Dancing on Ice beat the BAFTAs

ITV’s ever-popular Dancing on Ice managed to pull in higher ratings than BBC One’s coverage of the prestigious British Academy Film Awards last night.

Dancing on Ice attracted 9 million viewers and an impressive 33.7% audience share between 6.50pm and 8.30pm, and an extra 7.3 million viewers during The Skate Off show between 9.30pm and 10pm.

Four out of the five judges voted for Ellery to stay in the celebrity ice-skating competition, meaning Todd Carty’s time on the ice was finally up.

Over on BBC One, the BAFTA awards, hosted by Jonathan Ross, proved to be a good night for British films – Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire won Best Film, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, while Kate Winslet walked away with the Leading Actress award for her part in The Reader.

The awards ceremony pulled in 5.1 million peak viewers and an 18.5% average audience share between 9pm and 10pm.

Elsewhere, BBC One held the peak audience for most of Saturday with sporting coverage of the Live Six Nations Rugby Union games and Match of the Day, as well as classic shows including The National Lottery and Casualty.

ITV managed to secure the peak audience during the all-important time slots on Friday evening, with Coronation Street banking 9.7 million viewers and Trial & Retribution picking up almost 6 million peak viewers.

However, BBC One’s Friday Night with Jonathan Ross stole the peak audience from 10.30pm, with guests including Anna Friel and Tom Jones, attracting more than 5.3 million peak viewers and a 26.3% 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.

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