Celebrity Big Brother Goes Down A Storm
The first instalment of this year’s Celebrity Big Brother attracted a peak of 7.9 million viewers to Channel 4 last night, breaking the opening night ratings record for the show.
According to unofficial overnight figures from BARB, the programme, which saw six minor celebrities enter the Big Brother house for a ten day charity ordeal, drew an average of 7.2 million viewers and achieved a 29% share of viewing between 9pm and 10pm, beating The Bill on ITV1 and The Life Of Mammals, on BBC1.
The opening episode of last year’s Celebrity Big Brother attracted an audience of 4.5 million and the first instalment of last summer’s Big Brother 3 drew 5.9 million viewers.
The original reality TV show seems to have an inexhaustible appeal for Channel 4, which is hoping that this year’s Celebrity Big Brother, starring Anne Diamond, Sue Perkins, Melinda Messenger, Goldie, Mark Owen and Les Dennis will be the most successful yet.
Earlier this month Channel 4 launched a targeted outdoor, radio and press campaign to promote Celebrity Big Brother 2 and build the hype surrounding the show (see Channel 4 Launches Celebrity Big Brother Campaign).
Channel Four: 020 7396 4444 www.channel4.co.uk
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