ITV1 Outshines BBC One In Sunday Night Ratings Battle

It was a strong night for ITV1 last night, with ice dancing, loveable vets and the irrepressible Stephen Fry leading the onslaught.

More than 7.5 million adults on average tuned in to the main Dancing On Ice programme, giving ITV1 a 36% viewing share between 6pm and 7.30pm, whilst the results show took more than seven million (28.9%).

Sandwiched between the two was the second episode of the new series of Wild At Heart. This week Danny Trevanion (Stephen Tompkinson) found he had a problem with their cheetahs, whilst tension between wife Sarah (Amanda Holden) and her mother escalated.

Almost 6.9 million adults tuned in to the heart-warming drama series, set in rural South Africa, giving the channel a 29.2% share between 7.30pm and 8.30pm.

Stephen Fry plays affable country solicitor Peter Kingdom in Kingdom, whose compassion and humility have won him huge respect in the small Norfolk town of Market Shipborough. Almost 5.2 million adults stuck with the latest episode of the new series, giving ITV1 a 22.5% share.

Meanwhile, several BBC One programmes reported solid ratings, with Sunday night staple, Antiques Roadshow, attracting over 6.6 million adults (29.7%) to the station between 7pm and 8pm.

Period piece, novel adaptation Lark Rise To Candleford, followed. Six million adults joined the residents of the sleepy Oxfordshire enclave this week, giving BBC One a viewing share of 25% in the timeslot.

Waking The Dead, on at the same time as Kingdom, took a viewing share of 13.7%, with an audience of over 3.2 million adults.

The BBC News at 10pm, however, continued to outshine ITV1’s offering, though by a smaller margin, with an audience of over four million, compared to ITV1’s 3.5 million.

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