TV Overnights: West Ham’s exit from FA Cup pulls a peak of 5.9m for ITV
Last night brought us The FA Cup Replay (ITV, 8pm) game between Manchester United and West Ham which got off to a very strong start but attention amongst fans began to wane almost immediately.
The game kicked off at 8:05pm, live from Old Trafford stadium, with viewers actually peaking in the first 15 minutes. An initial audience of 5.9 million viewers tuned in to witness Wayne Rooney’s return from an injury.
And what a return it was – 9 minutes into the game Rooney scored the game’s only goal. Audience interest trickled away over the next 90 minutes as United’s defence remained tight enough to fend off Allardyce’s men, resulting in West Ham’s unceremonious exit.
The entire coverage managed to pull in an average audience of 5.1 million dedicated viewers, resulting in a 21% share. The first half of the game actually held onto the highest share for that time slot but viewers fled once the half time whistle was heard and the excitement of 9pm prime time programming was too difficult to resist.
Apparently that excitement came in the form of the third episode of Sir David Attenborough’s Africa (BBC One, 9pm). Last night the 86 year old wanderer focused on the melting pot that is the Congo rainforest. The wildlife on display more akin to Cantina scene in Star Wars than an actual documentary.
The rummage from the jungle floor secured the highest audience share for the 9pm slot and improved on last week’s rating slightly, even if it couldn’t quite capture the height of 6.5 million for the opening episode. The halfway point of Sir David’s African journey secured 5.9 million viewers and a 24% share.
Unfortunately the documentary couldn’t boast it was BBC One’s biggest success of the day. That accolade belonged to Regional News and Weather at 6:30pm which pulled in 6.9 million and a 32% share.
The creatures of the Congolian forests fought a hard campaign and beat their prime time rivals with ease. The creatures of the Big Brother (Channel 5, 9pm) compound weren’t so successful. Super famous glamour model Stacey Banghard (I’ve known Bond girls with more dignified names) was catapulted over the secured wall, landing face first in the murky puddle of reality. 2.1 million people across the country got their fix of surrogate socialising without any of the real life effort, pulling in a 9% share for the channel.
There was a very similar set up over on Channel 4 at 9pm, only the screaming humans looking for attention on One Born Every Minute were probably a little bit more bearable. Leeds General Infirmary has been pimped out with as many cameras as Big Brother but there was more of a public service angle to the birthing show.
Not only can the documentary series teach us all about the hardships of keeping the human race going but it should also serve as a cheaper alternative to contraception. With 2.2 million fans (a 9% share) of terrifying screams and labour pain tuning in, the maternity show narrowly beat Banghard’s exit on Channel 5.
Earlier, the condescending and sensationalist The Food Inspectors (BBC One, 8pm) continued, securing a respectable and worrying 3.9 million viewers and a 16% share. If you found Matt Alright and Chris Hollins difficult to stomach (no one would judge you for that) there was Charley Boorman’s Extreme Frontiers (Channel 5, 8pm) in which the adventurer showed us more footage from his recent holiday to South Africa. 899,000 viewers watched as Charley endured a bit of cold breeze while he strolled up a mountain, resulting in a 4% share.
Watching animals (and some familiar presenters from yesteryear) freeze to death on live TV might have been more appealing than either of those options. Winterwatch (BBC Two, 8pm),broadcast live from the Scottish highlands, reached the penultimate episode of its short run. Last night Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan focused on animal’s survival tactics for getting through the harshest season. The below freezing fun was watched by an audience of 2.5 million viewers and a 10% share.
There were fairly slim pickings on the soap front at the midweek point, with only an hour of improbable drama on offer. Up first was Emmerdale at 7pm on ITV and Alicia and David continued to make a hames of their break up. 7.7 million viewers caught up with the latest rural goings on, resulting in a 34% share.
Which left Coronation Street (ITV, 7:30pm) to once again run off with Wednesday’s coveted crown. A massive 8.9 million viewers watched the latest action from Weatherfield, despite the fact that not a lot went on. The singular episode, which saw David and Kylie attempt to sort out their daft relationship in vain, won an audience share of 37%
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.