Brits Tuck into Festive Feast in Front of Her Majes-Tea

LONDON, December 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

More than 4.5 million Brits will be shunning tradition and enjoying their festive feast in front of the TV on Christmas Day, according to independent research conducted by Virgin Media*.

What's more, there may be lots of hungry stomachs rumbling away with almost one in 10 adults specifically delaying their Christmas meal to watch their favourite shows and films on Christmas Day - including The Queen's Christmas message.

With the anticipated debut of Prince George, a bumper audience of more than 14 million people say they are planning to watch Her Majesty the Queen live this year with a further 2.6 million recording it to watch later on according to the research - which would potentially make it the top show for Christmas.

This year's Christmas Speech will be interactive in every sense of the word, with viewers planning on taking to social media. Virgin Media has identified the top 10 things Brits will be getting up to while watching the Queen's Speech*:

1. 1.5m will moan about the monarchy
2. 1.8m will praise the monarchy
3. 410,000 people will comment on social media during the speech
4. 560,000 Brits will sing the national anthem
5. Half a million Brits will play drinking games
6. 1.1m will coo when Prince George appears
7. 1.4m will fall asleep
8. 460,000 will have a sweepstake on topics or duration
9. 560,000 will keep a 'corgi watch'
10. One in 20 will cheer or toast (raise a glass to) the Queen

Unmissable TV

More than 2 million people are expected to watch Channel 4's Alternative Christmas Message, according to the research, while in the battle of the soaps it revealed 9.53m people are planning to watch the EastEnders Christmas Special featuring Danny Dyer's debut, just ahead of Coronation Street's Christmas Special with 9.36m.

With so much festive viewing on offer, TV will be the biggest cause of arguments on Christmas Day (25%).

The box brings families together with 10% of those surveyed revealing Christmas TV is the only way of getting all the family into the same room and 6% saying Christmas is the only time of year they watch TV together as family.

Notes

*Research by OnePoll for Virgin Media of 2,000 UK adults. Population figures calculated using 2011 census.

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