Britain’s Got Talent hits a high of 14.5m viewers

Britain’s Got Talent dominated the ratings this bank holiday weekend with a peak of almost 14.5 million viewers last night.

The talent show, which aired on three consecutive nights, kick-started on Saturday with a high of more than 12.7 million viewers, securing ITV1 with nearly 50% of the audience share between 8.20pm and 9.50pm.

The first of the semi-finals, which saw eight acts competing to win a place in the final, pulled in over 12.3 million peak viewers and a slightly lower 49.2% average share on Sunday evening.

Meanwhile, bank holiday Monday’s second live semi-final attracted an impressive 14.49 million peak viewers and a 51.5% share between 9pm and 10.30pm.

The popular talent contest, with judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan, helped ITV secure the highest ratings during all three evening’s peak audience slots.

On Saturday, the channel banked a peak run from 5.50pm onwards with You’ve Been Framed, All Star Mr & Mrs, Primeval and Britain’s Got Talent.

Meanwhile, ITV1’s flagship soaps and football highlights secured the highest ratings around Britain’s Got Talent last night – Emmerdale started the channel’s peak run at 7pm, followed by Coronation Street, which attracted more than 9 million viewers.

Later on in the evening, the Championship play-off final highlights, between Sheffield United and Burnley, pulled in 3.3 million peak viewers.

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.