BBC reveals most-viewed Glastonbury 2022 sets
The BBC has shared UK TV viewership details for this year’s Glastonbury sets. The much-anticipated music event recently returned to Worthy Farm after two years away. Paul McCartney, Billie Eilish and Kendrick Lamar headlined the Pyramid stage across the weekend.
Paul McCartney treated audiences to a near three-hour set on Saturday, pulling in an average of 2.7 million viewers on BBC One and peaking at 3.9 million, according to figures provided by Broadcast.
But the 80-year-old former Beatle wasn’t the biggest attraction of the festival. Diana Ross, who performed in the ‘Legends’ slot on Sunday, had the biggest viewership, with the Motown icon drawing in an average of 3.1 million viewers and peaking at 3.8 million.
Meanwhile, Billie Eilish’s maiden Glastonbury set attracted 1.2 million viewers, while Kendrick Lamar garnered 570,000 viewers for his performance on Sunday. The BBC’s coverage of the festival earned the broadcaster record-breaking figures across its digital platforms.
Glastonbury footage was streamed 34.1 million times on BBC iPlayer, 23 million of which were live streams – that’s the highest on record for a BBC programme. The festival was streamed an additional 2.3 million times via BBC Sounds. Streams went up by 116% on iPlayer and a whopping 205% on BBC Sounds compared to Glastonbury 2019, suggesting that the festival’s two-year break has done nothing to dampen its cultural appeal.
In a recent statement, Lorna Clarke, the BBC’s Director of Music said: “The BBC provided the ultimate armchair experience of the world’s best-loved festival this weekend with a dedicated Glastonbury channel on BBC iPlayer, 6 Music’s All Day Glastonbury coverage, performances from the biggest artists on-demand on BBC Sounds and over 35 hours of coverage across our TV channels.”
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