Virgin Media delivers 10.5 million views on BBC iPlayer in June

Virgin Media (NASDAQ: VMED) today announced there have been 10.5 million views of BBC programmes via iPlayer since it was made fully available on its TV platform in June. Virgin Media is the first TV platform to make BBC iPlayer available in full screen picture quality, directly to its 3.5 million TV customers. BBC iPlayer was launched on Virgin Media’s Electronic Programming Guide (EPG) on 1st June as a consumer marketing campaign rolled out to drive awareness and uptake of the service.

Malcolm Wall, CEO of Content at Virgin Media, said: “Our customers are using BBC iPlayer on Virgin Media to watch the BBC programmes they want, when they want – from the most loved prime-time TV shows to children’s series like In the Night Garden. Bringing BBC iPlayer to its first TV platform underlines Virgin Media’s commitment to pioneering on demand television in the UK and we’re delighted by the fantastic customer response and the continued success of our on demand offering.”

Rahul Chakkara, BBC Controller TV Platforms, said: “These early figures indicate a real appetite from viewers to access BBC iPlayer via their TVs and catch-up on their favourite programmes from the comfort of their living room. This initial success on Virgin Media, underlines the multi-platform appeal of BBC iPlayer proposition.”

BBC iPlayer allows viewers to catch-up on over 350 hours of BBC programmes from the past seven days, at no extra cost. It was initially made available on Virgin Media via the red button on BBC channels in May. Total views of BBC programmes via BBC iPlayer during this initial period were 1.4 million.

Virgin Media has pioneered on demand television in the UK with almost half (48 per cent) of its 3.5 million TV customers regularly using this service. The number of views per customer has grown in the last year from 11 to 24 times per month, with average monthly views in Q1 2008 totalling 36 million. Virgin Media’s churn figure in Q1 2008 was reported at 1.2% and the company’s research indicates that customers who regularly use its on demand service are less likely to churn.