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Media TV Viewing Figures

‘What’s occurring?’ as Gavin and Stacey return storms Christmas TV viewing with 11.6m

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By Charlotte McEleny, Asia Editor

December 26, 2019 | 3 min read

The return of BBC Sitcom Gavin and Stacey has scored one of the highest viewing figures in a decade for Christmas Day, with an average of 11.6 million viewers tuning in.

Gavin Stacey

‘What’s occurring?’ as Gavin and Stacey return storms Christmas TV viewing with 11.6m

The BBC’s decision to bring back comedy series Gavin and Stacey for a Christmas special has proven to be a hit, with over 12m people watching the show on Christmas Day in the UK at its peak, a 49.2% share of the audience.

The show eclipsed all other shows broadcast on the day, with the Queen’s Christmas Broadcast coming in behind at almost half of the audience (6.4m).

The BBC had eight out of the top ten shows on Christmas Day, with ITV gaining eighth and ninth places for Coronation Street (4.5m) and Emmerdale (4.1m), respectively.

Also featuring in the top ten for the BBC was Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special (5.5m), Eastenders (5.5m), Michael McIntyre’s Big Christmas Show (5.2m), Call The Midwife Christmas Special (5.2m), Mrs Brown’s Boys Christmas Special (4.6m) and Finding Dory (4m).

The net result is that this has also been the BBC’s best year in a decade for younger viewers. The BBC claimed it had nine out of ten of the top shows for the 16-34 age group, with Gavin & Stacey also being the biggest show for that age group in the overnight figures.

Charlotte Moore, director of BBC Content, said: “Christmas Day on BBC One brought the nation together and entertained them in their millions with the much-anticipated return of Gavin and Stacey taking the top spot in 2019, and making it the biggest in a decade. We delivered something for everyone with the seven most popular programmes that cap off an incredible year for BBC One celebrating British talent and creativity.”

The full overnight rating figures for UK TV viewing on Christmas Day 2019 are as follows:

Tv viewing figures 2019
Media TV Viewing Figures

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BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters are at Broadcasting House in Westminster, London.

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