TV Overnights: BGT dominates with 10.8m peak audience

ITV1’s Britain’s Got Talent reached the semi-finals this weekend, with shows on Saturday, Sunday and Monday evening.

The second of the live semi-finals, which banked the highest ratings (10.8 million peak viewers) saw nine acts perform in a bid to win their place in Saturday’s final.

Saturday’s show secured a peak audience of 10.5 million viewers for ITV1 and ITV1 HD, while Sunday night’s performances attracted 10.4 million peak viewers.

The talent contest with judges Simon Cowell and David Walliams saw its ratings race ahead of BBC One’s The Voice UK. The BBC singing competition with judges Jessie J and Tom Jones pulled in around nine million viewers on Saturday, while the results show won a high of 6.8 million viewers on Sunday evening.

Elsewhere this weekend, ITV1’s coverage of the Live FA Cup Final between Chelsea and Liverpool scored a peak audience of 10.3 million viewers on Saturday afternoon. An average audience of more than 4.4 million viewers tuned in to ITV1 from 3pm to watch the full match, which saw the London team claim the trophy after a 2-1 win.

BBC One banked the pre-football ratings with the World Championship Snooker. The live coverage was viewed by an average audience of 1.6 million on Saturday. That figure rose to more than 2.5 million peak viewers on Sunday after it moved to BBC Two. On the final day of tournament (yesterday), over three million viewers saw Ronnie O’Sullivan walk away with his fourth world title.

Other rating-winners for the BBC this bank holiday were Planet Earth Live, which debuted on Sunday evening with 5.7 million viewers. Meanwhile, the Beeb’s popular drama Silent Witness secured 3.4 million peak viewers on Sunday evening, while Monday’s episode reached a smaller 2.7 million peak.

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.