BBC reveals ‘extraordinary’ viewing figures for its lockdown learning content

The BBC has revealed there were 1.6 million unique users on its educational Bitesize website on the first day of its lockdown learning programme.

Children’s channel CBBC also saw an increase of 436% in its viewing figures for the 9am to 12pm slot on Monday while educational content was being broadcast.

BBC Two also saw an increase of 29% for 1pm to 3pm.

Both channels were compared to their slot averages for each Monday over the last 52 weeks.

Bitesize Daily episodes on iPlayer were also requested 275,000 times on Monday.

With schools closed due to coronavirus, the BBC previously pledged  to deliver the “biggest education offer in its history” for pupils.

Patricia Hidalgo, director of BBC children’s and education, said: “These extraordinary numbers prove that people continue to turn to the BBC in times of need.

“We’re thrilled to be supporting so many families and teachers across the UK with our curriculum based and edutainment content on air and online.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson previously praised the BBC for its “fantastic initiative”.