BBC reveals record Glastonbury viewing figures

The BBC has revealed its TV coverage of this year’s Glastonbury festival reached a record-breaking 23.1 million people.

The figures, which include the 30-day catch up period, were up 8% on 2022’s figure of 21.4m, with 8.6m people tuning in to Elton John’s Sunday night headline performance on BBC One over the same period.

Other high-performing sets at the 21-25 June event included Arctic Monkeys, Guns N’ Roses and Yusuf/Cat Stevens, as well as Blondie, Rick Astley, Fred Again.., Foo Fighters, Becky Hill and Lewis Capaldi. Glastonbury 2023 content on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds has also now been streamed 65 million times, up 54% on last year’s figure.

“This was an incredible year at Worthy Farm and I’m proud that we successfully matched the ambition and spirit of this iconic festival with our extensive coverage of it,” says BBC director of music Lorna Clarke.

The BBC, which recently inked a multi-year extension to continue to as Glastonbury’s exclusive multimedia broadcast partner, delivered over 40 hours of coverage across its TV channels in 2023, as well as 85 hours of live radio broadcasts, content on BBC Sounds, and an increase in scale and accessibility on BBC iPlayer.

“It’s wonderful that record audiences discovered and enjoyed our Glastonbury output on TV, radio and online”

For the first time, the corporation also streamed Pyramid Stage performances live in British Sign Language.

“It’s wonderful that record audiences discovered and enjoyed our Glastonbury output on TV, radio and online, as I know the teams across the BBC and BBC Studios worked around the clock to bring more performances and content than ever before to people at home,” adds Clarke. “A special thanks to Emily and Michael Eavis for allowing us to share the joy of Glastonbury with so many people across the UK.”

Glastonbury’s long-term future at Worthy Farm was secured earlier this year after it was granted permanent planning permission by the local council.

The festival will return to Worthy Farm, Somerset, from 26-30 June 2024.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.