Leap in viewers for Queen’s message

MORE than eight million people watched the Queen’s message on Christmas Day – an increase of some 600,000 on last year.

The address, in which Her Majesty talked about “the world’s problems” and the ability of ordinary people to inspire the nation, was seen by 5.2 million viewers on the BBC and 2.9 million on ITV, giving a combined total of 8.1million. It was also watched by 73,000 viewers on Sky News.

“The world has been a tumultuous place in 2016 and in tumultuous times people turn to symbols of continuity for reassurance,” said Ben Preston, editor of Radio Times. “We might have seen some of that. It’s very, very interesting that [the figures] have gone up this year.”

The special Christmas episode of Strictly Come Dancing drew the highest viewing figures of any single programme with an audience of 7.2 million tuning in to watch head judge Len Goodman make his final appearance on the show.

And the valedictory theme of The Great Christmas Bake Off – the last opportunity to see Mary Berry, Paul Hollywood, Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc together before the Great British Bake Off moves to Channel 4 – helped that programme to third place, with 6.3 million.

The BBC retained its traditional Christmas Day dominance, broadcasting eight of the 10 most popular programmes.