King Charles’s Christmas broadcast was the astir watched Christmas TV code by a monarch connected record, arsenic the BBC claimed a festive viewing triumph implicit streaming rivals specified arsenic Netflix.
A grounds 10.6 cardinal viewers watched Charles’s broadcast connected BBC One, BBC Two and ITV, making it the astir watched programme connected Christmas Day.
It is besides the astir fashionable Christmas Day broadcast by a monarch successful the 2 decades that authoritative TV ratings records monitoring assemblage levels person been kept.
An mean of 8.1 cardinal viewers watched the broadcast connected BBC One, with 1.58 cardinal tuning into ITV and 929,000 watching connected BBC Two, which included motion language.
Charles addressed the federation from St George’s chapel astatine Windsor Castle, wherever the committal work of his precocious mother, Queen Elizabeth II, was held 3 months agone and wherever she delivered a Christmas connection successful 1999.
In the eight-minute message, Charles paid tribute to his parent and addressed the outgo of surviving situation gripping the nation, alongside footage of nutrient banks and meals being distributed to the needy.
Christmas Day viewing was erstwhile again dominated by the BBC, with the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas peculiar taking the honours arsenic the most-watched amusement of the day, attracting an mean of 5.4 cardinal viewers.
Seven of the apical 10 most-watched shows connected Christmas Day were broadcast by the BBC – the different 3 were broadcast by ITV – with the corp claiming a Christmas Day triumph implicit streaming rivals including Netflix.
The corp said BBC One, the astir fashionable transmission successful the UK, attracted much viewers connected Christmas Day than the fig of viewers who chose to ticker a subscription video-on-demand service.
“In a clip of truthful overmuch contention and choice, the BBC continues to beryllium the UK’s amusement destination connected Christmas Day,” said Charlotte Moore, the main contented serviceman astatine the BBC.
The corp said viewing via the BBC iPlayer was up by 30% year-on-year implicit the weekend, with the king’s code and EastEnders proving the astir fashionable programmes connected Christmas Day.
Most-watched programmes connected Christmas Day
1. The King’s Christmas Broadcast, BBC One, 8.1 million
2. Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special, BBC One, 5.4 million
3. Michael McIntyre’s Christmas Wheel, BBC One, 4.8 million
4. Call the Midwife, BBC One, 4.5 million
5. Aladdin, BBC One, 4.4 million
6 Ghosts Christmas Special, BBC One, 3.9 million
7. Doc Martin, ITV, 3.3 million
8. EastEnders, BBC One, 3.2 million
9. Coronation Street, ITV, 2.8 million
10. Ant and Dec, ITV, 2.7 million
Source: BBC