Open Drama Dents Corrie’s Ratings

The drama of the 136th Open Championship conclusion saw BBC One steal viewers from Coronation Street last night.

The dramatic extra four-hole playoff between Padraig Harrington and Sergio Garcia attracted an average adult audience of 3.7 million, peaking at 5.4 million viewers between 7.15 and 7.30pm. With the final concluding holes being played out between 7.30 and 7.45pm, ITV1’s powerhouse soap saw viewing dip to 6.5 million (down from 7.7 million the previous Sunday).

Earlier on the havoc caused by the rain in Nurburgring for the F1: European Grand Prix, gave ITV1 another strong rating for their motoring racing coverage. An average of 3.1 million viewed yesterday’s race, which finally saw Lewis Hamilton’s good fortune out with a disappointing 9th placed finish (with a peak audience of 3.8 million twice between 2pm to 2.15pm and 2.45pm to 3pm).

Elsewhere, a repeat showing of cinema’s highest grossing film Titanic, gave BBC Two some respectable early evening viewing figures. The three-hour film managed to attract 2.8 million for its duration, with the ratings rising above three million for the final half-hour of the blockbuster film.

Following from that was the final instalment of the historical drama series Rome. The series conclusion, which saw the end of Anthony and Cleopatra’s love affair attained a respectable audience of 2.1 million, only losing out to main rival Big Brother by around 700,000 viewers.

On Saturday, BBC One’s Dance X once again easily beat ITV1’s Sing It Back. More than 3.8 million adults on average tuned in to see Bruno and Arlene choose their teams, whilst just short of 2.7 million stuck with the lyric quiz.

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.

ITV: 020 7843 8000 www.itv.com BBC: 020 8743 8000 www.bbc.co.uk Channel 4: 020 7396 4444 www.channel4.com