BBC iPlayer hits 75 million downloads

The BBC iPlayer online on-demand TV service has hit 75 million in streamed or downloaded programmes since it launched last year.

According to BBC figures, iPlayer enjoyed another month of growth in April, with around 21 million programme requests -- a 20 per cent increase on March.

Average users per week were 1.4 million -- up 300,000 on March and almost double January's figure.

The most requested programmes were The Apprentice and Doctor Who, although programmes shown on BBC Three had a strong showing with six appearing in the top 20.

There was also a 'long tail effect', with around a quarter of total programme consumption being made up of TV shows outside the top 20.

In terms of platforms, 10 per cent of programme requests came from Apple Mac users and three per cent from those using the iPhone or iPod Touch.

There was initial criticism of iPlayer due to it only being available on the Windows XP platform, but the BBC has worked to introduce the service on other platforms such as Virgin Media.

iPlayer's popularity has also raised concerns from ISPs, who claim the explosion in online content could overload their networks.