Christmas Day TV ratings fall to a record low

CHRISTMAS Day’s TV ratings were the lowest on record, industry figures reveal.

Television audiences for the most-watched show have dropped by 40 per cent since 2000.

The full ratings from the Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board include viewers who recorded a broadcast and watched it up to seven days later.

The most-watched programme was Call the Midwife on BBC1, with an audience of 8.7million. This is just a fraction of the estimated 28million who tuned in for the Mike Yarwood Christmas Show in 1977, although comparable figures to this year’s ratings only date back to 1981.

Soap operas have seen a particularly steep decline. Coronation Street had 14.6million viewers for its Christmas episode in 2000, but only 6.7million tuned in last month. EastEnders has seen its Christmas Day audience slump from 14.4million as recently as 2007 to only 6.5million this time.

The BBC also took second and third place this Christmas Day thanks to Michael McIntyre’s Big Christmas Show, with 7.6million, and Strictly Come Dancing, which drew in 7.5million.

Its Poirot adaptation, The ABC Murders, was the most-watched programme on Boxing Day with 7.6million viewers.

The disappointing figures emerged as the BBC claimed it will become ‘irrelevant’ unless it can transform its iPlayer to compete with the likes of Amazon and Netflix. The broadcaster wants to ‘reinvent’ the service by making shows available online for at least a year, as well as adding more ‘box sets’ and archive content.

Viewers can watch most BBC programmes for 30 days after broadcast but have three years to see shows on many streaming services.

The Corporation said international rivals such as Netflix have ‘fundamentally changed’ the way UK audiences view TV shows.

It added that the £150.50 annual licence fee will soon appear ‘poor value’ when Netflix costs £5.99 a month and Amazon Prime’s yearly subscription is £79. The US giants have a joint market share of 54 per cent, while iPlayer’s share has halved to 18 per cent.

The BBC is running a consultation on its proposals until February 15 after regulator Ofcom ruled that any changes must pass a public interest test.