ITV leads Wednesday with Corrie and emotional NTAs
Wednesday night saw the biggest stars of British television come out in force in a self-congratulatory orgy of back-patting that was The National Television Awards – Live! (ITV, 7:30pm).
The two and a half hour pageantry of fancy dresses and moving speeches was anchored by the fact that the viewing public are in full control, allowing Geordie jungle dwellers Ant and Dec to walk away with the Best Entertainment Presenter award for the fourteenth year in a row.
While EastEnders capped off its resurgent year by bagging the Serial Drama award, Coronation Street was very much the focus of many speeches, with Bill Roche upsetting many people with his tearful tribute to his co-star Anne Kirkbride who passed away on Monday, while the cast of EastEnders dedicated their win to the Weatherfield One.
The entire production secured Wednesday’s second biggest audience, with 6.3 million viewers tuning in to see Danny Dyer mercilessly beat his on-screen missus Kellie Bright (in the competitive acting sense only) in the Serial Drama Performance category, while their pretend daughter Maddy Hill was crowned the most popular newcomer.
The celebratory festival of free drinks and famous faces managed to secure an impressive 28% audience share for its monumental running time.
In a coincidentally sound tactical move from ITV, the latest episode of Coronation Street (7pm) preceded the glamorous event with the employees of Carla Connor’s knicker factory dealing with the aftermath of Monday’s ‘big budget’ double episode.
Yesterday’s biggest audience tuned in to see Carla’s life literally hang in the balance, only to be replaced in the precariously placed cliff-top mini bus by Tracy Barlow at the last minute. 7.6 million viewers watched yesterday’s only outing from the three big soaps, with the dramatic repercussions of Steve McDonald’s driving netting a whopping 38% share.
Meanwhile, outside of the world of soap and celebration, the evening’s TV schedule continued as normal. At 8pm the BBC was content with throwing animals at the screen to cheer up the masses, with Pets – Wild at Heart netting 3.5 million viewers (a 16% share) on BBC One while the third instalment of the glacial Winterwatch secured 2.1 million and a 9% share on BBC Two.
On Channel 4, gravel-voiced architect George Clarke donned The Restoration Man persona and watched other people do all the hard work, securing 1.4 million viewers (a 6% share), the broadcaster’s biggest hit of the day.
Channel 5 had North Pole Airport, the first of a three part documentary about a cold airport, which brought in 441,000 viewers and a 2% share.
Later at 9pm, 24 Hours in A&E (Channel 4) traumatised an audience of 1.3 million viewers and a 6% share, while there were more real life horrors on Crimewatch (BBC One), which secured 2.4 million viewers and a 10% share.
The ongoing dank horror of Celebrity Big Brother (9pm) brought 1.8 million lost souls to Channel 5 at 9pm, although the majority probably had their mobiles stuck in front of their faces as the show topped the TV Twitter chart yet again.
At the same time BBC Two celebrated a notable success with the launch of eagerly anticipated history drama Wolf Hall (9pm). Starring Mark Rylance and Damian Lewis as Thomas Cromwell and Henry VII, respectively, this ‘real life Game of Thrones‘ was the first of six episodes tasked with adapting both Hilary Mantel novels, Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies.
Considering the hoopla available over on the other side, an incredibly impressive 3.9 million viewers watched the tension-filled slow-burning drama, with a 17% share helping BBC Two secure its biggest drama audience in a decade.
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 and key multi-channel stations. Overnight data supplied by TRP are based on 15 minute slot averages. This may differ from tape checked figures, which are based on a programme’s actual start and end time.
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