BBC iPlayer viewer base stays level at 257 million by serialkeeys

 for the BBC iPlayer viewing on demand service have held steady from April to May at 257 million.

The UK broadcaster's monthly report of viewing figures (PDF) showed no growth in television demand, but did show a record increase to 76 million in requests for radio broadcasts.

The most popular radio shows included comedies The Unbelievable Truth and The Now Show, and sports like rugby and cricket test match specials.

Daily requests added up to around eight million, and weekly that equated to 53 million. The most popular TV shows were Dr Who, The Apprentice and The Voice.

257 million was the lowest that requests have been since December last year. They hit a peak of 272 million in March 2013.

The bulk of requests each month came from connected computers, while other popular access devices were tablets, smartphones and games consoles. Internet TV and connected devices made up the minority, but still counted for around 12 percent of viewers.

The iPlayer's peak viewing time is slightly later than that of its televisioncounterpart, and the majority of streaming goes on at 10pm. For telly the peak comes an hour earlier at 9pm.

It appears that more men watch iPlayer than women, 51 percent to 49 percent, but that women watch more telly than men, again, 51 percent to 49 percent.

Some people might be using the iPlayer way of watching television to avoid spending £145 on a licence that props up shows like The Voice and The Apprentice. In fact, said the BBC, the number of people that claim that they do not need a licence has fallen by 10,000 over the last couple of years, and now sits at 428,359.

Reports have it that all these people are claiming iPlayer viewing as their defence, but the BBC told us that this is not the case 

by bbc.com