Data released from Zen Internet’s network reveals that the biggest spike in internet use last year was recorded in December, 21% higher than 2021’s peak.
Zen’s traffic saw its all-time high for the year on Wednesday, December 14 at 8.30pm, coinciding with the end of the France versus Morocco World Cup semi-final football match. This reached a 21% increase on 2021’s highest peak.
The second highest peak was recorded on Wednesday, October 19, between 8pm and 10pm when Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare II became available to download for keen gamers, with a peak 17% higher than 2021’s.
On the same day in October, the Premier League also drove spikes in network traffic with five matches being live-streamed on Amazon Prime. Football remained a fan favourite last year, with the Women’s Euro Final on July 31 seeing 17.4million people watching on the BBC, prompting a 7.46% dip in internet traffic, possibly brought about by people tuning into terrestrial TV to watch the Lionesses.
Other top online entertainment in 2022:
- Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - its release date on September 2 prompted a spike on Amazon Prime video – up 38% on Zen’s average internet activity across this platform
- Glastonbury Festival - the highest spike to the BBC over the weekend was recorded on the final day, Sunday, June 26, at 8pm – this was up 48% on Zen’s average BBC traffic experienced on a regular Sunday as many likely streamed the line-up on BBC iPlayer from home
- FIFA World Cup – Key matches drove surges in internet activity
- Peaky Blinders – its release on February 27, 2022 on BBC iPlayer prompted a 52% peak when compared to average Zen traffic on the BBC
Key news moments that dominated the media included the announcement of Rishi Sunak’s succession to Prime Minister on October 24, prompting a spike of 36% on average consumption.
The bank holiday weekend for Queen Elizabeth’s Jubilee between June 2 and 5 saw dips in internet traffic down 10% on average consumption, perhaps an indication of people out socialising in the sunshine as they enjoyed the double bank holiday weekend and connected with friends, family and neighbours at street festivals. Similarly, the announcement of the Queen’s passing on Thursday, September 8, saw another temporary dip to 39% lower than average internet usage between 18:30 – 19:30 on the BBC, coinciding with households tuning into TV as the news broke.
Other top news moments of 2022 on Zen’s BBC traffic include ongoing developments on the war between Russia and Ukraine. On April 27, this prompted Zen’s first spike of 2022, up 17% on average consumption in April. The first two days of COP27 also resulted in peaks of 36% and 30% higher traffic than September’s average on BBC between November 6 and 7 respectively.
Paul Stobart, CEO at Zen Internet, said: “After another incredibly busy year for the internet, full of news stories, game releases, sporting events, and an explosion in online entertainment, it’s clear that households are relying more than ever before on their broadband."
