TV Overnights: Strictly just manages to beat off I’m a Celebrity with 10.3m for BBC One
The weekends television saw an onslaught of over-scheduled reality TV shows – thankfully Children in Need was around on Friday to (ever so slightly) shake things up.
Friday
One show dominated Friday night’s schedule and in a pleasant change to the norm, it wasn’t I’m a Celebrity. At 7:30pm the BBC rolled out all the top names in the presenting game, as Children in Need 2012 (BBC One) kicked off with another annual mix of sketches, musical acts and the all-important guilt-inducing VTs.
The ultimate amalgamation of Tess Daley and Sir Terry Wogan took to the stage, helping the appeal raise more money than last year, despite the double threat of the recession and the ongoing Jimmy Saville investigation.
It wasn’t all good news though – despite bringing in £27 million, the audience was actually down from last year. 8.6 million viewers watched the first two and a half hour segment on BBC One, down 19% .
3.7 million people were watching when the programme jumped to BBC Two for half an hour at 10pm, with an average audience of 3 million tuning back in to BBC One for the remainder of the event.
While the viewing public was spared the usual visit to EastEnders as a result of the seven hour telethon, there was a quick visit to Walford with Lord Sugar dispensing advice to the hapless locals. That and a preview of Doctor Who‘s Chirstmas special helped the event peak at 9.7 million viewers early in the night.
As a result of all the distraction over on the Beeb, ITV1 saw all of its top arsenal prove ineffective against the tirade of goodwill, charity and Kylie plugging her new album.
Emmerdale wasn’t too badly affected, starting before the charity extravaganza got underway. 6.3 million viewers tuned in to see Cain dispense a well-deserved smack down to Cameron, resulting in a 29% share.
While those numbers weren’t too far below the rural soap’s parameters, Coronation Street went head to head with BBC One and was burned as a result. Friday’s action mainly revolved around Steve and Eva’s road trip to sunny Sheffield, in a misguided effort to stop their respective loved ones from sleeping together. As usual, hijinks and misunderstandings ensued but this still wasn’t enough to fight off the might of Sir Terry and Girls Aloud.
6.9 million people watched the first episode of Coronation Street at 7:30pm, netting a 29% share in the process. The turnout for the second visit was much lower than usual, with the 8:30pm episode only managing 5.8 million, down a whopping 22% week on week.
Even I’m a Celebrity wasn’t charity proof. The jungle action at 9pm on ITV1 managed to attract 7.4 million viewers (a 29% share) for this series’ first Friday night offering, a still impressive audience but under performing slightly.
Saturday
For the first show live from Wembly Arena, Strictly Come Dancing (BBC One, 6:30pm) really had to up its game. For a show ignorant to the concept of subtlety this was no mean task: viewers were treated to a flying bicycle, a ‘dancing through the decades’ theme and Lisa Riley delivering a truly brave finale to her routine.
The sight of the former Emmerdale actress leaping in the air and doing the splits brought the audience to their feet and delivered the biggest audience of the weekend. 10 million viewers tuned in for the two hour dance fest, securing a gargantuan 44% share. This netted BBC One with the biggest audience of the weekend, narrowly beating Sunday’s I’m a Celebrity to the winning position.
The X Factor was up next on ITV1 at 8pm and the karaoke show failed to deliver a similar spectacle, although ratings were strong. 8.3 million viewers watched as the interchangeable roster of boy bands and feisty female singers took to the stage, delivering the stale old format. The talent show secured an average share of 34%.
Meanwhile, Channel 4 offered up noisy, explody and incomprehensible mechanical sequel Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Michael Bay’s frenetic follow up to the much derided original saw our protagonists face a deadly foe who wanted to destroy the sun (or something).The befuddling film, one of the most expensive toy commercials ever produced, managed to lock in the interest of 917,000 viewers and a 4% share.
Over on BBC One there was a slightly higher quality scripted drama on offer to compete with the Autobots. Dependable draws Merlin (8pm) and Casualty (9pm) performed well, attracting 5.8 and 3.5 million viewers respectively.
Despite this, it was the celebrities over on ITV1 that attracted the biggest share. Saturday’s dose of I’m a Celebrity at 9:20pm. Viewers improved since Friday night, with a total of 8.5 million viewers catching up with the latest ‘gossip’ and trials from Queensland in Australia, resulting in a 37% share.
Sunday
Sunday scheduling brought a heavy dose of déjà vu as all of your current favourite reality shows were once again on offer. Up first was the dance off on Strictly Come Dancing: The Results on BBC One at 7:20pm. Showbiz vampire Richard Arnold subjected the audience to another nauseating shuffling around to Club Tropicana.
This wasn’t enough to secure his place against former Westlife star Nicky Byrne, and the man with his finger on the pulse of the showbiz world was sent packing. A massive audience share of 36% tuned in for the unsurprising result, translating to an audience of 9.9 million.
Things were looking brighter for Simon Cowell’s drawn out talent show on Sunday, with The X Factor Results (ITV1, 8pm) garnering an notable 33.3% audience share. 9.4 million viewers tuned in to see the shock outcome of the phone ins, with favourite Ella Henderson getting eliminated. The drama was milked for every penny with judge Tulisa kicking off over her loss.
Just in case you hadn’t had enough of ITV1’s I’m a Celebrity over the weekend, there was a chance to catch another hour and a half last night. The show bounced back from Friday’s distraction with 10.1 million viewers (a 38% share) tuning in to see the former Rosie Webster going through yet another bush tucker trial.
Sunday’s offering of the omnipresent show saw Helen Flanagan finally show her worth, proving she can stick her head in a box full of roaches with the best of them. Perhaps producers were feeling sorry for the Weatherfield diva, or maybe she actually tried this time – the result saw Flanagan bagging a meal for all of her fellow famous people.
BBC One attempted to lure people away from the jungle with another dose of scripted drama. The Secret of Crickley Hall (9pm) saw a couple attempt to escape the one year anniversary of the disappearance of their young son…by moving their family to a creepy old mansion.
Throw in some creepy ghostly orphans, age old mysteries and a truly spooky location and it wasn’t long before nerves were being shattered. The first episode of the three part drama, based on James Herbert’s novel, pulled in 5.3 million and a 19% share.
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.