11 million watch The Snowman and The Snowdog over Christmas

Over 11 million viewers watched Channel 4's The Snowman and The Snowdog - the new sequel to Christmas classic The Snowman - over the festive period.

Consolidated viewing figures released today - taking account of timeshifted viewing on a television over a seven day period - show that the main Christmas Eve broadcast was watched by an average of 7.1 million, 24% share of the audience.  The Christmas Day repeat showing was also watched by another 2.2 million viewers, and subsequent showings on E4, 4Seven and Channel 4 added a further 1.7 million viewers.

The consolidated figure of 7.1m for the Christmas Eve showing is an increase of 2.2 million on the live overnight audience of 4.9 million - which was the best performing Christmas Eve programme for Channel 4 in over ten years.

Channel 4's Chief Creative Officer, Jay Hunt said: "The Snowman and The Snowdog has already become a new Christmas classic with millions drawn in by the heart-warming story."

The Snowman and The Snowdog was directed by Hilary Audus and art directed by Joanna Harrison, both of whom worked on the original film. Producers were Camilla Deakin and Ruth Fielding. The sequel was dedicated to the late John Coates, who produced the original The Snowman film and was instrumental in getting The Snowman and The Snowdog into production.

The Snowman and The Snowdog is a Snowdog Enterprises and Lupus Films production.