Over 18 million people tuned in to see the King’s Coronation, according to the viewership statistics that have been released.
Crowds flocked to the streets to see history being made as King Charles III and Queen Camilla were formally crowned at Westminster Abbey on Saturday, May 6.
Following Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953, it was the second coronation event for the British royal family to ever be broadcast on television.
The overall number of individuals who decided to watch the BBC’s coverage of the spectacle was announced in a statement by Charlotte Moore, Chief Content Officer at the BBC.
‘The BBC brought people across the UK together to share a once in a generation event with over 14 million watching the King being crowned live,’ she said.
‘I’m proud of the unique and special role the BBC plays in delivering audiences moments of such huge historical significance and the celebrations continue with our Coronation Concert tonight.’
In a breakdown of the figures, it was outlined that on BBC One, the Coronation was watched by a peak of 13.4m and an average audience of 11.9m.
Over on BBC Two, a peak of 1.7m and an average of 1.4m people watched the signed coverage of the ceremony, bringing a total figure of more than 14m overall for the broadcaster.
Over on ITV, an average of 2.1m people watched the Coronation on ITV1 from 8.30 to 10.45am.
According to the broadcaster, an average of 3.3m viewers were watching on ITV1 between 10.45am and 1pm, which decreased to 2.9 viewers between 1pm and 3pm.
Meanwhile, 55,000 viewers watched ITV3’s British sign language coverage between 10.45am and 1pm, while ITVX garnered 1.5m streams of its The Coronation programme.
Coronation of King Charles III latest
Audience measurement firm Barb announced on Twitter: ‘The average audience for the King’s Coronation service at Westminster Abbey (11:00 – 12:59) was 18.8m across 11 channels and services.
‘Reach was 22.4m, a share of 89%. Viewing peaked at 20.4m at 12:02 as the King was crowned.’
Last year, more than 29m people in the UK watched the state funeral for the late Queen Elizabeth II, with a peak of 19.5m viewers on BBC One, 5.3 on ITV and a peak of 1.8m on Sky.
In comparison, it was claimed that the Euro 2020 match between England and Italy in 2021 brought in a gigantic peak of 31.8m viewers.
The 2022 Strictly Come Dancing final saw a drop in its ratings when compared to the previous year, as an average of 9.2m and a peak of 9.7m viewers saw wildlife cameraman Hamza Yassin dance his way to victory for the Glitterball Trophy on the BBC.
In 2018, it was claimed that 18m people in the UK watched Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tie the knot at St George’s Chapel in Windsor, with a peak audience of 13.2m on the BBC.
It was reported that the wedding received more than a billion viewers worldwide, while it was claimed that Prince William and Kate Middleton’s nuptials garnering approximately 162m viewers across the globe.