TV Overnights: Football & rugby dominates the weekend ratings

Sports coverage dominated this weekend’s ratings – the FA Cup for ITV1 and the Six Nations for BBC One.

On Saturday, the FA Cup 6th Round Manchester United v Arsenal game scored a high of more than 7 million viewers for ITV1 at 7pm, while the Stoke City v West Ham United match attracted 3.4 million peak viewers during the Sunday lunchtime slot.

Meanwhile, the Six Nations Rugby proved to be a highlight for BBC One. The England v Scotland game pulled in more than 7.7 million peak viewers on Sunday, securing a 34.7% average audience share between 2.30pm and 5pm.

On Saturday, the Italy v France game secured 3.6 million viewers for BBC One, while the Wales v Ireland match banked 3.7 million viewers.

In the prime time slots, ITV1 attracted the peak ratings on Sunday with Dancing on Ice and Wild at Heart.

8.1 million peak viewers tuned in to see the five remaining celebrities perform in Dancing on Ice, securing a 28.4% average audience share for the broadcaster between 7.10pm and 8.30pm.

The last in the series of Wild at Heart followed with 6.8 million average viewers and a 24.9% share, before The Skate Off (which saw Jeff Brazier get voted off) pulled in 6.6 million viewers and a 25.2% share.

On Saturday night, BBC One claimed the top prime time ratings with Let’s Dance for Comic Relief, The National Lottery and Casualty.

The final Let’s Dance for Comic Relief attracted over 7 million average viewers and a 29.8% share between 7.10pm and 8.30pm; The National Lottery: Secret Fortune peaked with 6.6 million viewers; and Casualty pulled in 5.7 million 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.