Top BBC apps downloaded 70 million times in the UK

The festive season is one of the busiest times of year for app downloads. The BBC has announced that its top ten apps have been downloaded over 70m times since launch, and is anticipating a bumper year for app downloads as new tablets and smartphones are unwrapped at Christmas.

BBC iPlayer leads the way, racking up 30 million downloads on its own, followed by BBC News with 15 million downloads and BBC Weather with 9.5 million – our fastest growing app of all time.

Since its first app launched in 2010, the top 10 most popular BBC apps in the UK are:

1. BBC iPlayer - 30 million downloads

2. BBC News – 15 million downloads

3. BBC Weather – 9.5 million downloads

4. BBC iPlayer Radio – 6.8 million downloads

5. BBC Sport – 5.3 million downloads

6. CBeebies Playtime – 3.4 million downloads

7. The Voice UK – 825,000 downloads

8. CBeebies Storytime – 576,000 downloads

9. CBBC Ludus – 180,000 downloads

10. CBBC Gory Games Play-along – 156,000 downloads

Ralph Rivera, Director BBC Future Media says: “Christmas 2014 is set to be another bumper time for our apps, as people unwrap their shiny new mobiles and tablets and look for the best apps to download. With over 70 million downloads of our apps in the UK over the last four years, we know we’re getting it right. Whether it’s catching EastEnders on-the-go, the News in the sales queue, the weather before you trek to the in-laws or the kids favourite in the back of the car, our apps have everything you need for the festive period.”

Last Christmas, there were almost a million downloads of the BBC iPlayer app over the festive period (Saturday 21 December to New Year’s Day) – highlighting the demand to watch and catch-up on BBC TV shows on shiny new mobiles and tablets. And with the re-launch of its BBC iPlayer app in 2014, it’s now even easier to browse and discover BBC programmes in the palm of your hand.

Recent Ofcom research shows that over 8 in 10 of adults now go online using any type of device in any location. 44 percent of households also now have access to a tablet (up by a factor of four over the past two years), and the BBC is expecting this Christmas to be the bumper year for its apps.

One in three children in the UK now has their own tablet, which has also nearly doubled year on year, and with new apps for young ones such as CBeebies Storytime and GO CBBC launching in 2014, the BBC is expecting their apps for children to continue to grow.