BBC iPlayer sees record viewers for children’s content amid lockdown learning

Programmes aimed at children were viewed a record-breaking number of times last week on iPlayer, according to the BBC.

The shows were streamed a total of 40.8 million times between January 11 and 17.

With schools closed due to coronavirus, the BBC pledged earlier this month to deliver the “biggest education offer in its history” for pupils.

CBeebies programmes were streamed a total of 32.3 million times last week.

The Bitesize Daily show was streamed 971,000 times, with lessons for children aged between five and seven proving the most popular, accounting for 439,000 of the requests.

There were also 5.8 million unique visitors to the BBC Bitesize educational website last week after the Lockdown Learning programme was rolled out by the broadcaster.

The CBeebies apps also had more than 800,000 unique visitors over the same period.

Patricia Hidalgo, director of BBC children’s and education, said: “As with the last lockdown, BBC children’s and education continues to provide vital support, entertainment and educational resources for parents and children across the UK.

“We are thrilled that millions of households are making use of these services for home-schooling help and some much-needed entertainment.”

The previous streaming record for children’s programming on iPlayer was set last year after there were 40.2 million streams of the shows over a seven-day period.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has previously praised the BBC for its “fantastic initiative” to help educate school pupils.