18.5m watch Britain’s Got Talent results show

The Britain’s Got Talent results show had a whopping 18.5 million viewers – a 70.3% share of the TV audience – tuning in to see dance group Diversity crowned champions and book a date with the Queen.

An average of 17.3 million (a 67.6% share) watched all of the half hour results programme, on at 9.30pm on Saturday night.

The live final, on for an hour and 45 minutes at 6.45pm, had a peak of 17.2 million viewers (a 73.8% share), with an average of 15 million tuning in for the whole show – a 69.3% share.

Looking at the show’s overnight figures for the past three series, there has been a dramatic increase in 16+ adult viewers. This year’s average of 15.2 million adults for the results show is well ahead of last year’s 11.8 million.

Over on ITV2 on Saturday, there were two instalments of the spin-off show Britain’s Got More Talent, with the second – on for an hour at 10pm – grabbing a peak of 2.9 million viewers.

This was more than BBC One, BBC Two, Channel 4 and Five each managed during the hour.

On a great Saturday for the broadcaster, the FA Cup Final had a peak of 6.4 million viewers (a 54.5% share) who decided to forgo the sunshine to watch Chelsea lift the cup after beating Everton 2-1 in a classic encounter.

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.