7.4 Million Watch Big Brother Go Out With A Bang

The fourth series of Big Brother went out with a bang last Friday with a peak of 7.4 million viewers tuning into the finalé of the reality TV gameshow, making it the second most watched programme on Channel 4 so far this year.

Unofficial overnight figures from BARB show that audiences for the programme, which saw church-going Cameron swoop the £70,000 prize, averaged 6.6 million between 10pm and 11.05pm, helping Channel 4 to secure a 34% share of viewing.

At its peak, the show was watched by 7.4 million viewers, which equates to a massive 42% share of the available audience. Channel 4 claims that 45% of this audience were ABC1 adults and 41% were aged between 16 and 34.

The earlier 8.30pm show, which saw 29 year-old Jon and 27 year-old Steph leave the Big Brother house after nine arduous weeks, attracted an average of 6.1 million viewers and secured 28% of the available audiences for Channel 4.

Friday’s finalé was just beaten by the Big Brother launch show on 23 May, which drew an average of 6.6 million viewers to become the highest rated show on Channel 4 so far this year (see Big Brother Bounces Back With Record Audiences).

The fourth series of the reality TV extravaganza has averaged 4.5 million viewers and a 22% share of the available audience for all peak time shows. This is more than double Channel 4’s average for the 10pm slot, which usually attracts around 2 million viewers.

However, speculation suggests that the popularity of the show is waning and the last 64 days have seen Channel 4 introduce a number of twists in an attempt to liven up the existing format. These included a reward room, a thirteenth housemate and a contestant swap with Big Brother Africa house.

Figures show that almost 12 million votes were cast throughout the series, more than 4 million of which were registered during Friday’s final.

Earlier this month Channel 4’s director of television and the man responsible for commissioning Big Brother, Tim Gardam, announced his intention to step down at the end of the year (see Channel 4’s Director Of Television To Step Down). He will be replaced by Five’s director of programming, Kevin Lygo (see Lygo Set To Return To Channel 4).

Channel Four: 020 7396 4444 www.channel4.co.uk

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