Boxing Day viewing figures leave ITV buoyant after receiving biggest audience share since taking over from Channel 4

Nearly a million free-to-air television viewers watched Hewick claim victory in Tuesday’s King George VI Chase as ITV hailed its strongest performance for the day since taking over coverage of British racing in 2017.

A peak audience of 966,000 watched the King George, while the average viewership for the afternoon was 702,000. This represented a 9.6 per cent audience share for the programme, up from 6.7 per cent last year, with ITV reporting this to be its largest share of the viewership for the fixture since it took over from Channel 4.

Those watching ITV Racing were treated to spellbinding performances by Il Est Francais in the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase and by Constitution Hill in the Christmas Hurdle, as well as Hewick coming with a late thrust to defeat Bravemansgame in the King George.