On Christmas Day, the King’s Speech was the most watched programme, with 7.8 million viewers across six networks.
The ten-minute Christmas broadcast attracted 5.9 million viewers on BBC One and 716,000 on ITV.
Even though it was still the most watched show of the day, the number of viewers was significantly lower than the record-breaking 10.6 million who tuned in to hear Charles’s first-ever address as a monarch last year as he shared his thoughts on the passing of the late Queen.
Nine of the 10 most-watched shows were produced by the BBC, and Coronation Street, the flagship soap opera on ITV, did not appear on the list for the first time in decades.
The comedian Lee Mack’s big-money game show, One Percent Club Christmas Special on ITV1, only managed to place ninth in the top ten.
With about 5.3 million viewers tuning in to BBC One to watch Eastenders star Jamie Borthwick, 29, win the festive glitterball with his dance with professional Nancy Xu, 32, Strictly Come Dancing came in second in the ratings.
Nine of the top shows of the day, including Strictly Come Dancing and The King’s Speech, were on the BBC. Other popular programmes included Doctor Who, which debuted its first Christmas Day special since 2017.
The episode, which averaged 4.7 million viewers and ranked third in the ratings, featured Ncuti Gatwa, 31, of Sex Education, making his first complete appearance as the 15th Time Lord.
Other popular BBC One programmes were EastEnders (3.58 million) in seventh position, Michael McIntyre’s Christmas Wheel (4.17 million) in sixth, Call the Midwife (4.39 million) in fifth, and the Ghosts Christmas Special (4.43 million viewers) in fourth.
Toy Story Four, which broadcast on BBC One, ranked eighth among the top ten most-watched shows. The One Percent Club, the only show on ITV to make the list, came in at number nine, while Tabby McTat, a children’s show, also ranked tenth.
EastEnders came in unexpectedly low on the ratings as number seven, considering it saw the unveiling of the killer in a murder plotline that had been running since earlier this year. The show’s late evening time slot at 9.45 p.m. is blamed for its lower viewing figures.
In his annual festive address to the nation, Charles hailed the ways communities come together in times of trouble, both internationally and at home.
It seems like fewer and fewer people watch television each year. Some people, for example, choose to spend Christmas Day with their families playing games, eating a lot of food, and drinking wine—far more delightful activities than watching TV.
Every Christmas in the same old bore. Just sitting down eating and drinking all day, watching nauseating TV. I’d rather take my family to Disneyland on Christmas Day, which is amazing for children, and highly recommended.
The Christmas TV schedule was completely embarrassing. I would much prefer to rent a film from Amazon Prime.
I think it’s progress now that people chat or play games rather than sit in front of the TV.
What am I talking about, people don’t play games these days, they’re too glued to their PCs and mobile phones to be sitting indoors playing board games such as Monopoly, Scrabble, Pictionary, Drafts or Cards, those days have long gone, and it seems that very few of this generation can amuse themselves unless it involves an iPhone, mobile or PC.
If the King had expressed regret for this nation’s terrible, cowardly, and dysfunctional government, things would have been much more fascinating. With that speech, he might have easily taken home a few more million viewers.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 