Virgin TV sees 4 million views of On Demand shows and films over Easter with Britain’s Got Talent topping a list of the most popular programmes watched over the long weekend

15 April 2020

The long awaited return of Britain’s Got Talent helped to entertain the nation this Easter with the popular ITV show being the most viewed On Demand programme on Virgin TV over the bank holiday weekend.

Virgin TV is releasing the top 10 most popular programmes watched via On Demand over the long weekend, and in total, recorded more than 3.8 million views of its vast collection of hit TV shows and films.

With people staying at home for Easter, views of On Demand programming increased by more than 18% compared to the previous year.

Virgin TV customers caught up on the first episode of BGT in their droves, and were also mystified by the unbelievable magic tricks shown on Sky One’s Dynamo: Beyond Belief, enjoyed a road trip across the USA with ITV’s Gordon, Gino and Fred, and laughed at the antics of the Goodman family in the latest episode of Channel 4’s comedy, Friday Night Dinner.

Top 10 most popular programmes watched via On Demand:

1. Britain’s Got Talent (ITV)

2. Dynamo: Beyond Belief (Sky One)

3. Gordon, Gino and Fred: Road trip (ITV)

4. Friday Night Dinner (Channel 4)

5. Bulletproof (Sky One)

6. Coronation Street (ITV)

7. Gogglebox (ITV)

8. Belgravia (ITV)

9. War of the Worlds (FOX)

10. Emmerdale (ITV)

 

Last month, Virgin TV recorded almost 28 million views of On Demand programming – the highest for 2020 – as people heeded Government advice to stay home. 

Data use on the Virgin Media network has also increased significantly in recent weeks. Daytime traffic on Virgin Media’s network has more than doubled since the crisis began as people have stayed at home and been using their home broadband connection for work, entertainment and to keep in touch with friends and family.

Since March, Virgin Media has made a number of entertainment and children’s channels available at no extra cost for Virgin TV customers.  This includes seven children’s channels, 18 of its most popular entertainment channels including Discovery, Fox and Gold, and Sky channels such as Sky One and Sky Comedy.

Note to Editors:

The data relates to viewing of On Demand programming via Virgin Media’s set-top boxes. It does not include content watched over our ultrafast broadband connectivity but we have seen both downstream and upstream traffic increase since people have stayed at home – which you can read more about here.

Virgin Media does not have access to data regarding programmes watched via the BBC iPlayer app and it is therefore not included in our analysis.