Virgin reports 200m TV VOD views in Q1

Virgin Media's video on-demand platform has registered a record 200 million television views in the first quarter of 2010, with Glee, EastEnders and Coronation Street all proving popular.

In the three months to the end of March, the number of Virgin Media homes regularly watching on-demand content grew to 2.1m, representing 60% of its total TV base. Average monthly views now stand at 68m, up 24% year-on-year.

Channel 4's 4OD service posted a record breaking 19m views during the quarter, including its best ever month in March with 8m catch-up requests of shows such as Glee, Shameless and Skins.

BBC iPlayer accounted for over 50 million views in Q1, with EastEnders Live being watched by more than a quarter of a million Virgin Media customers. Episodes of Coronation Street were viewed over 6m times during the three months on ITV Player.

In excess of 2.6m on-demand movies were watched on Virgin Media in the first quarter, with popular titles including Kathryn Bigelow's Oscar-winning The Hurt Locker, along with Aliens In The Attic and Inglorious Basterds. Virgin Media's movie subscription service PictureBox also saw a record breaking 150,000 films being viewed over the month of February.

The cable operator's music on-demand service further saw a 12% increase in views, with Justin Bieber topping the charts in March with 'Baby', followed by Rihanna's 'Rude Boy' and Young Money's 'Bed Rock'.

Virgin Media executive director of digital entertainment Cindy Rose said that the cable operator will continue to make new VOD services available throughout 2010, including 3D on-demand.

"Watching TV on-demand is now part of the nations' daily viewing habits, with millions of people tuning into the TV programmes they love when they want to watch them," she said.

"As the way people watch TV continues to change, Virgin Media is bringing the best of high definition, 3D and online TV to viewers and we continue to develop innovative new services that will help consumers make the most of the digital world."

Virgin Media recently launched its new online movie rental service for PCs, laptops and connected televisions.

It also plans to offer a companion online TV player later in the year, along with launching next-generation set-top boxes powered with TiVo technology.