Manchester United Triumph Proves A Winner For ITV1

Manchester United’s win over Roma in last night’s UEFA Champion’s League quarter final brought over 5.9 million adults on average to ITV1 between 7.30pm and 10pm.

The victory gave the channel a 27.2% average viewing share over the period. However, the game’s preamble couldn’t compete with Albert Square and the return of Ricky and Bianca to EastEnders.

Frank Butcher’s funeral attracted almost 8.8 million to BBC One, giving the channel a 43.2% audience share between 7.30pm and 8pm.

Following on from that, medical drama Holby City was a weighty opponent for the football, with almost 5.8 million adults tuning in, giving BBC One a 25.9% share between 8pm and 9pm.

The quirky Hotel Babylon was next, gaining an average adult audience of over 4.3 million (19.8%).

Earlier, Emmerdale on ITV1 was watched by one million more people than BBC One’s The One Show. The soap attracted 6.2 million (33.9%) compared to 5.2 million (28.4%) for the popular magazine format.

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.

BBC: 020 8743 8000 www.bbc.co.uk ITV: 020 7843 8000 www.itv.com