Parkinson drew an average viewing share of 35.4% in the hotly contested 9pm slot, according to unofficial overnight figures.
'Parkinson: the final conversation' featured Billy Connolly, Michael Caine, David Attenborough, Judi Dench, Dame Edna, David Beckham, Jamie Cullum and Peter Kay, in the 9pm-11pm slot.
The chatshow, which is one of the longest-running programmes on television, having made its debut in 1971, transferred to ITV1 in 2004 after more than three decades at the BBC.
During his three-year stint at ITV, the famously mild-mannered host has interviewed stars including Tom Cruise, Madonna, Sir Elton John, Lauren Bacall, Sir Paul McCartney and then-Prime Minister Tony Blair.
BBC One's popular costume drama 'Cranford', starring Judi Dench, put up a strong fight against Parkinson despite losing its slot, with 7.2m viewers and a 27% share between 9pm-10pm.
Channel 4 aired the critically acclaimed film 'A Knight's Tale', in which Heath Ledger stars as a knight in medieval England. The film attracted 1.8m viewers and an 8.2% share.
On Saturday night, the final of ITV1's 'X-Factor' landed an average audience of 11.4m viewers and a 46.8% share during the first instalment between 7.15pm-8.45pm.
The results instalment, in which Leon was crowned the surprise winner, was watched by 11.7m viewers, which was 49.8% of the audience, between 9:30pm-10:30pm.
The results show peaked with 12.7m viewers and a 55% share, making it the most watched show of the series and the third most popular programme of the year.
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