BBC iPlayer viewing via iPad up almost 600 per cent

Shows like Sherlock, Frozen Planet and Top Gear boosted viewing and listening across all formats to 1.94bn.

The BBC's catch-up TV service is available for a series of devices including PCs, TVs, smartphones, tablets and games consoles.

However, while the platform receives most viewing via PCs, the additional devices experienced a ten per cent viewing growth, while iPad viewing grew by 596 per cent.

Last year 1.94 billion programmes were watched and listened to on iPlayer in total and 187 million were viewed in December alone.

The most popular shows over Christmas were Top Gear, Frozen Planet, EastEnders and last but not least, Sherlock, which broke records to achieve 623,000 views in a single day.

Daniel Danker, general manager for programmes and on demand, BBC, said: "While 2011 was a remarkable year for BBC iPlayer across the board, the real story was growth of iPlayer on TVs, mobile phones, and tablets, outpacing PC growth many times over.