TV Overnights: Liverpool’s victory peaks at 10m
Friday
The weekend’s primetime TV viewing began with the usual onslaught of soaps, with the big three pulling in high audience figures. The first episode of Coronation Street (ITV1, 7:30pm) on Friday night had an audience share of 38%; at its peak 8.4 million viewers tuned in to watch Carla hit rock bottom (again).
That Friday feeling officially kicked off at 7pm with a funeral on Emmerdale. The soap witnessed similar popularity but failed to match the heights of its Northern cousin; 7.1 million people tuned in to watch Adam deal with the double whammy of burying a father and an ill-timed hangover.
EastEnders on BBC One at 8pm grabbed a 35% audience share and peaked at eight million viewers. The second episode of Corrie at 8:30pm didn’t carry through the same number of viewers but still managed a respectable audience share of 35%.
Saturday
The rest of the weekend’s offerings were a flurry of sporting events and light entertainment. The first Six Nations game of the day kicked off at 1:30pm on BBC One and saw Ireland beat Italy live from Aviva Stadium in Dublin. The game had an average audience of 2.7 million viewers but peaked in the last half an hour with 3.4 million (a 30% share). This was followed immediately after by more Six Nations, which provided the channel with biggest audience of the day, as England faced Wales at Twickenham and lost. Again, audience interest peaked towards the close of the game with eight million viewers (42% of the available audience).
Viewers continued to gravitate towards BBC One for the rest of the evening with the second episode of Let’s Dance for Sport Relief at 7:30pm, averaging 5.6 million viewers for the one hour twenty minute slot.
Take Me Out provided ITV1 with their biggest audience of the day. The dating show, which features female contestants expressing their feelings through the simple medium of white lights, had an audience share of 21.2%, resulting in 4.9 million viewers.
Sunday
The Six Nations action continued on Sunday with Scotland v France kicking off at 3pm on BBC Two. The game, which resulted in a French victory, secured an average audience of two million viewers. The League Cup Final over on BBC One won the majority of viewers’ attention as Liverpool faced Cardiff City. The game, which kicked off at 4pm, averaged 5.9 million viewers but peaked at 10 million as Liverpool sailed through to victory on penalties.
Attempting to balance out the amount of sporting coverage on the weekend’s schedule was Dancing on Ice (ITV1, 6:45pm). The show, with seven remaining contestants, dazzled 27% of the available audience (7.1 million) into submission with sequins, risk of genuine injury, and Torvill and Dean. Meanwhile, BBC One provided some stoic alternatives in the form of Countryfile (6.4 million), Antiques Roadshow (6.3 million) and the second series of Upstairs Downstairs (5.9 million) at 9pm. Top Gear brought a decent audience over to BBC Two at 8pm with 4.5 million viewers.
ITV1 African family drama Wild at Heart (8:30pm) captured an average audience of 6.2 million, followed by Dancing on Ice: The Skate Off. Sam Nixon, famous for appearing as a contestant on Fun House in 1998, simply couldn’t compete on the same level as Chico and was eliminated from the show. The tense skate-off didn’t grab the same number of viewers as the main show but did manage a 22.3% audience share.
Meanwhile on Channel 4, the critically acclaimed US drama Homeland improved upon its debut last week with two 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.