Television Viewing Round-Up – February 2008
Five was the only terrestrial channel to boost its weekly viewing share in all homes year on year in February, increasing its share to 5.5%.
BBC Two and Channel 4 saw the biggest downturns in their share for the month, losing almost 1.5 percentage points each year on year, whilst BBC One kept its lead as the most watched channel in all homes, despite also reporting a dip.
Other channels once again bolstered their share, by almost three percentage points year on year for the month.
All Viewing
The introduction of ex-BBC presenter Natasha Kaplinsky as the new host of Five’s News programmes, and the arrival of Neighbours to the channel, helped to boost its viewing share for February (see Life In Cold Blood Leaves Competition For Dead).
CSI also pulled in the viewers (see Mistresses Lures Over 4.4 Million To BBC One), meaning Five was the only terrestrial channel to report an upturn year on year for the month, increasing its share from 5.3% to 5.5%.
Despite the success of the likes of Life On Mars spin-off, Ashes to Ashes (see 5.8m Tune Into Ashes To Ashes), and wildlife series Life In Cold Blood, BBC One’s share was down, by 0.3 percentage points. However, it remains the most popular channel in all homes with a share of 21.8% for February.
BBC Two’s share fell to 7.6% from 9% in the same month in 2007, whilst Channel 4’s share also fell considerably, by 1.3 percentage points to 7.8%.
ITV1’s audience share was also down for the month, dropping from 19.7% in February last year to an even 19% for the same period in 2008. In the same month, the station announced that it had hired former BBC One controller Peter Fincham to take over from Simon Shaps as director of television (see Fincham To Replace Shaps At ITV).
Other channels saw their share rise, by almost three percentage points year on year, climbing from a share of just under 35% in February 2007 to 37.8% in 2008.
Digital Viewing
BBC One managed to increase its viewing share in digital homes for February, rising 0.8 percentage points year on year to a share of almost 20.5%.
It widened the gap on commercial rival, ITV1, which now reports a share of 17.8% following a slight increase on February 2007’s figure.
As with its share in all homes, Five bolstered its share in digital homes. The station has recorded a share of 5.2%, which is up from 4.7% for the month a year earlier.
BBC Two and Channel 4 weren’t so fortunate, however, seeing a downturn in their share. BBC Two ‘s share fell from 7.5% to 6.7% year on year, whilst C4’s slid 0.7 percentage points to 7%.
Other channels reported a slight decline in digital homes year on year, with their share sitting at a little over 42% for the month.
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.
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