Excluding the King’s Christmas Broadcast, which was simultaneously cast across BBC, ITV and Sky News, BBC One dominated Christmas day delivering eight of the most watched programmes across all terrestrial channels. This is two more than last year.
| SH | Time | Programme | TV Overnight Viewing 2023 | TV Overnight Viewing 2022 | |
| 1 | BBC1 | 15.00 | King’s Speech | 5.9 Million | 8.1 Million |
| 2 | BBC1 | 16.40 | Strictly Come Dancing | 5.3 Million | 5.4 Million |
| 3 | BBC1 | 17.55 | Doctor Who | 4.7 Million | N/A |
| 4 | BBC1 | 19.45 | Ghosts | 4.4 Million | 3.9 Million |
| 5 | BBC1 | 20.15 | Call the Midwife | 4.4 Million | 4.5 Million |
| 6 | BBC1 | 18.50 | Michael Mcintyre’s The Wheel | 4.2 Million | 4.8 Million |
| 7 | BBC1 | 21.45 | Eastenders | 3.6 Million | 3.2 Million |
| 8 | BBC1 | 15.10 | Toy Story 4 | 3.5 Million | Aladdin 4.8 million (same film slot) |
| 9 | ITV1 | 21.00 | The 1% Club | 3.4 Million | N/A |
| 10 | BBC1 | 14.35 | Tabby Mctat | 3.3 Million | N/A |
The King’s Speech saw c. -27% less viewers tuning into the 2023 pre-recorded Christmas Broadcast on BBC1 compared to last year, as well as c. -38% less on BBC2 and -55% less on ITV1. On average, the King’s Speech delivered 7.2 million viewers across terrestrial channels.
Although the Royal Christmas broadcast was down YoY, BBC1 recorded its highest Christmas day share of 28.8% since 2019 (32.3%), and before that, the highest since 2010 which was 31.6% (all individuals).
With nine out of ten of the top programmes on Christmas day (including The King), it’s not surprising that BBC1 was the biggest channel of the day, with over double the recorded viewing on ITV1, which followed in second place with 11.8% share. From the 1st – 24th Dec 2023, BBC1 has averaged 22% share of all broadcast viewing whilst ITV has averaged 17.3%.
The Doctor Who Christmas broadcast jumped straight to number 3 with the launch of the new Doctor – its overnight figures recorded just -2% less (on average) than the show’s 60th Anniversary special episodes earlier in the month (25th Nov – 9th Dec starring David Tennant and Catherine Tate).
Eastenders and Ghosts outperformed last year’s episodes by +13% , whereas Strictly Come Dancing and Call the Midwife delivered relatively flat YoY.
BBC1 was the slot winner from 12:00-23:00 among the terrestrial channels for AD1634 on Christmas Day and had another successful year once again, recording bigger viewing stats on TV than the whole SVOD market combined on Christmas Day.
ITV
Last year, ITV had 3 of the highest viewed Xmas Day programmes – Doc Martin (3.3 million overnight), Coronation Street (2.8 million overnight), and Ant and Dec’s Limitless Win (2.7 million overnight). This year, only one ITV show has made the top 10.
ITV did not broadcast Doc Martin or Ant and Dec’s Limitless Win this Christmas and instead aired The Masked Singer (2.6 million viewers) and The 1% Club (3.4 million viewers). Only the latter show managed to deliver ratings on par with BBC1’s high performing schedule.
In December 2023, The 1% Club averaged 1.5 million viewers, with the Christmas Day episode having recorded over double the show’s average viewing for December. AD16-34’s accounted for 16% of the audience, 63% ABC1ADS and 53% Women.
This year, Coronation Street delivered 2.6 million viewers (down -7% YoY) whilst Emmerdale delivered 1.9 million (-24% down YoY).
ITV’s other programmes included Barry Humphries: The Last Laugh (avg. 1.1 million), This Morning Xmas Special (avg. 1 million), and Lorraine’s Christmas Day Special (avg. 735 thousand) – all based on overnights.
C4 Christmas Schedule- Overnight Viewing
The Festive Pottery Throw Down (averaged 1.4 million)
The Piano (avg.1 million – 59% of the audience were ABC1Ads, 54% Women, and 15% A45-54)
The Great Christmas Bake Off 2023 (avg. 600 thousand – however, the Christmas Eve special averaged 1.8 million viewers)
Gogglebox Christmas Eve (avg. 1.6 million)
Mog’s Christmas (Christmas Eve 2.2 million)
