Castaway Returns To BBC One
One of the original reality TV programmes, Castaway, returned to BBC One on Friday with a new group of contestants spending three months on an idyllic New Zealand island.
The castaways, who will have to grow and collect their own food and use the land and ocean to feed themselves, began their new lives on BBC One on Friday evening at 9pm, and a peak audience of 4.2 million adults (a 20% audience share) watched them as they met each other and settled into their new surroundings.
The first show in the new series managed an average audience of 3.9 million adults across its hour long running time, with the only other programme on at 9pm to come close to matching that figure being Rebus on ITV1.
The show, covering the travails of a hard bitten Edinburgh cop brought in an average of 3.5 million viewers across its hour and a half running time.
BBC One was a haven for sports fans over the weekend, with Six Nations Rugby and FA Cup football more than enough to persuade the arm chair enthusiast to ignore the sunshine and stay indoors.
The corporation’s Six Nations coverage on Saturday drew a fair few viewers, with a peak of 4.8 million adults tuning in to see large men clobbering each other.
Of course, these viewers might just have been getting settled in for the main event, the FA Cup match between Manchester United and Middlesbrough, which had a peak viewing figure of 7.3 million adults.
The game, which saw a plucky Middlesbrough side draw 2-2 with Manchester Utd after a controversial penalty decision, brought in an average audience of 6.2 million adult viewers, a 35% share of the audience.
Away from the sporting arena, the semi-final of ITV1’s Dancing On Ice aired as promised, following the broadcaster’s internal review of its interactive services (see ITV Suspends Premium Rate Phone-Ins).
There had been fears that the show might not be broadcast if the review was not finished in time, although ITV had instructed Deloitte, who carried out the review, to prioritise the programme and ensure viewers did not miss out on voting for their favourite ice-dancing celebrity.
It was a good choice by ITV, as Dancing On Ice proved to be channel’s best performing show on the night, racking up a peak audience figure of 7.5 million adults.
Back on BBC One, at 9pm, was Casualty. It was a Comic Relief special that saw the cast get up to all sorts of fun and japes as they did their rounds, although this was tempered with some sombre moments as the show helped to explain where all of the much needed money goes.
Disgraced ex-presenter of Have I Got News For You, Angus Deayton guest starred in Saturday’s episode, sending up his deadpan image with aplomb, whilst former nurse Megan Roach rocked up at the hospital too. The show got a very healthy peak audience of 6.3 million adults, a 29% share.
BBC One was sports central again on Sunday, with a peak of 5.1 million watching a Mike Catt-propelled England overcome the French in a thrilling match, whilst a peak of 4.6 million watched plucky Plymouth go out of the FA Cup to a resolute Watford side.
Coming full-circle, BBC One returned to check on the inhabitants of the Castaway island at 9pm last night, with an average audience of 2.7 million adults (a 12.8% share) checking to see if the contestants had yet broken out into Lord Of The Flies savagery. This meant that the show was down 1.2 million adults on its Friday night showing.
Perhaps unexpectedly, Channel 4’s movie offering, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which also started at 9pm, fared slightly better than the BBC’s much hyped Castaway, with an average audience share of 13.6%.
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, ITV2 and Sky One.
ITV: 020 7843 8000 www.itv.com BBC: 020 8743 8000 www.bbc.co.uk Channel 4: 020 7396 4444 www.channel4.com