Television Viewing Round-Up – August 2007

ITV1 continued to close the gap on BBC One’s viewing share in all homes, by once again boosting its share in August.

The channel’s share rose by more than one percentage point for the month, whilst BBC One’s share fell, leaving a gap of just over 2% between the two rivals.

All other terrestrial channels felt a slide in their share for the month in all homes.

ITV1 held an 18.3% share for the month after adding 1.1% to its total, perhaps largely in part to the continuing ‘Grade effect’ and the increasing focus on 9pm dramas.

As the TV phone-in debacle raged on, ITV announced that its underlying earnings fell to £151 million in Michael Grade’s first six months in charge, although this figure was £10 million higher than analysts had predicted.

The executive chairman said: “I’m very pleased with progress in ITV1’s schedule performance and the outlook for revenue in Q3 is encouraging” (see “Signs Of Recovery” At ITV).

ITV1 aired the controversial film Malcolm and Barbara: Love’s Farewell in August,, whilst new Robson Green drama Little Devil proved popular in the 9pm slot (see ITV1’s Little Devil Gets Big Ratings).

Bond film Die Another Day was a hit for the channel in the month (see Bond Bags The Viewers), and The X Factor came back with a bang, drawing 7.9 million adult viewers in its opening show – up from six million in 2006 (see X Factor Back With A Bang).

Meanwhile, BBC One scheduled rather a lot of repeat series, and managed to see its share fall. It was down to 20.6%, from over 22% for August 2006, despite the success of the likes of Mountain with Griff Rhys Jones (see Mountain Towers Over 9pm Slot).

BBC Two’s share was down marginally, presumably buoyed by the likes of Heroes and the end of Coast (see Final Leg On Coastal Exploration Nets More Than 3 Million For BBC Two). The channel now holds a viewing share of 8.3%, which is static year on year.

Five’s share fell slightly, by 0.6 percentage points to leave it just over 5%, whilst Channel 4 lost 1.1 percentage points for August.

The dwindling popularity of this year’s “boring” Big Brother, despite the broadcaster’s many attempts at luring viewers (see Halfway Housemates Half Interest Viewers), possibly contributed to the downturn, with C4’s share in all homes going from 9.8% in 2006 to 8.7% in 2007.

Other channels bolstered their share by almost two percentage points, rising to 38.8% for August.

Both ITV1 and BBC Two recorded an upturn in their viewing share for August in digital homes, rising 1.3 and 0.3 percentage points respectively.

ITV1 now holds a 16.4% share, whilst BBC Two’s share stands at 6.7%.

Meanwhile, all other terrestrial channels, and other stations, experienced a slight drop in share.

BBC One dropped 0.5 percentage points, taking its share down to just over 18.5%, whilst Channel 4 moved to just under 8%, down from 8.2% in 2006.

Five also felt a marginal decline, of 0.2 percentage points, bringing its share to 4.6% for August for digital homes. Other channels lost 0.5 percentage points from their share, now resting at 46%.

BBC One once again retained its position as the most popular terrestrial channel in both Sky and Freeview homes, with a 22.2% share in Freeview homes and almost a 16% share in Sky homes in August.

Multichannel options continued their dominance, remaining the most popular channel choice in both Freeview and Sky homes. Viewing share of these digital channels is just over 55% in Sky homes and 35.5% in Freeview homes, with the difference due to the smaller channel choice available on Freeview.

ITV1, meanwhile, has an 19% share in Freeview homes and a 13.8% share in Sky homes.

Data to form this report can be found in the Television database on mediatel.co.uk within the “Weekly – Analysis by Platform” section. For any assistance please contact the helpdesk on 020 7439 7575.

BARB: www.barb.co.uk