Mrs Brown is ratings winner
MRS Brown’s Boys gave the BBC the top rated show on a single channel on Christmas Day with 6.8 million viewers.
The Queen’s message attracted 7.8 million viewers over BBC1, ITV and ITV’s catch-up plus-one channel, and was also broadcast on Sky.
BBC1 took the six most popular shows of the day, with the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special coming second with 6.5 million viewers.
Hit soap EastEnders and period drama Call The Midwife were next, both with 6.3 million, followed by the Queen’s Christmas broadcast on BBC1 (5.9 million), which was also seen by 1.9 million on ITV.
The Christmas message beat Doctor Who, which was sixth with 5.7 million.
In the top 10, ITV got a look-in at seventh place with Coronation Street, at 5.1 million, including its plusone catch-up channel.
Charlotte Moore, director of BBC content, said: “Millions of people chose BBC1 on Christmas Day and came together to enjoy the top six most popular programmes from comedy, drama and entertainment, with Mrs Brown’s Boys returning to the top spot.”
Last year the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special was the most popular programme on TV on Christmas Day, with an average audience of 7.2 million watching head judge Len Goodman’s final appearance on the panel.
Channel 4 said The Great British Bake off attracted the broadcaster’s biggest Christmas Day overnight audience since modern records began in 2002.
It won an average audience of 3.1 million viewers and a 13.6% share of audience from 7.40pm to 9pm, peaking with 3.4 million viewers.
The previous biggest Christmas Day broadcast on Channel 4 was Home Alone in 2016 which drew three million viewers.
TV drama Victoria attracted 2.7 million.