Looks like ITV putting on Harry Potter every night has just been justified. If they don't even get decent ratings with a jam packed schedule on one of the main days, imagine the ratings they would have got on a random day next week

Despite allegedly people not knowing what day it is, it seems people did know it was Saturday yesterday and therefore didn't realise Corrie was on.

Now you're brings ridiculous. No Strictly lead in and McIntyre did the best of the night. Nonsense talk. Did it not get around these numbers some weeks after Strictly? The overnights ARE dire. Compare them to what we've had for some other programmes this year.

Nothing like the festive spirit is there cylon! It was getting 6m+ after Strictly. You'd think, on Christmas eve, when it isn't up against XF, it would have done at the very least the same numbers!

Of course the numbers are dire. But we called the Christmas day numbers "dire" last year, then they all added millions more on timeshift. Wait and see!

Go and chill with a glass of wine instead of getting worked up over what I post on the ratings thread!

McIntyre deserves a promotion to the big day itself next year and if ITV had any sense they'd ask Ant and Dec to do a Christmas Night Takeaway. People want light entertainment across the Christmas period... not that exactly worked out for ITV last night but they pitched light entertainment against light entertainment which was always going to be an issue for one or the other.

Some people still found Corrie and EastEnders. Were either promoted well? Grantchester got loads of promotion and look at it. We've had Christmas Day fall on a Saturday and people find programmes. Sometimes promotion is the key but I think when some programmes get a bit of extra competition at Christmas they can be dented

I'm not worked up. I think you're very hard to please with some ratings. I think there might be more crossover between McIntyre and Corrie/Birds than X Factor which gets so many younger viewers it's an advertisers dream.

Anyway let's not argue. And Merry Christmas Dan.

And Christmas Listing magazines still seem popular, so if people still can't find the programmes it makes you wonder what they are buying them for.

Downloaded the ad free version of Grantchester to watch when our busy house resumes to normality. Can't watch detective dramas when everyone is talking.

Anyone know how either Pointless or The Yorkshire Vet (inc. +1) did? Would love to update the game at some point today.

Hmmm, my 3.2m prediction for BB was a good one then. 17% share is not bad at all, it did as well as itv generally. There's little reason not to give it a series since it's comparable with BOAF and Grantchester.

MM did well, it's a Saturday night show and people are used to it there. The 7 day ratings shall be interesting.

Well done BBC2 and C4, they had great nights. Today should be a day BBC1 wins big.

Felix Navidad folks.

I think this is the issue - drama has never really played well on Christmas Eve (or Day) as they aren't really times you can sit down and concentrate. Grantchester should have been left on Boxing Day and I do think it'll timeshift well.

That doesn't explain the horrible rating for Birds of a Feather though. That really ought to have done better. A dire number for Corrie perhaps sums up ITV's evening. Blankety Blank was acceptable I suppose, probably touch and go whether they make more.

Awful for Walliams/Bassey, I did think it was an odd offering. By contrast, McIntyre was a perfect fit for Christmas Eve and rated accordingly.

BBC2 and C4 look like the biggest winners from Cristmas Eve - really excellent ratings for Lady in the Van and We're Going On A Bear Hunt. The BBC will also be pleased with McIntyre too, I think - given that it clearly attracted its own audience to the slot. It's now something that could be a staple of Christmas schedules for years to come. Their answer to Ant & Dec's Takeaway, and boy have they been chasing that for a few years.

Gracias, igualmente!

Mind you, if anything he was demoted this year. In 2011, 2014 and 2015 he had his own show on Christmas Day. In 2013 they just settled with a showing of his best-selling 2012 DVD.

I do agree they should push for more light entertainment across the Christmas period. It's a shame they didn't do Christmas specials of The Cube, Surprise Surprise and Family Fortunes.

Those of you that predicted around 3m for Blankety Blank were right. I was wrong. Decent enough but I expected 4m. Did a hell of a lot better than Through The Keyhole which faces this in Taboo next year. It looks weird.

https://youtu.be/W1fiijqrKuc

Ant & Dec did a successful Christmas Show a few years back, surprised they haven't done another. Would do well on Christmas Eve or Boxing Day you'd think.

Call The Midwife will do okay, Margret might stumble.

A gay man, who says he isn't gay, acting gay and doing a tribute show for a gay icon!

I agree about drama airing over the Christmas to an extent but surely the argument that drama doesn't pay off is weakened by that figure for Lady in the Van on BBC Two pulling in a million more viewers than the light entertainment option on BBC One?

I think Lady in the Van was helped by the fact it was only out in cinemas this year. So people might not have seen it yet.

....and it bypassed Sky, Netflix and Amazon.

Looking forward to it.

Shocking for ITV, especially for Corrie, bad for EE too.

Stand outs are Lady in the Van and We're going on a Bear Hunt.

Not surprised with Bear Hunt, I swear it's been promoted during the whole month of December (and November!)

They won the 9pm slot to be fair

Grantchester was a new episode too though. And surely if drama was a big issue for people on the night itself they would have recorded Lady in the Van to watch later too?

Was shocked that BBC1 didn't rob it.
Merry Christmas everyone

Movies seem to tap into a different audience to regular TV drama and have a history of performing well on Christmas Eve (eg Skyfall) whereas regular dramas do not. The Lady in The Van being a very recent (and fairly high profile) release will have helped.

Grantchester should timeshift fairly well and did win the slot so not a total disaster, but certainly disappointing and poorly positioned. ITV would have been better off sticking with Birds at 9pm (where I think it would have done better against the weaker competition) and Grantchester on Boxing Day.

Also a drama about a vicar leading into Keith Lemon was a really bad fit, no wonder Keyhole did so badly (plus it was on at 10.30 starting halfway through Peter Kay).

What's frustrating is that ITV did make an effort for Christmas Eve. A shame nothing went their way yesterday apart from Grantchester very slightly.

A few more Christmas Eve ratings from rzt.

BBC 1
Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian: 1.51m (12.1%)
Shrek The Halls: 2.23m (15.0%)
Penguins of Madagascar: 3.17m (18.8%)
Pointless Celebrities: 4.58m (22.9%)

ITV Inc +1
Despicable Me: 1.37m (14.7%)
Harry Potter: 2.75m (23.1%)
101 Dalmatians: 2.12m (13.3%)