'Skyfall' tops UK television ratings for Christmas Eve

ITV's free-to-air premiere of the 23rd James Bond adventure 'Skyfall' topped the UK's non-soap television ratings on Christmas Eve.

'Skyfall' was seen by 7.1 million in the UK (a 31.5% audience share) at 8pm, two years after it debuted in cinemas. ITV also won plaudits for screening 'Skyfall' in a wide aspect ratio, although several cuts were made.

Over on the BBC, their top non-soap rating for the night was for 'Toy Story 3', watched by 4.73m (23.1%) from 6.30pm.

Compared to recent outings, 'Skyfall' did very well in the Christmas Eve time slot. The 2008 film 'Quantum of Solace' boosted ITV to the top of the Saturday night prime-time ratings when it debuted with average with 22.4% of the national audience, even though only 4.7m tuned in.

ITV screened 'Casino Royale' for the first time in September 2009, at least a year behind most European countries, to a modest average of 5.1m viewers. The technical presentation of Daniel Craig's debut may have detracted some, as ITV elected to broadcast the movie in full screen 'pan and scan' format, rather than widescreen and contained several edits.

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