UKTV has just completed its highest performing year on record, according to audience research data from Barb, the broadcaster says. The figures were topped by a successful holiday period that saw a 6.6% share of viewing on Christmas Eve and a 5.1% share on Christmas Day, up 19% on Christmas Day 2010.
Christmas Eve was UKTV’s highest rating individual day ever, with four of its channels: Watch, Gold, Dave and Yesterday realising in excess of a 1% share. It was also Dave’s highest-rating day of the year.
Among the terrestrial broadcasters, Christmas Day marked the first occasion when the top rated programme did not reach 10 million viewers, EastEnders pulling in 9.9 million (excluding later catch-up audiences).
Comedy channel Gold was the fifth most-watched TV channel on Christmas Day with a 1.8% share, helped by the presence of a commissioned Morecambe and Wise compilation, from the days when terrestrial audiences in excess of 25 million could be expected.
Since August 2011, UKTV has been jointly owned by Scripps Networks International, which purchased Virgin Media’s previous holding, in partnership with BBC Worldwide.
