A new King, a global pandemic and a trophy for England at the women’s Euros mean this is already a decade like no other – and all were responsible for some of the biggest TV audiences of the first half of the 2020s. Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral and King Charles’s coronation both attracted enormous ratings, as did former prime minister Boris Johnson’s broadcasts about Covid-19, proving that moments of history still draw in millions of viewers.
Though live events dominate the list of the decade’s most-watched television so far, drama and entertainment favourites such as Line of Duty and I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! have also pulled in huge audiences, as have surprise hits including 2024’s Mr Bates v The Post Office.
Topping the list is Boris Johnson’s broadcast on March 23 2020 announcing the first Covid-19 lockdown, which was shown simultaneously on six TV channels and which drew an average audience of 28.3 million. This is one of the highest ratings in modern television history, according to analysis by the PA news agency using data from the research organisation Barb, which has been responsible for calculating UK TV official viewing figures continuously since 1981.
Next in the chart come other multi-channel events: Mr Johnson’s second Covid-19 broadcast on May 10 2020 (an audience of 27.6 million across seven channels), the Queen’s funeral service on September 19 2022 (26.5 million across more than 50 channels) and the Queen’s Covid-19 address to the nation on April 5 2020 (24.5 million across seven channels).
