10.1m tune in for Foggy’s victory on I’m a Celeb finale
The past weekend finally brought an end to one of ITV’s longest-running and highly successful reality shows while tantalisingly teasing the end of another – although both suffered at the hand of BBC One’s runaway dancing hit.
First out of the trap on Saturday evening was BBC One’s big, bright and shiny slice of harmless family fun as six remaining couples on Strictly Come Dancing (7pm) brought their perma-smiling energy to the masses and secured the day’s biggest audience in the process.
9.4 million viewers tuned in for 1.5 hours to see Mark Wright foxtrot about in a neon pink shirt, while the competition’s secret weapon – bald EastEnders sexpot Jake Wood – sent hearts a flutter with a sultry and seductive Charleston.
The latest portion of day-glo trivial programming secured a 42% share, resulting in the day’s biggest hit.
Over on ITV, big-budgeted karaoke contest, The X Factor (ITV) hobbled towards the finish line as the eleventh series entered its end game, giving way to even more contrived emotions and moments of ‘drama’.
A little over 7 million people watched as the final four cover stars stretched their larynxes just a little bit further in order to win the nation’s favour, resulting in a 31% share.
As viewers entered Saturday night, the four remaining contestants on I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! kept their eyes locked on the prize as the penultimate sixty minute episode saw the camp’s numbers whittled down to three.
An audience of 7.6 million viewers tuned in to see 68-year-old Edwina Currie fall at the final hurdle (figuratively speaking, they’re not that cruel), while smiling bag of tanned sinewy flesh, Mel Sykes, World Superbike Champion, Foggy and professional amiable X Factor reject, Jake Quickenden, were kept safe for the finale.
The second-to-last visit to the jungle television set secured a 35% audience share.
Over on BBC One, Atlantis (8:15pm) continued to fill that TARDIS/Merlin shaped hole in the Saturday night schedule with the fourth episode of the second series seeing plenty of swords clashing in sandy deserts while the lady-folk cowered in fright.
The young adult adventure show brought in 3.5 million viewers and a 16% share while Casualty did slightly better afterwards at 9pm.
The more gruesome adventures in emergency medicine was watched by 3.7 million viewers, with scenes of very long serving character Ash going a bit mental helping to secure a 16% share.
Meanwhile, Channel 4’s evening was taken up by the chaotic noise of director Peter Berg’s aural and visual assault Battleship (8pm). Designed, somehow, to sell Hasbro board games, the movie which attempts to out-Transformers Transformers was watched by 1.5 million viewers and a 7% share.
While the vast majority of Sunday’s players remained the same, there was a different outcome for yesterday’s TV show as I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! (9pm) came to an end after twenty two days.
The weekend’s biggest audience watched as the final three battled for the public’s hearts, with an average audience of 10.1 million viewers tuning in to see Foggy ultimately win the career-boosting popularity contest.
Iceland’s expensive promotional campaign once again proved a success for ITV, continually bagging its day’s number one spot over the past three weeks. Last night, an audience share of 40% watched as Carl Fogarty was deemed the champion of the jungle, simply by not being a psychotic media type, with HD viewers accounting for just under 1 million of the total draw.
Earlier in the day, Strictly Come Dancing (BBC One, 7:20pm) was back briefly, giving Tess and Claudia enough time to discard children’s entertainer Pixie Lott from the competition, securing 9.1 million viewers and a 22% share.
Over on ITV, the exact same thing happened on The X Factor Results (8pm) but the giggling presenters were replaced by Dermot O’Leary and Pixie Lott by her stunt double as yet another warbling starlet with ‘attitude’ was sent packing home.
8.2 million viewers watched as more dreams were destroyed in the name of entertainment, netting a 31% share and the day’s third biggest audience.
At 9pm, BBC One’s latest Sunday night supernatural thriller came to an end. Remember Me, starring Michael Palin as a pensioner haunted by a damp Scarborough Fair-singing nightmare, wrapped up with 4.2 million viewers and a 16% share, down from the opening episode’s audience of 5.3 million.
Overnight data is available each morning in mediatel.co.uk’s TV Database, with all BARB registered subscribers able to view reports for terrestrial networks and key multi-channel stations. Overnight data supplied by TRP are based on 15 minute slot averages. This may differ from tape checked figures, which are based on a programme’s actual start and end time.
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