Big Brother Finalé Attracts Record 9 Million Viewers
Channel 4 enjoyed another night of record audiences on Friday with 9 million viewers tuning in to watch Portuguese transsexual Nadia snatch the £63,500 prize fund after being crowned series winner in the finalé of Big Brother 5.
The culmination of this year’s Big Brother proved that there is still life in the ageing reality-TV format, with almost half of the viewing public staying in to watch the twenty-six year-old romp to victory after receiving nearly 4 million votes.
Unofficial overnight viewing figures from BARB show that an average of 8.3 million viewers stayed tuned for the duration of the show, providing Channel 4 with an impressive 41% share of the available audience between 10:00pm and 11:00pm on Friday night.
The Big Brother finalé was by far the highest rating show of the series, beating the previous best of almost 8 million viewers achieved during the surprise eviction of twenty year-old psychology student Stuart Wilson last Wednesday (see Surprise Big Brother Eviction Draws 7.7 Million To Channel 4).
The earlier 8:30pm instalment of Friday’s Big Brother, which saw art-history student Shell and twenty-nine year-old hairdresser Dan leave the house, also performed well. The hour-long special attracted an average of 7.5 million viewers and secured a solid 41% share of viewing.
Channel 4 claims that this year’s Big Brother has been the most successful so far with viewers staying glued to their screens for the constant stream of controversy and surprise. Ratings for this year’s reality-TV extravaganza have risen to about 5 million viewers per show, with a 25% share of viewing and 44% of the lucrative 16 to 34 year-old audience.
A total of 6,366,325 votes were cast since in the run up to Friday night’s eviction, with 3,863,696 routing for Nadia and 1,335,246 supporting Scottish bodybuilder Jason. The total number of votes cast for the whole of Big Brother 5 was 14,790,551. Of these 55% voted by phone, 33% voted by text and 12% voted interactively.
The success of the fifth series of Big Brother means that a sixth instalment of the reality-TV show now looks almost certain to be screened next year. However, Channel 4 is still in hot water with media regulator Ofcom over the infamous Big Brother ‘fight night’ and changes next to year’s series are likely to be imposed.
Channel Four: 020 7396 4444 www.channel4.com
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