ITV1 ratings score highly

ITV1 stole the show last night, holding on to the peak audience all evening, starting off with Emmerdale at 7pm all the way through to the end of the Live FA Cup football at 10pm.

Around 5.7 million peak viewers tuned in to see Southend take on Chelsea in the third round FA Cup replay, which was temporarily called off due to bad weather conditions, securing ITV1 with a 21.8% average audience share between 8pm and 10pm.

Southend started off well, going one-nil up with Adam Barrett’s goal, however Chelsea came back to win 4-1 with goals from Michael Ballack, Salomon Kalou, Nicolas Anelka and Frank Lampard.

Meanwhile, ITV1’s earlier trip to Coronation Street pulled in more than 10.4 million peak viewers, banking an impressive 45% audience share for the commercial broadcaster.

Emmerdale also managed to pick up high ratings, with more than 8.2 million peak viewers and a 35.8% audience share between 7pm and 7.30pm.

Elsewhere, BBC One’s new peak time programme – The Secret Life of Elephants – which reveals the emotional and dramatic lives of elephants in Kenya’s Samburu reserve, attracted 4.2 million average viewers between 9pm and 10pm.

At the same time, BBC Two’s new The City Uncovered with Evan Davis: Banks and How to Break Them, which aims to lift the lid on the crisis in global finance, pulled in 1.9 million average viewers, while Channel 4’s Celebrity Big Brother picked up 2.8 million.

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.

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