Video
Boris Johnson’s TV address one of Britain’s most watched TV programmes
Prime Minister Boris Johnson placed the UK on lockdown amid coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis - Credit: PA
Boris Johnson's address to the nation on Monday evening was one of the most watched British television moments ever broadcast.
Despite being pre-recorded, Johnson's announcement about the tightening of coronavirus measures recorded 27.1 million viewers on linear television - putting it in line with viewing figures for the 1966 World Cup final and the funeral of princess Diana in 1997.
The World Cup final is the record holder for the most-watched programme in the UK with 32.3 milion viewers across ITV and BBC - but was in an era when there was far less competition.
The funeral of PDiana drew a peak television audience of 32.10 million viewers.
Johnson's address is likely to attract a much larger viewing figures when catch-up and live streams are taken into account.
You may also want to watch:
It aired on BBC One, ITV, Channel 4, Sky News, and the BBC News channel as well as appearing on Amazon Prime.
It is the first prime ministerial address in the country since Tony Blair announced the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Most Read
- 1 Nigel Farage loses nearly 50,000 followers after Twitter suspends QAnon accounts
- 2 Progressive alliance could see Labour win 351 seats at next election, new analysis reveals
- 3 What Auf Wiedersehen, Pet teaches us about Britain and Europe
- 4 Tory minister admits UK rejected EU's music visa offer in order to 'take back control' of borders
- 5 Fifteen ways to fix Britain
- 6 Michel Barnier tells UK to be 'very careful' in Brexit diplomatic status row
- 7 Holyrood in talks with EU to extend Erasmus scheme to Scottish students
- 8 An actor whose politics were a touchy subject
- 9 The rocky road to Rejoin
- 10 ‘Don’t haste ye back’ - Nicola Sturgeon's perfect farewell message to Donald Trump
Become a Supporter
The New European is proud of its journalism and we hope you are proud of it too. We believe our voice is important - both in representing the pro-EU perspective and also to help rebalance the right wing extremes of much of the UK national press. If you value what we are doing, you can help us by making a contribution to the cost of our journalism.
