ITV claimed victory in the first head to head battle with BBC1 over the 10pm news slot. More than 8m people tuned in to watch the re-launched ITV News At Ten, while the BBC’s 10pm news bulletin drew in only 4.4m viewers.
A BBC spokesman said: “We are in this for the long term. This is not just about ratings. We would ask people to judge us over the next few months and on the quality of coverage we are providing.” But opposition parties attacked the BBC this afternoon, arguing that by participating in the ratings battle the Corporation was acting against public interest.
Viewing figures on the ITV network were pushed by the scheduling of Millionaire beforehand. ITV was criticised by the BBC for cutting the ad break immediately prior to the broadcast of News at Ten, allowing Millionaire to run straight into the news bulletin and giving the network an unfair ratings advantage.
According to overnight figures ITV took a 38.9% peak-time (18:00-22:30) share last night while BBC1’s viewing share for the period was 28.3%.
ITV: 020 7843 8000 BBC: 020 8743 8000
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