King’s Christmas message tops festive TV ratings

The Christmas Day TV ratings have been revealed, unveiling the 15 most-watched broadcasts.

With a showing on multiple channels, King Charles III’s first Christmas speech, following the death of the Queen earlier this year, topped the list with 10.72m viewers.

Following behind was BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing, Michael McIntyre’s Christmas Wheel and Call the Midwife, with 5.44m, 4.81m and 4.49m viewers, respectively.

The BBC was also in the fifth olace with the premiere of Guy Ritchie’s live-action version of Aladdin, which was watched by 4.39m.

Elsewhere, Danny Dyer’s departure from EastEnders saw the BBC soap beat ITV1’s Coronation Street and Emmerdale in the ratings.

Other shows to feature in the top 15 included the final ever episode of Doc Martin and the BBC’s comedy shows Ghosts and Mrs Brown’s Boys, the latter of which The Independent called “worse than cranberry sauce” in a two-star review.

Find the full top 15 most-watched Christmas Day TV below.

1. The King’s Christmas Speech – 10.72m (multiple channels: BBC One – 8.12m, ITV1 – 1.43m, BBC Two – 0.93m, ITV3 – 0.175m, Sky News – 0.046m, GB News – 0.016m)

2. Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special – 5.44m (BBC One)

‘Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special’ was one of the most-watched broadcasts (BBC)

3. Michael McIntyre’s Christmas Wheel – 4.81m (BBC One)

4. Call the Midwife – 4.49m (BBC One)

5. Aladdin – 4.39m (BBC One)

6. Ghosts – 3.92m (BBC One)

7. Doc Martin – 3.26m (ITV1)

Will Smith in ‘Aladdin’ (Disney)

8. EastEnders – 3.17m (BBC One)

9. Coronation Street – 2.85m (ITV1)

10. Ant and Dec’s Limitless Win – 2.69m (ITV1)

11. The Chase Celebrity Christmas Special – 2.68m (ITV1)

12. The Smeds and the Smoos – 2.67m (BBC One)

13. Emmerdale – 2.56m (ITV1)

14. Mrs Brown’s Boys – 2.44m (BBC One)

15. ITV News – 2.30m (ITV1)