The Voice UK grabs weekend’s top spot despite YoY fall
Saturday night saw two old karaoke favourites go head-to-head for prime time glory as BBC One rolled out a refreshed series of The Voice UK, while ITV cobbled together Harry Hill’s cheeky mischief with a past hit to make a slightly tweaked version of Stars in their Eyes.
Kicking off its fourth series at 7pm on BBC One, was The Voice UK, which brought back Tom Jones, Will.i.am and that other bloke with viewers reeling from the news that charisma-fountain Kylie has not returned (she mustn’t have had a new album to promote this time around).
In the Australian postrel’s place was the fresh face of Rita Ora, with producers obviously pinning big hopes that the platinum blonde could help bring some energy to the latest attempt at whipping up some hype.
Unfortunately for The Voice UK all the noise, flashing lights and spinning chairs can’t seem to stop viewers’ attention wandering after the initial first few weeks of blind auditions, with the general public completely unaware of previous winners.
Last year, the third series saw Kylie and Kasier Chief’s Ricky Wilson jump on board to add some ‘credibility’ as the opening episode netted 8.4 million viewers, resulting in a decent year on year boost of over 2 million viewers. Unfortunately, 14 weeks later only 6.6 million viewers tuned in to see the winner announced.
Saturday night’s début didn’t do quite as well as last year with a little over 8 million viewers attempting to survive Tom, Ricky, Rita and Will’s collaborative rock out cringe-fest that opens each series.
The 1.5 hour introduction netted an impressive 36% share and bagged the weekend’s biggest audience.
Meanwhile, ITV was busy outdoing BBC One in the ‘least nasty talent show’ stakes as Harry Hill’s Stars in their Eyes (7pm) provided an hour of harmless Saturday night fun. In total, 3.3 million viewers watched as Harry stepped into the sparkly shoes of Cat Deeley and Matthew Kelly, securing a 14% share.
Straight up afterwards 30 brazen orange mares were on the hunt for a man – any man – on Take Me Out (ITV, 8:05pm), the show that thinks the mid-90s ‘ladette’ craze is still in full swing. 3.1 million joined in on the Paddy McGuinness presented catcalling fun, resulting in a 14% share.
Celebrity Big Brother (9pm), Channel 5’s car crash reality nightmare, managed to top the Twitter charts all weekend but only locked in 531,000 viewers and a 3% share on Saturday, despite Jeremy Jackson’s unceremonious exit.
As usual Casualty (9pm) provided BBC One with a healthy audience, with just under 5 million viewers and a 34% share tuning in for some more random accidents and inappropriate workplace emoting.
ITV’s late evening was taken up by James Bond’s 50th anniversary reference-fest Skyfall which resulted in 2.3 million viewers, a 12% share and that Adele power ballad.
On Channel 4, bad film Bad Teacher (9pm) was watched by a little over 1 million viewers and 5% share.
It was all change on Sunday as the reboot of a very old favourite once again won the day’s top spot as the fourth episode of Still Open All Hours (BBC One, 7:30pm) saw David Jason’s Granville attempt to open a coffee shop, netting 6.4 million viewers and a 27% share.
BBC One’s traditional Sunday line-up also cemented a large amount of viewers with Countryfile (6:30pm) and Antiques Roadshow (8pm) pullING in an audience of 6 million and 5.4 million, respectively.
The broadcaster wrapped up Sunday’s entertainment with another shock tragedy in the latest Last Tango in Halifax (9pm). After opening up with a wedding, it wasn’t long before the tears were flowing as a character met a swift end, resulting in 5.7 million viewers and a 23% share.
ITV was also pandering to the older demographic with the latest mini-movie from Foyle’s War (8pm). 4.3 million viewers joined in on the two hour event with the latest treat for MI6 resulting in a 17% share.
The controversy surrounding Celebrity Big Brother (9pm) was music to Channel 5’s ears, seeing a massive night on night jump in popularity. 2.4 million viewers tuned in last night to see the aftermath of Jackson’s departure, resulting in a 10% share and once again generating the day’s most TV-related tweets.
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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