The Crown fails to break into top 50 most-watched UK shows in its launch week despite massive hy

The Crown failed to break into the 50 most-watched shows on UK television on the week of its launch despite huge fanfare around its release.

It emerged as the BBC’s director-general took a dig at Netflix’s viewing figures, saying most of the corporation’s dramas were ‘much bigger’ than those of the streaming giant.

New figures reveal that the new series of the controversial royal drama, starring Imelda Staunton as the Queen, was not among the most popular 50 shows in the country in the week that it was released.

Official TV audience measurement body Barb has released its latest weekly top 50 list of most viewed programmes in the UK, covering the seven days between November 7 and 13.

The Crown series five was released on November 9 by Netflix, meaning it was measured for five of the seven days covered.

Fewer people watched the first episode of the hotly-anticipated new series than expected, meaning it didn’t reach the top 50 shows in the UK the week it was released (Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana)

The first episode of the fifth series of The Crown was watched by 1.1million people on the day of its release (pictured: Dominic West as Prince Charles)

The first episode of the fifth series of The Crown was watched by 1.1million people on the day of its release (pictured: Dominic West as Prince Charles)

The list was topped by multiple episodes of ITV hit show I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!, with the programme occupying the top seven places. Six of these episodes topped 11 million viewers.

The other three shows to make it into the top ten were the Saturday episode of Strictly Come Dancing, which got nearly 9.5 million, the dance show’s Sunday results show with almost 8.8 million, and The Great British Bake Off on Channel 4 with nearly 7.7 million.

Among the dramas to have made it onto the top 50 list were BBC1’s SAS Rogue Heroes, The English and EastEnders, along with ITV’s The Larkins and its soaps Coronation Street and Emmerdale.

Long-running soap, Emmerdale, made the top 50 list for November 7 to November 13, beating the hit Netflix drama

Long-running soap, Emmerdale, made the top 50 list for November 7 to November 13, beating the hit Netflix drama

An episode of Celebrity Mastermind pipped The Crown to the last slot on the top 50 list for the week it was released, with just over three million viewers

An episode of Celebrity Mastermind pipped The Crown to the last slot on the top 50 list for the week it was released, with just over three million viewers

The last placed show on the list was an episode of BBC1’s Celebrity Mastermind with just over three million, meaning the highest episode of The Crown would have got less than this.

According to a source, even if The Crown had a full seven days’ worth of viewing measured, instead of the five days, it would still have less than the lowest place show on the top 50.

A well-placed insider revealed The Crown had attracted nearly 2.9 million views between November 9 and 15.

The BBC's SAS Rogue Heroes also beat The Crown to a spot on the top 50 list that week. The drama follows the lives of the founders of the SAS as they take on death-defying missions during World War II

The BBC’s SAS Rogue Heroes also beat The Crown to a spot on the top 50 list that week. The drama follows the lives of the founders of the SAS as they take on death-defying missions during World War II

David Stirling, founder of the SAS, is played by Connor Swindells in the BBC drama. He also played teenager Adam Groff in Netflix's Sex Education

David Stirling, founder of the SAS, is played by Connor Swindells in the BBC drama. He also played teenager Adam Groff in Netflix’s Sex Education

It comes after it was revealed last week that in the first week Netflix was included in official television ratings none of the US streaming giant’s shows made it into the top 50.

But a source at Netflix pointed out that for the second week running The Crown was the top viewed show globally on its streaming service, with 84.3 million hours viewed in the latest figures. They added it had appeared in the top 10 in 86 countries this week.

Figures released a fortnight ago showed 1.1 million watched the first episode of the new series of The Crown on the day it came out.

BBC Director General Tim Davie said at the annual CBI conference this week that the BBC is 'not trying to beat' the streaming giant

BBC Director General Tim Davie said at the annual CBI conference this week that the BBC is ‘not trying to beat’ the streaming giant

On Tuesday, the BBC’s director-general Tim Davie said most of the corporation’s dramas were ‘much bigger’ than those of the streaming giant.

Speaking at the annual conference of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), Mr Davie said: ‘We are not trying to beat them. We are not going to beat Netflix. We might be bigger than them. Most of our dramas are much bigger than them… significantly. But we love what they do.’

There were no shows from any of the streaming giants on the latest list. In the past, Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi appeared in the top 50.

Barb’s figures are understood to be calculated by dividing total viewer minutes by a show’s duration to give the number of viewers.

For broadcast channels, this includes viewing on tablets, PCs and smartphones through services like BBC iPlayer and ITV Hub. However, for ‘subscription video on demand’ services such as Netflix it is understood to only include viewing on TV sets.

The top 50 shows on UK TV

These were the most viewed shows from November 7 to November 13 this year. 

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

 11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

41

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

49

50 

 I’M A CELEBRITY…

I’M A CELEBRITY… 

I’M A CELEBRITY… 

I’M A CELEBRITY… 

I’M A CELEBRITY… 

I’M A CELEBRITY… 

I’M A CELEBRITY… 

STRICTLY COME DANCING 

STRICTLY COME DANCING 

THE GREAT BRITISH BAKE OFF 

SAS ROGUE HEROES 

CORONATION STREET 

CORONATION STREET 

CORONATION STREET 

COUNTRYFILE 

MICHAEL MCINTYRE’S THE WHEEL 

EMMERDALE 

EMMERDALE 

BLANKETY BLANK 

EMMERDALE 

EMMERDALE 

EMMERDALE 

TOP GEAR 

BBC NEWS AT SIX 

BBC NEWS AT SIX   

FESTIVAL OF REMEMBRANCE

BBC NEWS AT SIX 

THE LARKINS 

BBC NEWS AT SIX 

BBC NEWS AT SIX 

THE MARTIN LEWIS MONEY SHOW

THE CHASE 

EASTENDERS 

GOGGLEBOX 

BBC WEEKEND NEWS 

BBC WEEKEND NEWS 

EASTENDERS 

EASTENDERS 

THE CHASE

THE CHASE 

THE CHASE 

EASTENDERS 

THE CHASE 

ITV EVENING NEWS 

MASTERCHEF: THE PROFESSIONALS 

ITV EVENING NEWS 

THE ENGLISH 

REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY

MASTERCHEF: THE PROFESSIONALS

CELEBRITY MASTERMIND

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