BBC claims late Christmas victory

Rewind selectors: The Royle Family's video fans won the day

The BBC has claimed official victory in the Christmas Day ratings race, thanks to video recordings of shows like The Royle Family and EastEnders.

ITV had claimed victory last month on the grounds that most people watched their programmes live, but final audience figures show BBC One is ahead by a small margin.

A BBC spokeswoman said: "It's still very close but it was what's called timeshift viewing - video recording for later viewing - that made the difference."

The Royle Family Christmas special was recorded by 1.5 million people, helping to boost BBC One's viewing figures.

Official figures from Barb - which compiles ratings on behalf of the broadcasters - for the last week of 2000 show that BBC One is slightly ahead of ITV on the peak 1800-2230 period on Christmas Day.

'Set the record straight'

On live viewing ITV took a 40.2% share of the audience, with BBC One trailing at 39.8%.

But the full Barb figures, which include programmes watched on video later on, give BBC One a 40.3% share with ITV at 40%.

Acknowledging the tiny margin of the victory the BBC spokeswoman said: "We just want to set the record straight."

As well as The Royle Family special, the later of two EastEnders episodes that day was a key programme that clinched the ratings victory for the corporation.

ITV has long been criticised for putting out a weaker programme line-up on Christmas Day.

But last month it wheeled out ratings winners including Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, Emmerdale and Coronation Street, to win over viewers.