Big Brother Bounces Back With Record Audiences
Big Brother returned to our screens with a bang on Friday as a peak audience of 7.4 million people tuned in to Channel 4 for the first instalment of this year’s reality TV extravaganza.
Unofficial overnight figures from BARB show that the opening episode, which saw the twelve new housemates attempt to adapt to their new surroundings, attracted an average of 6.6 million viewers between 8.30pm and 9.30pm, providing Channel 4 with its biggest audience so far this year.
Viewing figures for the show were also significantly higher that last year’s Big Brother debut, which reached 5.9 million viewers and the 2001 launch programme, which was watched by an audience of 3.5 million.
The data shows that a further 4.9 million viewers tuned in to Channel 4 later Friday evening to see the contestants make their first surprise nominations. The show peaked with an audience of 5.5 million and delivered Channel 4 an impressive 45% share of viewing between 10.45pm and 11.50pm.
Sunday’s hour-long instalment of reality entertainment saw the housemates get to grips with their first weekly task. The show drew an average of 4 million viewers between 10pm and 11pm and helped Channel 4 to secure a 19.4% share of the available audience.
Last night’s daily 30 minute update managed to attract an average audience of 3 million viewers. However, this was overshadowed by Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade, which drew an average of 8.6 million viewers to BBC1.
Channel 4 is rumoured to be planning a number of surprises to ensure that ratings for the show remain as high as possible. However, speculation that the housemates are to be given access to a secret bar and unlimited amounts of alcohol have been denied by the channel.
The final episodes of last year’s Big Brother helped Channel 4 to its highest ever daily share, beating BBC1 and ITV1 for the first time ever (see Big Brother helps C4 Beat ITV1 and BBC1 In Daily Share).
Channel Four: 020 7396 4444 www.channel4.co.uk
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