Gina G Proves A Euro Hit With BBC1 Viewers

The Eurovision Song Contest has proved that despite being considered one of the worst programmes on television it can still pull in a healthy audience. 10.23 million tuned in on Saturday 18th May to see if the British entry “Just a Little Bit” performed by Gina G would win (she finished 7th with Ireland winning for the seventh time). It was the most watched programme of Saturday night and had a consolidated share of the viewing audience of 45%.

The much publicised appearance of OJ Simpson on Tonight with Richard and Judy has had very little or no effect on the ratings, with only 6.83 million people tuning in to hear his version of events surrounding the murder of his ex-wife Nicole. With all the extra publicity generated by the press (especially the tabloid newspapers) it could have been expected that the show would achieve an audience of over 10 million. It failed to make the top thirty programmes list and only appeared at number 27 on ITV’s own top thirty programmes.

The movie premiere of Mel Gibson’s Forever Young has again given ITV a commanding Sunday night in comparison to BBC1. The film attracted an audience of 11.32 million and a consolidated share of the viewing audience of 45%. This week has been a good week for soap operas with 80% of the top ten programmes belonging to the three main soaps (Coronation Street, Eastenders and Emmerdale).

Average weekly viewing for the week ending 19th May for individuals 4+ was up by 0.35% in comparison to the same week last year. In Astra Panel homes, viewing for all channels has risen by 3.7% when compared to the same week last year.