Salsaing pensioner appears on BGT, ITV strikes ratings gold
The past weekend saw four of the most talented people the country has to offer once again join forces to save Saturday night TV and bestow their humble judgement on the masses of the great unwashed clamouring to be on TV.
8pm on Saturday saw the launch of the eighth series of Britain’s Got Talent; ITV’s ever-dependable family-friendly weekend performer was back for yet another run, keeping that empty desolate hole in our lives filled until The X Factor launches immediately after BGT wraps up (probably).
Luckily for us, the usual bastions of talent were on hand to keep the amateurish and aesthetically unfortunate off our screens as the ruthless Simon Cowell, the sassy Alesha Dixon, the exceptional Amanda Holden and the once edgy comedian who now spends his time chasing mainstream audiences (and the brand recognition that comes with it), David Walliams, all took their seats on the judging panel.
Just one week after an average audience of 5.7 million had to tearfully wave goodbye to ITV’s Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, Ant and Dec were – in fact – back on ITV’s Saturday schedule as the dutiful comperes on Cowell’s ark of worthiness.
An impressive debut audience of 10.5 million viewers tuned in for the mercifully short (for now, at least) show as a 79 year old female dancer called Paddy walked out of Simon Cowell’s wet dream, performed a pretty impressive salsa and secured the attention of all the weekend tabloids.
Not only did the old-school talent show secure the biggest audience of the weekend, its 45% share also translated into the biggest audience of 2014 so far.
With ITV riding on a high, it was the perfect time to unleash a new spectacle into the nation’s living room but it needed a trick… how do you capture the attention of the more elderly viewers out there with something that isn’t too condescending?
The answer came in the form of the first episode of Amazing Greys (9pm), an Angela Rippon-fronted hour of patronising telly that positioned the old and confused against young contestants in a supposed slice of grey empowerment, congratulating them each and every time they failed to keel over and die.
Whether the concept felt a little forced is beside the point – the quiz with a ‘unique’ twist captured 4.5 million viewers and a 22% share, easily securing Saturday night’s 9pm slot.
But ITV’s fantastic Saturday didn’t start with Simon Cowell’s ultra-bright LED teeth at 8pm – beforehand 4.9 million viewers turned in for the 3.5 hours of coverage dedicated to the FA Cup Semi-Final (4:30pm).
Arsenal’s 4-2 victory against Wigan on penalties saw the audience swell to 8.9 million in the final few minutes, giving ITV an extremely healthy start to the evening’s entertainment.
Meanwhile the BBC was trying to make do as best it could. The first less-than-perfect step in Dreamworks’ once-premium franchise, Shrek the Third pulled in 2.3 million viewers at 5:15pm on BBC One, while epic Golf tournament The Masters (7:30pm) was watched by 1.3 million viewers on BBC Two.
Up against Amanda Holden’s unchecked outpouring of emotion was The National Lottery: In It to Win It over on BBC One at 7:45pm. 3.6 million viewers tuned in for the first of ten weekly appointments with Dale Winton’s gurning face, resulting in a 16% share.
Straight afterwards Casualty was having a rare bad day, only managing to secure 3.8 million viewers in the prime time slot, resulting in a 16% share.
With ITV shaming BBC One by taking the first three spots on Saturday night, Sunday was the perfect time for the corporation’s flagship channel to hit back with a bout of traditional TV programming.
Songs of Praise (BBC One) warmed viewers’ cockles at 5pm, preparing an audience of 1.4 million viewers for the excitement to come. After The One Show used its bewildering popularity to influence the art world, 2.3 million viewers watched The People’s Portrait (BBC One, 5:30pm), documenting Simon Weston’s inclusion in the National Portrait Gallery.
If that wasn’t exciting enough, Countryfile (BBC One) hit the stratosphere at 7pm, with Matt Baker’s look at the history of shrimping in Stockport securing the day’s biggest audience. While not quite matching BGT‘s audience the previous night, 5.8 million viewers tuned in for the thrill ride.
Antiques Roadshow (BBC One) followed with 5.2 million viewers at 8pm, while the second episode of bloody wartime drama The Crimson Field (9pm) won the biggest audience in its timeslot with 5.4 million viewers, meaning that the BBC held on to the highest share from 5:30pm onwards.
Over on ITV, dusty sleuthing fun with James Bond and Octopussy (4pm) brought in 1.6 million viewers, while the elderly anarchy of Off Their Rockers won 3.9 million viewers at 7:30pm.
Afterwards there was a refreshingly young take on another antiqued property as the young Inspector Morse kicked off the third two hour case of his second series. ITV’s biggest audience of the day – 4.6 million viewers – were in a state of shock to find out that the latest episode of Endeavour (8pm) involved the slaughter of innocent young women in the Oxford area.
Despite navigating so far away from what viewers are familiar with, the classy period detective drama secured a 20% share.
The Social TV Analytics report is a daily leaderboard displaying the latest social TV analytics Twitter data from SecondSync. The table shows the top UK TV shows as they are mentioned on Twitter, which MediaTel has correlated with the BARB overnight programme ratings for those shows (only viewable to BARB subscribers).
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.