Pop Idol Comes Out Top Of Reality TV Talent Shows
ITV came out on top on Saturday night in the battle of the reality TV talent shows, as Pop Idol peaked with more than 2 million more viewers than its rival Fame Academy on BBC1.
Audiences for the first instalment of the new series of Pop Idol, which saw the latest batch of hopefuls attempt to dazzle Simon Cowell and his panel of celebrity judges, peaked at 6.3 million and provided ITV1 with a 41.7% share of viewing.
The hour-long programme averaged 5 million viewers and secured a 41.7% share of the available audience between 7.15pm and 8.15pm, in what will be welcomed as an encouraging debut for the jewel in ITV1’s Saturday night crown.
Meanwhile, audiences for rival reality TV talent show, Fame Academy, peaked at 3.9 million and provided BBC1 with a 29.8% share of viewing. The programme, which did not compete head to head with Pop Idol and only overlapped it for 15 minutes, averaged 3.4 million viewers and secured a 26.6% share of the available audience between 6.25pm and 7.30pm.
The first series of Fame Academy, which was dubbed Lame Academy by its critics, saw audiences hover around the 4.3 million mark. However, year’s Pop Idol attracted an average of 7.5 million viewers, with around 13 million reality TV fans tuning in to see Will Young emerge victorious in the live final (see Pop Idol Is A Hit For ITV).
Earlier this year advertisers condemned the BBC’s decision to schedule Fame Academy against ITV’s new series of Pop Idol as a “flagrant abuse” of its public service duty.
The BBC insisted it was forced to schedule the programme in an early evening slot because of the National Lottery draw. However, ISBA’s director of media and advertising affairs, Bob Wootton, claimed the decision is a “cheap shot” to win ratings (see Advertisers Slam BBC As TV Talent Shows Go Head To Head).
BBC: 020 8743 8000 www.bbc.co.uk ITV: 020 7843 8000 www.itv.com
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