BBC reigns supreme in the Christmas Day ratings battle as The King’s first speech and Strictly festive special are the most watched shows – but EastEnders trails in at eighth place
The BBC won the rating battle for Christmas Day, with the King’s first Christmas speech being the most watched show.
King Charles III used his speech to pay tribute to his late mother and thanked the public for their messages of support after she died earlier this year.
Making the first festive King’s Speech since 1951, the new monarch said he remained deeply touched by the ‘love and sympathy you have shown our whole family’ following Queen Elizabeth II’s death in September.
Popular: The BBC won the rating battle for Christmas Day, with the King’s first Christmas speech being the most watched show
Around 8.1million people tuned in to watch King Charles, peaking at 8.3million and taking 54.1 per cent of viewership.
The BBC also took the crown for the next five highest watched shows, with ITV limping in to second place with positions seven, nine and ten.
Coming in at second was the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special, which was won by Alexandra Mardell.
As many as 5.4million people watched her fight off competition from Nicola Roberts, Larry Lamb, Rickie Haywood-Williams, Rosie Ramsey and George Webster.
Winners: Corrie’s Alexandra Mardell won the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special on Sunday alongside pro dancer Kai Widdrington
Michael McIntyre’s Christmas Wheel was right behind, with viewing figures of 4.8million which peaked at 5.2million.
Call The Midwife narrowly missed out on the top three, with an audience of 4.5million.
However, EastEnders only managed to pull in 3.2million for its Christmas Day special, which saw fan-favourite Danny Dyer apparently killed off.
While this was an increase of 0.3million from last year’s 2.9million viewers, it meant that the soap came in eighth place, behind Aladdin, Ghosts and Doc Martin.
Trailing behind: However, EastEnders only managed to pull in 3.2million for its Christmas Day special, which saw fan-favourite Danny Dyer apparently killed off
However it did manage to beat out competition from rivals Coronation Street and Emmerdale, which only managed 2.8million and 2.6million respectively.
Meanwhile, for ITV the best performing programmes were Corrie, Ant and Dec’s Christmas Limitless Win and The Chase Celebrity Christmas Special.
The divisive Mrs Brown’s Boys Christmas Special managed just 2.4million on BBC One.
While Channel 4 managed to crack the top 20, with Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Gogglebox 2022 and The Great Festive Pottery Throwdown.
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