A Shrek-themed Friday night on BBC Three brought strong audience figures, the latest overnight data indicates.
The 2001 animated film enchanted the biggest multichannel audience of the night with 1.4m (5.8%) between 7.30pm and 9pm, after which 869k (3.8%) watched documentary Once Upon a Time.
A Have I Got News For You Christmas special impressed with 5.81m (24.1%) at 9pm, a festive Miranda repeat amused 4.47m (18.9%) at 9.30pm, and The Graham Norton Show pulled in a grand audience of 4.39m (26.5%) at 10.35pm - capping a solid night's work from BBC One.
Over on ITV1, The Jonathan Ross Show lagged behind with 3.15m (13.4%) in the 9pm hour, adding 192k (1%) on +1, while The Lakes at Christmas mustered 3.18m (13.1%) at 8pm (+1: 134k/0.6%).
Meanwhile, Raymond Blanc's Christmas Feast (8pm), The Many Lovers of Jane Austen (9pm) and QI (10pm) grabbed respective audiences of 1.38m (5.5%), 891k (3.8%) and 2.23m (10.1%).
Morecambe and Wise's 1980 Christmas show - rebroadcast as part of a Channel 5 classic Christmas night - picked up 1.91m (8%). A 1974 edition of The Tommy Cooper Hour entertained 1.1m (5.6%) at 10pm, while 1.18m (4.8%) watched Ice Road Truckers: Deadliest Roads in the 8pm hour.
Channel 4's Come Dine with Me served up 1.05m (4.3%) at 8pm (+1: 240k/1%), then 8 Out of 10 Cats drew 1.58m (6.6%) an hour later (+1: 351k/1.7%), and Home for the Holidays continued with a modest 785k (3.9%) from 10pm.
Overall, BBC One led primetime with 21.8%, beating ITV1's 19.5% (+1: 0.7%). BBC Two claimed third place with 6.1%, slightly ahead of Channel 5's 5.6%. Channel 4 and BBC Three tied in fifth place with 4.1% (C4 +1: 0.8%).
Posted: Sat Dec 24, 2011 2:59 pm