Our top lockdown TV: Boris Johnson’s speech in March is one of the most watched television moments ever with 28.2million viewers – as coronavirus tops list of most-viewed shows in 2020
- PM’s lockdown address ranks as one of the most-watched broadcasts in history
- A speech by the Queen in April also drew audiences of more than 24 million
- 1966 World Cup final often cited as most-watched broadcast ever with 32.3m
- But experts say it’s hard to make like-for-like comparisons with this year’s figures
Boris Johnson’s lockdown announcement drew one of the biggest audiences in broadcasting history as new analysis shows coronavirus has dominated the most-watched TV programmes of the year so far.
The Prime Minister’s speech on March 23 was simultaneously broadcast across six television channels: BBC One, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, Sky News and BBC News.
On BBC One, the speech attracted 14.6 million viewers, which by itself was one of the biggest TV audiences in recent years.
But combined with the ratings across all six channels, the speech had a total TV audience averaging 28.2 million – large enough to rank as one of the most-watched broadcasts in UK television history.
Boris Johnson’s announcement on March 23 that the UK was going into lockdown had a total TV audience averaging 28.2 million – large enough to rank as one of the most-watched broadcasts in UK television history
The Queen’s short televised address to the nation on April 5, during which she echoed Dame Vera Lynn’s wartime song and told the nation ‘we will meet again’, had a combined TV audience across seven channels of 24.3 million
The Queen was not far behind.
Her short televised address to the nation on April 5, during which she echoed Dame Vera Lynn’s wartime song and told the nation ‘we will meet again’, had a combined TV audience across seven channels of 24.3 million.
Meanwhile Mr Johnson’s second TV address delivered on May 10, during which he announced an initial easing of the lockdown in England, pulled in a combined audience of 27.6 million: slightly lower than his first speech, but still huge by historic standards.
A massive 18.8 million TV viewers saw this second speech just on BBC One, a figure which currently ranks as the largest audience for a single channel so far in 2020.
By way of a comparison, the Gavin And Stacey Christmas special – the most-watched programme of 2019 – pulled in a TV audience of 17.1 million viewers.
Television audiences numbering more than 20 million have become increasingly rare in the UK.
The biggest audience in the past decade for any broadcast on a single channel was 24.5 million, which was the number who watched the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games.
But excluding news and sport events, the biggest TV audience of the past decade was 17.7 million, set by an edition of The X Factor back in December 2010.
Figures quoted here are consolidated ratings, meaning they include people who recorded and watched a broadcast up to seven days later – the industry standard for measuring TV audiences.
The 1966 World Cup final is often cited as the most-watched broadcast in British history, with 32.3 million viewers, just ahead of Princess Diana’s funeral in 1997, but the method of calculating ratings has changed several times, meaning it is difficult to make like-for-like comparisons with this year’s figures.
The most viewed programmed of 2020 are not entirely broadcasts to do with Covid-19, however, with ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent making the top 10
However, this year’s broadcasts are likely to rank among the very highest in terms of the sheer volume of households tuned to their television sets.
Coronavirus appears again further down the most-watched list for 2020, in the shape of a BBC One news special that followed directly after Mr Johnson’s first televised address (a TV audience of 13.5 million) and an edition of the BBC News At Six shown on March 18 (8.8 million), the day the Prime Minister announced that schools were to close across the country.
The chart is not entirely filled with broadcasts to do with Covid-19, however.
ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent and Saturday Night Takeaway make the top 10, along with BBC One dramas The Salisbury Poisonings and Call The Midwife.
The data from Barb also shows that in April of this year – the first full month of lockdown – the average amount of television watched each day in the UK was 211 minutes.
This was the highest monthly level since January 2018 (213 minutes).
The figure then dropped to 192 minutes in May 2020, while in June it was 189 minutes – though this was still nine per cent higher than the equivalent figure for June 2019 (173 minutes).