Christmas TV: Nine million hear the Queen's message

The Queen's Christmas Message, in which she speaks touchingly about her late husband and sympathizes with the family of a missing relative, is the most-watched Christmas TV show.

An audience of 8.96 million viewers viewed the holiday address according to overnight ratings on One, ITV, and Sky News. The following two most popular shows are the next two most popular shows.

In Battle of the Soaps, ITV's Coronation Street takes the lead. Since Prince Philip's death, the 95-year-old Queen called her her lover in her first annual Christmas message. "Christmas can be chewy for those who have lost loved ones - this year, I understand why," he said in a pre-recorded 10-minute speech at 15:00 GMT. 

Your message from last year, which gave hope after the pandemic, also topped the charts but attracted slightly fewer viewers with 8.14 million views.

Nearly six million people watched six celebrities compete for the crown at Strictly's Christmas in the afternoon.

This year's champion, pop star Anne-Marie, cha cha cha got a perfect score of 40 from the judges and beat former Bake Off presenter Mel Gidroitz, whose Ice Baby Dance by Vanilla Ice was also a smash hit.

Other BBC Christmas Day favorites followed the chart, including Michael McIntyre's Christmas Wheel, Blankety Blank, Mary Poppins Returns with Emily Blunt, and Superworm, an adaptation of Julia Donaldson's popular children's book.

Coronation Street is in eighth place with 3.25 million viewers - ITV's highest-rated program today - followed by soap rivals ITV Emmerdale (3 million) and EastEnders (2.92 million), according to Barb.

ITV made its Christmas programming available on its player on demand this morning. People who see it that way are not reflected in the number of stays but are flowing into the consolidated data, which will be released in less than a week.