Digital TV News

Virgin Media homes watching more TV on-demand

Tuesday 2 February, 2010

By Becca Talbot - becca@consumerchoices.co.uk

Nearly two thirds of Virgin Media’s TV customers are regularly using the cable giant’s on-demand service to watch their favourite shows, recently released films and the latest music videos.

Virgin Media (www.virginmedia.com), the UK’s largest cable TV provider, revealed yesterday that its on-demand TV service received a record-breaking 750 million views during 2009, with 76 million views in December alone.

On-demand TV services let customers watch what they want, when it’s convenient for them. Over 59% of Virgin Media’s 3.7 million TV customers are now regularly using the on-demand feature, watching catch-up TV on the BBC iPlayer and the ITV Player.

Cindy Rose, the digital entertainment executive director at Virgin Media, said the digital TV providers had “helped redefine the viewing habits of millions of people by freeing them from the TV schedule.”

Since the BBC’s iPlayer launch on Virgin Media in May 2008, the platform has pulled in nearly 300 million views. And the ITV Player received 25 million views in the last three months of 2009 alone, with customers tuning in to watch episodes of The X Factor and I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!.

Other popular programmes for the seven-day catch-up service included EastEnders, Coronation Street, the final series of Gavin and Stacey and David Tennant’s finale as Doctor Who.

Customers using the on-demand service also watched a record number of films during 2009. On the Filmflex service, the most popular film was The Hangover, followed by Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Music videos were also popular with Virgin Media customers using the on-demand service during 2009, with Lady GaGa’s “Bad Romance” video topping the list as the most watched.