Steve’s rubbish proposal on Coronation Street nets ITV 7.1m
Wednesday night saw BBC One develop a serious case of the munchies by dedicating its two hour prime time window to both competitive and inventive culinary creations, followed up with a second course of greasy mass produced fried baby chicken pumped out by an aggressive multinational.
At 8pm, MasterChef, the unstoppable franchise that will never go away, continued with its 11th series (33rd if you’re including the Loyd Grossman, Gary Rhodes and celebrity-fronted series) as yet another group of five hopefuls sharpened up the knives and followed the exact pattern as the other 650 plus episodes already aired.
5.2 million viewers tuned in to see judges, John Torode and Gregg Wallace attempt to drum up some excitement, to keep their lucrative day jobs paying out, resulting in a tidy 25% share.
Afterwards at 9pm it was the second instalment in the latest of the broadcaster’s ‘impartial’ marketing exercise workplace documentaries on The Billion Dollar Chicken Shop.
Reminding people just enough of Channel 4’s The Fried Chicken Shop, this look at the inner workings of KFC concentrated on the actual people behind the tills, defrosting the chicken and cleaning the toilets with highly suspicious enthusiasm.
A little over 3 million viewers tuned in for last night’s special recipe-infused outing, netting a 15% share for BBC One.
If BBC Two has a theme to its night, it would be that of career women and the different paths on offer in this modern age.
First up was The Ladykillers: Pest Detectives at 8pm, the first of four episodes looking at four female pest ‘controllers’ doing their jobs. Offering possible insights into next year’s all-female Ghostbusters reboot, yesterday’s lethal dose of rat poison netted 1.3 million viewers and a 6% share.
Straight up afterwards was an inspirational lady who no doubt had to deal with her own fair share of vermin and suspicious stains.
Hilary Clinton: The Power of Women (9pm) was a documentary marking the 20th anniversary of the former first lady’s ground breaking speech on women’s rights and asks how far the cause has evolved.
An audience of 827,000 viewers tuned in to see Condoleezza Rice and Madeleine Albright revealing the particular struggles they faced, resulting in a 4% share.
ITV’s contribution to the evening came in the very conflicting forms of lighter than helium entertainment followed by a spot of gritty northern murder.
At 8pm Big Star’s Little Star saw amiable robot, Stephen Mulhern, flash his winning smile and invite some more ITV-contracted reality stars to drag their children to prime time TV , just to fill an hour.
3.5 million viewers watched as Jimmy Bullard joined a rugby player and – would you believe? – someone from Heartbeat, netting a 17% share.
Afterwards, happiness personified, DCI Banks (9pm) was back to wrap up last week’s case, despite carrying the weight of the world on his disheartened shoulders.
The concluding half, about a military marks man out for revenge, secured 4.2 million viewers which is a slight increase on last week’s audience. This was enough to secure the 9pm position for the commercial broadcasters, netting a 21% share along the way.
Channel 4 was busy continuing to pump out successful reality formats with Three in a Bed securing 760,000 viewers and a 4% share at 8pm while the latest clump of traumas on 24 Hours in A&E brought in 1.9 million viewers and a 9% share at 9pm.
The eighth and final episode of GPs: Behind Closed Doors was watched by 1.1 million viewers and a 6% share at 8pm on Channel 5, with 873,000 (a 4% share) tuning in at 9pm to see randy old people try a bit too hard in OAPs Behaving Badly.
But before all that, ITV’s two teatime soaps already took the day’s top spots with Emmerdale netting 5.9 million viewers at 7pm. Scenes of fraudster pensioner Pearl admitting all to the police brought in a 33% share.
At 7:30pm, Coronation Street was watched by 7.1 million viewers as financially and mentally troubled Steve McDonald proposed to long-suffering Michelle while bulk buying loo rolls, netting a 35% share.
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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