Channel 4 Narrows Gap On ITV’s Young Audiences
Channel 4 is closing in on ITV’s lucrative 16-34 year old audiences, with figures showing the gap between the two broadcasters to have almost halved within a year.
Monthly viewing figures show ITV to have lost 3.9 million viewers from the young adult category over the last six months, dropping from 21.88 million in November 2004 to 17.98 million in April 2005.
Channel 4 on the other hand has increased its 16-34 audience by 1.36 million over the last six months, rising to 12.91 million in April, from 11.55 million in November 2004.
ITV has traditionally performed well in the 16-34 age group, with entertainment shows such as Pop Idol and I’m a Celebrity…Get me Out Here regularly cornering the market. However, Channel 4 has won more viewers with new shows such as Desperate Housewives and Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, steadilly eating into ITV’s share of the lucrative younger market.
However, the current battle for ratings over the broadcasters’ rival reality TV programmes sees the broadcasters see-sawing in terms of audience share. Last week saw ITV beat Channel 4 with the increasingly popular Celebrity Love Island, which topped Channel 4’s Big Brother when ex-playboy playmate Nikki Ziering entered the show (seeLove Island Playmate Stuns Big Brother).
In its recent annual general meeting, ITV revealed that viewing share for the ITV family of channels has continued to grow on all the main platforms over the last six months, with digital terrestrial television enjoying the greatest growth, rising by 1.9 share points and accounting for 27.8% of all viewing over that period (see Digital Channels Drive ITV Viewing Share).
Channel 4 continues to go from strength to strength, meanwhile, having been awarded a newly available slot on Freeview by broadcast services firm, Crown Castle, last month. The win saw off bids from Five, Disney, Turner Broadcasting, Top-Up-TV and Sit-Up-TV with Channel 4’s bid believed to be around £5 million (seeChannel 4 Snaps Up Spare Freeview Slot).
ITV: 020 7843 8000 www.itv.com Channel Four: 020 7396 4444 www.channel4.com