Television Viewing Round-Up – January 2007

Channel 4 was the only terrestrial channel to see any growth in its viewing share during January 2007 as the broadcaster capitalised on the success of Celebrity Big Brother.

Meanwhile, in digital homes, both BBC One and Channel 4 saw an increase in their share over the month, while multichannel sustained a dip in viewing.

Channel 4’s viewing share increased slightly during January year on year, as the broadcaster capitalised on the increased viewing for Celebrity Big Brother during Shilpa-gate, and then attempted to defuse the furore that followed (see Duncan And Lygo Defend Celebrity Big Brother).

ITV1 saw its viewing share fall by 1% point for the month year on year, with the broadcaster seeing its share drop to 19.2% of all viewing.

BBC Two’s share fell by 0.9% points, whilst Five saw its share drop by 0.4% points to 5.4% in all TV homes. Top Gear returned to BBC Two at the end of the month, with the broadcast of Richard Hammond’s high-speed crash beating the viewing figures for Celebrity Big Brother‘s live final (see Big Bro Finale Crashes Out To Top Gear).

Multichannel’s viewing share increased by 2.4% year on year to take 33.9% of all TV viewing.

Both BBC One and Channel 4 had an increase in their viewing share in digital homes in January year on year. BBC One saw its share increase by 0.4% points while Channel 4 increased by 0.5% points.

Small fluctuations were observed at BBC Two, ITV1 and Five, which all saw slight decreases on the same period last year.

Multichannel saw a dip in viewing of 0.7% points year on year, however the extra channel choice still dominates viewing in digital homes, at 41.6% of viewing.

BBC1 retained its position as the most popular terrestrial channel in both Sky and Freeview homes, with a 23.5% share in Freeview and 17.6% in Sky homes.

Multichannel options continued their dominance, remaining the most popular channel choice in both Freeview and Sky homes. Viewing share of these digital channels is 49.4% in Sky homes and 31.1% in Freeview homes, with the difference due to the smaller channel choice available on Freeview.

Data to form this report can be found in the Television database on mediatel.co.uk within the “Weekly – Analysis by Platform” section. For any assistance please contact the helpdesk on 020 7439 7575.

BARB: www.barb.co.uk