few months, and it seems to be proving popular. iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch users racked up an impressive 10.8m show downloads.

Throughout 2012 the UK made 2.32 billion TV and Radio show watch requests through iPlayer on all devices, accounting for a mind-boggling 36.5 billion minutes of watched content. So what was popular this year? As you might have guessed, the Olympic Opening Ceremony topped the charts with 3,326,903 views. Top Gear Series 18 came in second with 2.8 million views, closely followed by the excellent Sherlock season 2 with 2.5 million watches.

Did you become an avid iPlayer user this year? How do you watch iPlayer content?