Live Honda Ad Boosts Channel 4 Ratings

Channel 4 and Honda teamed up to broadcast the first ever totally live advert on British TV last night, attracting a peak audience of 2.2 million adult viewers.

The ad, featuring 19 skydivers leaping out of a plane over Madrid and spelling out the word Honda, had a three minutes and 20 second slot in the first ad break of Come Dine With Me at 8.10pm.

It was inspired by the car manufacturer’s new multi-million pound advertising campaign ‘Difficult is worth doing’.

Other adverts in the same campaign have involved skydivers creating a series of shapes over the Mojave desert to promote the Honda Accord’s new features.

It comes as broadcasters try to maintain the relevance of TV advertising in the new fast-forward era, with services such as Sky Plus.

Britain’s Got Talent still topped the ratings yesterday, drawing in more than 9.2 million adult viewers at its peak between 9.45 and 10pm.

An average of 6.7 million viewers tuned in to see Jack make a move on his sister-in-law Tanya Branning in BBC1’s EastEnders.

You can view the Honda ad here.

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