Netflix wins Christmas TV crown with £15bn budget dwarfing BBC and ITV

Netflix is poised to steal the BBC’s Christmas TV crown as streaming platforms and mobile devices consign the traditional festive viewing experience to history.

Once Morecambe and Wise and Only Fools and Horses entertained 20m viewers as the nation’s families gathered around the TV in a post-turkey slumber.

But in today’s multi-platform world, teenagers are more likely to be streaming YouTube or watching Stranger Things on a tablet in their bedroom.

Last Christmas, a double-whammy of the Gavin & Stacey finale and the Wallace & Gromit film, Vengeance Most Fowl, helped the BBC stall a steady decline in seasonal terrestrial channel viewing.

The James Corden/Ruth Jones comedy, the biggest scripted show of 2024, racked up 17m viewers by the New Year, helping BBC One pull ahead of Netflix – ratings body Barb said the flagship BBC channel had a total audience reach of 48.4m in December, ahead of Netflix’s 46.4 million.

But 2024 bucked a downward trend – the most-watched December 25 programme of 2023 was the King’s Christmas Message, watched by 5.9m BBC One viewers.

There are no Smithy & Nessa adventures in this year’s BBC Christmas Day line-up, which relies on well-worn favourites like Call the Midwife and Mrs Brown’s Boys.

BBC One’s biggest attraction looks set to be Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly’s final appearance as Strictly Come Dancing hosts in the Christmas Day special.

Netflix, which spent around £15bn on new programming this year, compared to the BBC’s £5.9bn total income, is now setting out its stall to win Christmas.

Goodbye June, a blockbuster “tearjerker” Netflix original Christmas movie, directed by Kate Winslet and starring the Titanic actress along with Dame Helen Mirren and Timothy Spall, will drop shortly before Christmas Day.

Stranger Things fans are being made to wait until Boxing Day for episodes five, six and seven of the final season of the hit sci-fi drama to drop. The series will then conclude with its eighth episode, The Rightside Up, on New Year’s Day.

But the streamer’s Christmas secret weapon, TV insiders say, is the fifth season of Emily in Paris, the drama starring Lily Collins as a social-media-obsessed marketing executive working in France.

Dismissed as lightweight and ridiculous by critics, Emily in Paris has become one of Netflix’s most popular shows, accumulating around 75m views for its last series. The fifth season drops on 18 December.

The BBC’s Xmas schedule, which will be confirmed next week, is holding back some of its big guns for the New Year period.

There is huge anticipation for the return of The Night Manager, the glossy award-winning spy drama starring Tom Hiddleston, which will go up against the Stranger Things finale on New Year’s Day.

It will be preceded by the launch of the next civilian series of The Traitors, giving BBC One a bumper ratings double-header on the night when people are most likely to be at home.

For its part, ITV said its festive schedule will include Christmas editions of shows such as The Masked Singer, Celebrity Catchphrase, Ant And Dec’s Limitless Win and The 1% Club.

Christmas TV highlights 

Strictly Come Dancing – BBC One 

The line-up – Jodie Ounsley aka Gladiator Fury, Scarlett Moffatt, Brian McFadden – may not be exactly A-list but millions will tune in for what promises to be a tearful final send-off for Claudia and Tess. 

Emily In Paris – Netflix 

Frothy culture-clash drama that has critics in despair goes from strength to strength. Season five finds Lily Collins’ Emily Cooper spending more time in Venice than Paris but nobody watched for titular coherence. 

Stranger Things – Netflix

Netflix briefly crashed when the first four episodes of the supernatural drama’s final season landed midweek. The truth about the Upside Down will finally be revealed with a staggered release of the last episodes culminating in a New Year’s Day finale.

Dear Father Christmas – Channel 4 

Original broadcaster of The Snowman, Channel 4 offers a family-friendly drama starring Lenny Rush as 16-year-old Chris, whose unshakeable belief in Santa sets him on a collision course with a global conspiracy. Stephen Fry also features.

The End of an Era – Disney + 

Swifties will be hooked by the docuseries promising an intimate insight into Taylor Swift’s record-breaking Eras tour. Two episodes a week drop from December 12, with Sabrina Carpenter and Florence Welch among the stars paying homage.

Christmas film highlights 

Goodbye June – Netflix

Kate Winslet in her directorial debut, and it is described as an emotional “tearjerker” drama. The film stars Winslet alongside an ensemble cast including Toni Collette, Johnny Flynn, and Helen Mirren, and is based on a script written by Winslet’s son, Joe Anders. It will be released on Netflix on 24 December. 

Love Actually – ITV and ITVX

ITV’s attempt to keep the family on one sofa and together this Christmas is a box set of traditional seasonal hit films such as Love Actually, The Grinch, How To Train Your Dragon, It’s a Wonderful Life and Top Gun.

Wicked for Good – Apple TV

Not long after it’s cinema release you can already pre order the epic conclusion to the untold story of the witches of Oz, featuring Ariana Grande.

Tom Harrington, head of TV at media analysts Enders, said the streaming revolution and changing viewing habits have made the UK’s traditional broadcasters rein in their Christmas ambitions.

“The viewing experience is fragmenting at Christmas, it’s no longer different generations sitting down together, kids are watching their own screens, or playing new video games,” Harrington said. “It doesn’t make financial sense to launch a risky new show at Christmas.”

Harrington says the streamers see Christmas as an untapped growth area and they have the budget to launch shows the whole year round, and it’s all about timing. He adds: “It’s particularly important to give viewers value in December because January and February is when people think about cancelling subscriptions to cut costs”.

Streamers are also increasingly buying into live sports, with Amazon Prime enjoying exclusive rights to eight Premiership matches on Boxing Day alone, kicking off from midday through to late evening, Harrington added.

The BBC rejected any suggestion that its Xmas stocking was looking bare. Kate Phillips, BBC’s Chief Content Officer said: “We’ve got so many terrific treats on the BBC this Christmas. There really is something for everyone. From specials of much-loved programmes, to new gifts across genres, the BBC is the place to be.”

The schedule includes a festive special of comedy Amandaland, reuniting Jennifer Saunders with Dame Joanna Lumley, a brand-new film from Sir David Attenborough, as he explores the wildlife of England’s capital in Wild London, and an animated adaptation of Julia Donaldson’s The Scarecrows’ Wedding featuring a voice cast including Rob Brydon and Jessie Buckley.

Last year, the BBC enjoyed a clean sweep of the top ten most-watched programmes on Christmas Day itself.