BBC Sinks Competition With Boat Race Coverage
The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race bowed out to a massive audience of nearly nine million viewers yesterday afternoon as the BBC aired its last ever broadcast of the prestigious annual event.
Unofficial overnight figures from BARB show that a peak of 8.9 million viewers tuned in to see Cambridge secure a controversial win over Oxford in what was the 150th Boat Race to take place on the Thames.
The win brought an end to two years of Oxford dominance, although the victory is held in dispute by some following a clash of oars which led to Cambridge’s triumph. It is understood that audiences for the event were the highest in more than a decade.
The ratings coup could be a bitter-sweet victory for the BBC, as coverage of the competition will now be handed to ITV, following a new five-year deal struck by the newly merged broadcaster to screen the race from 2005 (see ITV Snatches Boat Race Broadcast Rights From BBC).
Competition for Sunday’s broadcast was slim, with ITV1’s showing of Poirot attracting a peak of 2.6 million viewers. Meanwhile, Channel 4’s mixture of Time Team and Friends managed a peak audience of just 2.2 million during the same slot.
The Boat Race secured an impressive 45% share of viewing for BBC One yesterday between 5:00pm and 6:40pm, The coverage dwarfed its nearest competitor, Poirot, which notched up a peak share of just 16.3% over the same period.
Despite losing the rights to broadcast the Boat Race, the BBC has embarked on something of a shopping spree lately, snatching the rights to Six Nations Rugby, Moto GP, UK Athletics, England’s home football international games and Premiership football rights for Match of the Day (see BBC Wins Six Nations Coverage Until 2010).
BBC: 020 8743 8000 www.bbc.co.uk
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