The Secret Millionaire Banks The Top Spot

The Secret Millionaire banked more than 4.5 million peak viewers for Channel 4 last night, ahead of BBC One and ITV1 for the last 45 minutes of the show.

The popular reality programme saw property tycoon and millionaire, Nick Leslau, help people with severe disabilities in Glasgow.

However, BBC One’s one-off documentary, Pedigree Dogs Exposed, came a close second behind Channel 4 – pulling in more than 3.9 million viewers with a 17% audience share between 9pm and 10pm.

The BBC One special, investigating the health of thoroughbred dogs, managed to gain 3.9 million viewers in the first 15 minutes of the show, just beating Channel 4’s 3.7 million between 9pm and 9.15pm.

ITV1’s Trinny and Susannah Undress the Nation came well behind with just over 2 million viewers during the hour-long slot – only managing to secure a 9.5% audience share.

Meanwhile, BBC Two’s Maestro attracted 1.7 million average viewers with almost an 8% audience share at the same time.

Although Channel 4 topped the ratings throughout most of the all-important 9pm to 10pm slot, BBC One stole the show for most of the day again with its Olympics 2008 coverage, with only a short break for ITV1’s Emmerdale at 7pm to 8pm.

The live coverage on BBC One pulled in around 4 million average viewers with a substantial 41.4% audience share between 12.45pm and 5.15pm yesterday.

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 and key multi-channel stations.

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