Talk:List of most watched television broadcasts in the United Kingdom

Princess Anne wedding
The Royal Wedding was in fact shown on more than one channel - it was also shown on BBC2 https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/service_bbc_two_england/1973-11-14 TVRB also shows a programme called ‘The Royal Day’ on Thames from 8.30am but whether they had the rights to the ceremony we can’t deduce. --Duncan McAlister (talk) 00.06, 26 January 2022 (UTC)

Muhammad Ali Fights
All the other figures on this chart come from the BFI or BARB. These figures appear to be unsourced statements, one from a book, another a newspaper. As countless articles quote unsourced (and often inflated) viewing figures for a whole variety of programmes, it is not clear why these two figures should be given any credence, unless they can be supported by figures from the BFI, which is the generally-accepted source for pre-1981 British viewing figures.--Stevouk (talk) 22:02, 8 July 2018 (UTC)


 * I've separated them from the main table, in a separate note, in a similar manner to the William-Middleton wedding. Maestro2016 (talk) 12:16, 10 July 2018 (UTC)

Women's World Cup, England vs USA?
Some articles say that's the most watched broadcast in 2019 in UK now. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 157.45.7.115 (talk) 14:17, 24 July 2019 (UTC)
 * The peak viewing figure for the match may have been the highest of the year, but we use the official BARB ratings which use an average figure which would have been lower. Bbb2007 (talk) 18:58, 24 July 2019 (UTC)

Boris Johnson address removed from list?
Why is the Boris Johnson address of 23rd March removed from the list? Many other events in the top 10 have multi channel broadcasts, so I don't see the reason for it's removal. Heptalion67 (talk) 23:17, 12 April 2020 (UTC)

I agree here, this should have been discussed here first, I fear this may have been a politically motivated edit - I've reverted this change for now so we can have a discussion with reasons here. Mjsa (talk) 12:45, 17 April 2020 (UTC)

I think it shows up some weaknesses in how this page is put together which suggest an overhaul is required.

1) This should be for most watched programme overall, so channel aggregates should be used. Which mean the wedding of Prince William should be incorporated into the list.

2) the split between special events and programmes seem arbitrary. E.g. why is live aid not in the special events list? A combined list at the top for all categories, with subsequent individual lists for each category, sport, regular programme, special events, films etc would be clearer.

3) There's been talk in previous revisions about using Barb official statistics which don't account for 5 minute peaks. Those 5 minute peaks are important when knowing most viewers ever. Should the source material for this list be expanded wider than BARB official statistics where reliable ones can be found? Heptalion67 (talk) 12:07, 18 April 2020 (UTC)

I am also contemplating this. Live Aid was an entertainment event broadcast on one channel in the UK, while Johnson’s address was on every channel, and thus you'd be opening up to many more additions.

I would advocate for the removal of this. Eurugby54 (talk) 15:38, 21 December 2020 (UTC)


 * Nearly all of the top ten were shown on multiple channels. There’s no reason for the exclusion of William & Kate’s wedding while including the others. Is the solution a separate list for programmes only shown on one channel? Joeldelusional (talk) 21:00, 18 September 2022 (UTC)

Changes to lists in this page/clarity on rules
There's been some reversions of edits recently that have highlighted issues with this page that would be useful to discuss.

1) multi channel broadcasts are totalled up for some events but not all. E.g. princess Diana's funeral (32.1, BBC/itv, source BARB) is included but Catherine Middleton and Prince William wedding (26 million, BBC/ITV and others, source BARB) isn't included.

For me all multi channel broadcasts should be included. This is most watched broadcasts not most watched on one channel.

2) Continued use of BARB as the main source-it appears they've stopped doing the top 30 most viewed programmes in 2016 making it harder to provide reliable sources for post 2016 events that fit the current rules of this list. E.g. Boris Johnson statement coming at 27 million but not being included. Barb data has other weaknesses as it doesn't include 5 minute surge figures which for short events would be valuable data

3) There should be one central list (with a top 10) and then other categories below this for special events, films, regular programming, most watched on one channel etc. It doesn't make sense to me why a one off (or at most irregular) event like Live Aid isn't in special events.

What are everyone else's thoughts? Heptalion67 (talk) 01:09, 29 April 2020 (UTC)


 * I think the easiest methodology and perhaps most clear would be to separate single-channel all time figures with multi-channel all time figures. The former are often well-sourced through BFI or BARB, with the latter often only available in news print reports etc - so it seems a far more sensible idea to throw the two as separate. Regular programming is naturally usually on one channel, so this would mainly affect irregular event telly Chattelly (talk) 18:47, 14 October 2020 (UTC).


 * I agree with Chattelly's proposal that there should be separate lists for single-channel broadcasts and and for multi-channel broadcasts.


 * I also agree with point 3 of Heptalion67's proposals that there should also be lists for genre-specific programmes and lists for individual channels. Rillington (talk) 15:11, 22 December 2020 (UTC)

Peaks vs Averages in Year By Year
Is there a reason why the 2021 entry in the list is using Peak figures for the football despite previous ones seemingly using averages (Eng v Portugal 2004 peaked in excess of 23m but is down as 18m) 2A00:23C4:706:4100:2549:8E91:C05C:63C6 (talk) 10:27, 4 July 2021 (UTC)
 * That's because the weekly figures haven't been published by BARB yet, which is what is usually used. This page is updated at the start of each week. Bbb2007 (talk) 12:27, 4 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Going back to this shouldn't the 29.5m match average be used on the list for last night's game not the 30.95m peak for the penalties? 2A00:23C4:706:4100:DC75:A892:CE15:408A (talk) 10:01, 12 July 2021 (UTC)

It would help if there was more clarity on which data we should use for this article. XxLuckyCxX (talk) 14:23, 12 July 2021 (UTC)

Peak or average?
The table in Most watched special events states the given audience is an average, however some of the audiences given are clearly the peak - in particular the 1966 FIFA World Cup Final where multiple online sources list it as peak/total reach. We can't compare apples and oranges; would anyone have an objection to having a column for each of peak and average (where available)? How we then choose what the "top 20" is, is another question. 49 TL  19:44, 19 September 2022 (UTC)

Most watched broadcasts by year: 2013
Is it right to count the fireworks as as 2013 programme as the actual fireworks were in the first few minutes of 2014? Dupont Circle (talk) 17:07, 20 September 2022 (UTC)

Funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales
The figures cited are peak viewership. Her Majesty The Queen's state funeral drew a higher peak viewership at 37 million. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 49.36.185.175 (talk) 18:34, 20 September 2022 (UTC)


 * The Queen's Funeral only had a peak viewership of 28 million.
 * However, it did have a reach of 37.5 million, Source: https://mobile.twitter.com/overnightstv/status/1572260757403729922, but it is difficult to compare the reach across the entire list, especially as stuff like the '66 World Cup final they would not be measuring this. It is possible that the Queen's funeral is the most viewed programme overall, but those viewers were not all watching at the same time.
 * So I should ask this question, should the reach be mentioned for the Queen's funeral (or could the information be found for the Boris speech, Will/Kate wedding, Euro final, etc)
 * TIGHazard (talk) 22:11, 20 September 2022 (UTC)
 * The BBC has said that its coverage alone reached peak viewership of 32 million. That alone is higher than peak viewership for Diana's funeral. The peak viewership across all channels is 37.5M, as cited. This makes HM The Queen's funeral the most viewed broadcast in the United Kingdom, since a lot of the figures listed are peak and not average viewership. 49.36.185.175 (talk) 22:55, 20 September 2022 (UTC)

2022 entry in list
Currently, the most viewed audience for 2022 in terms of average audience is the Platinum Party at the Palace, which had an average audience of 13.07m per BARB. The BBC have said that the average audience for their coverage on BBC One was 12.09m. 13.07 is bigger than 12.09 so when using averages, no single channel had higher viewing figures than the PPatP. XxLuckyCxX (talk) 13:40, 24 September 2022 (UTC)

Morecambe and Wise Christmas special
I think it was the 1977 Christmas special which had viewing figures of 28m but no mention

This article as grossly inaccurate. 94.174.200.80 (talk) 16:50, 6 June 2024 (UTC)