BBC Three behind most-watched show on iPlayer

The BBC’s youth skewing, online-only network, BBC Three, has produced the most requested show of the year so far on the BBC iPlayer, according to the corporation.

With three million requests, British drama Thirteen (pictured) is the most requested show on BBC iPlayer so far in 2016, while seven of the top 20 most-request shows on iPlayer are from the network, the BBC revealed in new stats.

These popular BBC Three shows include drama Murdered By My Father, which has clocked up 1.8m requests, and the first episode of Greg Davies comedy Cuckoo, which has had 1.5m requests.

The BBC, which took the decision to drop BBC Three’s linear feed earlier this year and switch to an online approach, said that at launch BBC Three made up 4% of BBC iPlayer requests but now reaches over 10%.

BBC Three has also grown its social presence with 997,000 Facebook likes, 721,000 Twitter followers and 44,000 Instagram followers.

“These are still early days for BBC Three and I’m incredibly proud of what we have achieved in such a short space of time,” said BBC Three controller, Damian Kavanagh.

“We’re contributing more to iPlayer than before and that’s with fewer shows, and when our shows are on BBC One and Two they’re attracting more young people than before.

“It’s clear young people are finding and sharing the content we are making. Reinventing the BBC’s offer for young people won’t happen overnight – it’s a marathon not a sprint, but the early signs are very encouraging.”

The news comes a day after Thinkbox published research claiming that commercial TV viewing on television sets was up in the in the UK in the first half of 2016 thanks in part to BBC Three’s move from linear to online.

The marketing body for commercial TV in the UK claimed that commercial TV channels that cater for 16-34s have benefitted since BBC Three’s closure, with ITV2 experiencing an increase of 27% year-on-year in time spent viewing from March-June and E4 experiencing an increase of 4%.