Overnights: Michael Jackson tribute triumphs

ITV1’s last minute Michael Jackson tribute secured the highest ratings on Friday evening with 4.5 million peak viewers.

The Michael Jackson Story, which was added to the commercial broadcaster’s schedule following Jackson’s unexpected death on Thursday evening, pulled in more than 4.4 million average viewers and a 21.2% audience share during the 9pm to 10pm peak-slot.

At the same time, the second episode of BBC One’s new Hotel Babylon series attracted 3.4 million viewers and a 16.6% share, while BBC Two’s ever-popular Top Gear picked up over 2 million viewers and a 9.6% share.

Meanwhile, Big Brother‘s ratings managed to slip even further compared with previous series. The first episode at 9pm only pulled in 1.9 million average viewers and a 9% share for Channel 4, down from 2.1 million viewers last Friday and over half a million less than the same slot two weeks ago.

The second episode, which was the eviction special, attracted an even lower 1.5 million average viewers and a 9.6% share for Channel 4 between 10.35pm and 11.10pm.

On Saturday, BBC One banked the highest ratings with its regular peak-run of Casualty, Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow, BBC News and the Will Smith film Enemy of the State.

Sunday evening’s line-up saw Kingdom come out on top in the peak-hour ratings war with a high of over 5 million viewers and a 21.2% average audience share.

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.