Big Brother Launch Sees Success For Channel 4

The launch of Celebrity Big Brother gave Channel 4 a ratings boost last night, with 5.8 million adults tuning in on average to see this year’s contestants enter the famous house.

The programme beat off competition from both the BBC’s terrestrial channels, as well as Five, but was topped by ITV’s Doc Martin, with an audience of 7.7 million in the same time slot.

Channel 4 wiped the floor with its competitors in the 16-34 year old audience, however, achieving a 49.44% share with big brother, as 2.6 million tuned in.

This year’s show promises controversy in spades, with contestants including MP George Galloway and shamed TV presenter Michael Barrymore (see Barrymore Tipped For Celeb Big Brother).

In a first for the star-studded programme, this year’s show also features a ‘non celebrity’ in the shape of Essex model Chantelle, charged with duping her fellow contestants into believing she is a member of fictional girl band Kandyfloss.

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, ITV2 and Sky One.

BARB: www.barb.co.uk