2022 Internet roundup: World Cup, Call of Duty and Peaky Blinders spike online traffic

Data released from Zen’s network reveals that the biggest spike in internet bandwidth consumption in 2022 was recorded in December, 21% higher than 2021's peak which was also experienced in December. This comes as internet demand has continued to rise over the last year and prompted peaks and troughs in usage across the UK.

Gaming and streaming of live sport dominate

2022 saw no shortage of online entertainment, with new releases across gaming and streaming platforms, as well as live music events and sports matches providing the most popular forms of online entertainment.

Zen’s traffic saw its all-time high for the year on Wednesday 14th December at 20:30, 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 19th October between 20:00 and 22:00 that night 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 throughout year, with the Women’s Euro Final on 31st July seeing a whopping 17.4 million 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 bring it home for England.

Other top forms of online entertainment in 2022:

1) Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - its release date on 2nd September prompted a spike on Amazon Prime video – up 38% on Zen’s average internet activity across this platform

2) Glastonbury Festival - the highest spike to the BBC over the weekend was recorded on the final day, Sunday 26th June 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

3) FIFA World Cup – Key matches drove surges in internet activity, including:

• 21st November (England vs Iran) - huge traffic peak between 12 and 3pm during the match, nearly double the typical traffic around the same time on a normal weekday
• 29th November (England vs Wales) – traffic peak between 7pm and 9pm, up 9% on average traffic for a normal weekday in November
• 15th December (France vs Morocco) - this year’s overall biggest peak on Zen’s network was experienced during the tournament’s semi-final, up 21% on last year’s highest peak
• 18th December (Argentina vs France) – Zen experienced a visible increase in traffic between 3pm and 7pm up 26% on average traffic for a normal Sunday in December

4) Peaky Blinders – its release on 27th February 2022 on BBC iPlayer prompted a 52% peak when compared to average Zen traffic on the BBC

Keeping informed

Internet users across the UK have turned to trustworthy news outlets to keep abreast of ongoing political and global changes. Zen’s peak to the BBC in 2022 reached almost 20% more than the highest peak of 2021, experienced on 14th February.

Key news moments that dominated the media included the announcement of Rishi Sunak’s succession to Prime Minister on the 24th October, prompting a spike of 36% on average consumption.

The bank holiday weekend for Queen Elizabeth’s Jubilee between 2nd and 5th June 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 8th September saw another temporary dip to 39% lower than average internet usage between 18:30 – 19:30 on the BBC, coinciding with households tuning into terrestrial TV as the news broke.

Other top news moments of 2022 on Zen’s BBC traffic included ongoing developments on the war between Russia and Ukraine. On 27th April, this prompted Zen’s first spike of the year, 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 6th and 7th November respectively.

Paul Stobart, CEO at Zen Internet, comments: “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. Demand for fast, reliable and high quality connectivity is growing. For that reason, it’s more important than ever to make wise, informed decisions when choosing the best internet provider, to ensure you’re always up to speed!”