Scotland The Brave No Match For Sugar

As England fans heckled Steve McClaren at halftime, the Tartan Army and more than 2.2 million adult TV viewers got behind Big Eck and his boys as they courageously fought world champions Italy in the battle to qualify for Euro 2008.

Despite a 2-0 defeat, Scotland put in a valiant effort, gaining BBC Two a 10.8% viewing share between 7.30pm and 10pm. With competition coming from a string of top BBC One and ITV1 programmes, the match held its audience throughout.

Popular consumer complaints show, Watchdog, on BBC One was seen by more than 3.4 million adults on average (17.8%), whilst almost four million tuned in for hospital drama Holby City.

The start of the new series of The Apprentice followed, gaining an impressive audience of around 4.7 million adults, giving BBC One a 21.6% audience share, compared to Channel 4’s 14.3% share for Grand Designs.

The lifestyle programme was watched by around 3.1 million adults on average, down from around the five million mark at the start of the new series at the beginning of March (see Grand Return For Grand Designs).

Fellow lifestyle show, Relocation, Relocation, also fared well for C4, despite the channel not airing new episodes. Kirstie and Phil’s search for a house in rural England and a flat in Stockholm was enjoyed by 2.7 million adults (13%), up against The Bill on ITV1, which netted more than 4.1 million adult viewers (20%).

After the dramatic goings-on of the residents and coppers of Sun Hill, Blue Murder centred on a seemingly straightforward suicide, which turned out to be anything but.

The show, starring Caroline Quentin, attracted more than 3.1 million adults on average to ITV1, giving the channel a 15% viewing share in the 9pm to 10.30pm timeslot.

Emmerdale and Coronation Street also performed well for the channel, gaining around 7.2 million (41%) and 8.9 million (45.7%) adult viewers respectively.

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.

BBC: 020 8743 8000 www.bbc.co.uk ITV: 020 7843 8000 www.itv.com Channel 4: 020 7396 4444 www.channel4.com