List of most watched television broadcasts in the United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, viewing figures – the number of viewers or households watching a television programme, have been recorded by the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) since 1981. Prior to the board's formation, figures were conducted by different means such as the BBC financing its own audience research, while the ITV companies sub-contracted theirs.

Most watched special events

The majority of special events attracting large audiences are often carried on more than one channel. The most watched programme of all time on a single channel is the 1973 wedding ceremony of The Princess Anne, shown only on BBC1.

• Post-1981 figures verified by the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB)
• Pre-1981 figures supplied by the British Film Institute (BFI)

Rank	Event	Viewers (millions)	Date	Network(s)
1	1966 FIFA World Cup Final: England v West Germany	32.30[1]	30 July 1966	BBC One/ITV
2	Funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales	32.10[2]	6 September 1997	BBC One/ITV
3	Royal Family (documentary)	30.69[1]	21 June 1969 and 28 June 1969	BBC One/ITV
4	Apollo 13 Splashdown	28.60[3]	17 April 1970	BBC One/ITV
5	1970 FA Cup Final replay	28.49[3]	29 April 1970	BBC One/ITV
6	Wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer	28.40[4]	29 July 1981	BBC One/ITV
7	Wedding of Princess Anne and Mark Phillips	27.60[3]	14 November 1973	BBC One
8	Prime Minister Boris Johnson's statement on COVID-19	27.1[5]	23 March 2020	BBC One/ITV/Channel 4/Channel 5/Sky News/BBC News
9	2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony	24.46[6]	12 August 2012	BBC One
10	2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony	24.24[6]	27 July 2012	BBC One

Notes:

• At least two Muhammad Ali boxing matches were reported to have been watched by at least 26 million viewers in the United Kingdom: the Fight of the Century (Ali vs. Frazier) was reported to have been watched by 27.5 million British viewers in 1971,[7] and The Rumble in the Jungle (Ali vs. Foreman) was reported to have been watched by 26 million viewers on BBC One in 1974.[8]
• The Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton (29 April 2011) received a total audience peak of 26 million viewers, but this is a combined figure aggregated from the ten different channels that broadcast the ceremony. The highest figures of these were 13.59 million on BBC1, with an extra 4.02 million watching on ITV.[9]
• Nine different channels covered Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding, with a reach of 27.7 million viewers.[10]
• More than five different channels covered the speech made by Prime Minister Boris Johnson on 23 March 2020 regarding the coronavirus pandemic. It was estimated to have been seen by a total of 27 million people. The highest single figure was 14.61 million on BBC One, followed by 5.80 million on ITV.[11][5]

Most watched programmes

The following is a list of most watched programmes, excluding sporting events and news coverage. The mid-1980s introduction of in-week repeat showings accounts for six of the top ten programmes. On this measure, the 1996 Christmas edition of Only Fools and Horses is, not including figures for repeats, the most-watched non-documentary programme of all time so far in the United Kingdom. It is the third most-watched single-showing programme of all time so far on a single channel, behind the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony and the wedding of Princess Anne and Mark Phillips in 1973 (see below).

• Post-1981 figures verified by the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB)
• Pre-1981 figures supplied by the British Film Institute

Key

•    Numbers with this background and symbol are italicised to denote aggregated figure with repeat showing.

Rank	Programme	Synopsis	Viewers (millions)	Date	Network	Ref
1	EastEnders	Den Watts serves wife Angie with divorce papers.	30.15	25 December 1986	BBC One	[12]
2	EastEnders	The aftermath of Den's divorce to Angie.	28.00	1 January 1987	BBC One	[13]
3	Coronation Street	Hilda Ogden leaves Weatherfield.	26.65	25 December 1987	ITV (Granada)	[13]
4	Live Aid	16-hour concert in Wembley Stadium and John F. Kennedy Stadium for Band Aid.	24.50	13 July 1985	BBC One	[14]
5	Only Fools and Horses	"Time on Our Hands"	24.35	29 December 1996	BBC One	[15]
6	EastEnders	Arthur and Pauline Fowler urge their son Mark to tell his sister Michelle that he has HIV.	24.30	2 January 1992	BBC One	[2]
7	Royal Variety Performance 1965	Featuring Dame Shirley Bassey, Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, and more.	24.20	14 November 1965	ITV (ATV)	[1]
8	EastEnders	Angie suffers a renal shutdown.	24.15	7 January 1988	BBC One	[16]
9	To the Manor Born	Finale of the first series.	23.95	11 November 1979	BBC One	[3]
10	Miss World 1967	Madeline Hartog-Bel (Miss Peru) wins.	23.76	19 November 1967	BBC One	[1]
11	EastEnders	The aftermath of Den's divorce to Angie	23.55	26 December 1985	BBC One	[17]
12	Panorama	Diana, Princess of Wales interview	22.78	20 November 1995	BBC One	[18]
13	Royal Variety Performance 1975	Performers include Bruce Forsyth, Dad's Army and Vera Lynn.	22.66	16 November 1975	ITV (ATV)	[3]
14	This Is Your Life	Lord Mountbatten	22.22	27 April 1977	ITV (Thames)	[3]
15	Sunday Night at the London Palladium	Presented by Jimmy Tarbuck.	21.89	3 December 1967	ITV (ATV)	[1]
16	The Benny Hill Show	"Cinema: The Vintage Years"	21.67	24 March 1971	ITV (Thames)	[3]
17	Dallas	"Who Done It" – Kristin Shepard is revealed to have shot J.R. Ewing.	21.60	22 November 1980	BBC One	[4]
	Coronation Street	Ken and Deirdre Barlow finalise their divorce.	21.60	8 January 1992	ITV (Granada)	[2]
18	Eurovision Song Contest 1973	Staged in Luxembourg - won by Anne-Marie David.	21.56	7 April 1973	BBC One	[3]
19	Steptoe and Son	"The Lodger" – Albert looks for a lodger.	21.54	18 February 1964	BBC TV	[1]
20	The Mike Yarwood Show	"Mike Yarwood Christmas Show"	21.40	25 December 1977	BBC One	[3]

Most watched films

These are the most watched films by total number of viewers[19] (dates are when the films were broadcast, not necessarily when they were produced).

Rank	Title	Viewers (millions)	Date	Network
1	Live and Let Die	23.50	20 January 1980	ITV
2	Jaws	23.25	8 October 1981	ITV
3	The Spy Who Loved Me	22.90	28 March 1982	ITV
4	Diamonds Are Forever	22.15	15 March 1981	ITV
5	Crocodile Dundee	21.75	25 December 1989	BBC1

Most watched broadcasts by year

Year	Programme	Date	Viewers (millions)[lower-alpha 1]	Network
1970	Apollo 13 Splashdown	17 April 1970	28.60[3]	BBC One / ITV
1971	Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier: Fight of the Century	8 March 1971	21.12[3]	BBC One[lower-alpha 2]
1972	The Eurovision Song Contest 1972	25 March 1972	N/A[lower-alpha 3]	BBC One
1973	Wedding of Princess Anne and Mark Phillips	14 November 1973	27.60[3]	BBC One
1974	Love Thy Neighbour	7 April 1974	21.01[3]	ITV (Thames)
1975	Royal Variety Performance 1975	16 November 1975	22.66[3]	ITV (ATV)
1976	The Sweeney	8 November 1976	20.68[3]	ITV
1977	This Is Your Life	27 April 1977	22.22[3]	ITV (Thames)
1978	Sale of the Century	24 December 1978	21.15[3]	ITV
1979	To the Manor Born	11 November 1979	23.95[3]	BBC One
1980	Film: Live and Let Die	20 January 1980	23.50[4]	ITV
1981	Film: Jaws	8 October 1981	23.30[22]	ITV
1982	Film: The Spy Who Loved Me	28 March 1982	22.90[23]	ITV
1983	Coronation Street	23 February 1983	18.45[24]	ITV
1984	Royal Variety Performance 1984	25 November 1984	20.55[25]	BBC One
1985	Live Aid	13 July 1985	24.50[14]	BBC One
1986	EastEnders	25 December 1986	30.15[12]	BBC One
1987	EastEnders	1 January 1987	28.00[13]	BBC One
1988	EastEnders	7 January 1988	24.15[16]	BBC One
1989	Film: Crocodile Dundee	25 December 1989	21.77[26]	BBC One
1990	Neighbours	26 February 1990	21.16[27]	BBC One
1991	Coronation Street	25 November 1991	20.45[28]	ITV
1992	Coronation Street	22 January 1992	20.45[29]	ITV
1993	Coronation Street	22 March 1993	20.73[30]	ITV
1994	Torvill and Dean – Olympic Ice Dance Championship	21 February 1994	23.95[31]	BBC One
1995	Panorama Special: Princess Diana	20 November 1995	22.78[18]	BBC One
1996	Only Fools and Horses	29 December 1996	24.35[15]	BBC One
1997	Funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales	6 September 1997	19.29[32]	BBC One
1998	1998 FIFA World Cup: England v Argentina	30 June 1998	23.78[33]	ITV
1999	Coronation Street	7 March 1999	19.82[34]	ITV
2000	Coronation Street	3 January 2000	18.96[35]	ITV
2001	Only Fools and Horses	25 December 2001	21.35[36]	BBC One[lower-alpha 4]
2002	Only Fools and Horses	25 December 2002	17.40[38]	BBC One
2003	Coronation Street	24 February 2003	19.43[39]	ITV
2004	UEFA Euro 2004: England v Portugal	24 June 2004	20.66[40]	BBC One
2005	Coronation Street	21 February 2005	14.36[41]	ITV
2006	2006 FIFA World Cup: England v Sweden	20 June 2006	18.46[42]	ITV
2007	EastEnders	25 December 2007	14.38[43]	BBC One
2008	Film: A Matter of Loaf and Death	25 December 2008	16.15[44]	BBC One
2009	Britain's Got Talent	30 May 2009	18.29[45]	ITV
2010	The X Factor	12 December 2010	16.55[46]	ITV[lower-alpha 5]
2011	Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton	29 April 2011	13.59[48]	BBC One[lower-alpha 6]
2012	2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony	12 August 2012	24.46[50]	BBC One
2013	New Year's Eve Fireworks	31 December 2013	13.53[51]	BBC One
2014	2014 FIFA World Cup Final: Germany v Argentina	13 July 2014	14.96[52]	BBC One[lower-alpha 7]
2015	The Great British Bake Off	7 October 2015	15.05[53]	BBC One
2016	The Great British Bake Off	26 October 2016	15.90[54]	BBC One
2017	Blue Planet II	29 October 2017	14.01[55]	BBC One
2018	2018 FIFA World Cup: Croatia v England	11 July 2018	20.73[56]	ITV
2019	Gavin & Stacey	25 December 2019	17.92[57]	BBC One
2020	Prime Ministerial Statement on COVID-19	10 May 2020	18.16[58]	BBC One
2021	Prime Ministerial Statement on COVID-19	4 January 2021	14.33[58]	BBC One

Notes

1. Based on 7-day viewing figures.
2. Unverified sources state that this figure was higher,[7] and that an audience of 26 million watched the Ali vs Foreman fight of 30 October 1974.[8] However these figures are not corroborated by the BFI.
3. Although there are no official figures for 1972, it is widely regarded that the year's edition of the Eurovision Song Contest was the most watched programme that year.[20][21]
4. EastEnders received 20.05 million viewers on 5 April with the additional omnibus viewers taking the total viewing figures to 23.18 million. [37]
5. The X Factor final 2010 (12 December 2010) had an additional 1.156 million viewers on its sister high definition channel ITV HD, in addition to the 16.553 million views on the main standard definition channel ITV, giving the programme an aggregate audience of 17.71 million viewers.[47]
6. The Royal Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton (29 April 2011) "attracted a consolidated average audience of 26.0 [million] viewers across the ceremony from 11:00 am to 12:10 pm. This is an aggregated audience across 10 BARB reported channels that followed the events live."[49] The highest figures for individual channels of these were 13.59 million on BBC One, followed by 4.02 million watching on ITV.
7. The 2014 FIFA World Cup Final was broadcast by both BBC One and ITV. The highest figures were 14.96 million on BBC One, followed by 2.34 million on ITV.

References

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5. "PM's coronavirus address watched by 27.1m". BBC News. 24 March 2020. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
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7. Green, Timothy (1972). The Universal Eye: The World of Television. Stein and Day. p. 86. ISBN 9780812814248. The annual Miss World Contest, which is often the single most popular program of the year — attracting half the British population — is a natural for BBC 1; so was the Ali-Frazier fight, which was watched by 27.5 million people.
8. "Daily Mirror". Daily Mirror. 1 November 1974. 'Ali is so tired he cannot raise his hands. ' The next moment Ali raised his fists and Foreman was knocked out. The 26 million who saw the same fight with the same commentary on BBC-1...did not hear that line. "Yes, we cut it out, ' said a BBC man last night, 'to spare Harry Carpenter's blushes.'
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