TV Overnights: BBC One’s prime time film wins the top ratings

BBC One’s prime time film Raiders of the Lost Ark attracted a high of more than 4.9 million viewers last night.

The Steven Spielberg adventure film helped BBC One dominate the ratings once again, following a bumper Christmas season.  Starting at 8.10pm, the Harrison Ford classic secured 4.6 million average viewers and a 18.5% share.

However, ITV1’s final Above Suspicion: Deadly Intent was hot on its heels during the 9pm to 10pm peak-hour with 4.5 million average viewers and a 17.8% share.  The drama even managed to win over the peak ratings for a brief period with a peak audience of 4.7 million viewers.

Elsewhere, Channel 4’s new documentary Britain’s Fattest Man, which has been heavily publicised in recent weeks, banked third place in the peak-hour ratings war.  The hour-long programme about 70-stone Paul Mason pulled in 2.6 million average viewers and a 11.3% share, peaking with over 3.1 million viewers in the final fifteen minutes.

BBC Two’s The Bear Family and Me followed closely behind Channel 4 with a slightly lower average audience of 2.5 million viewers and a 10% share, while 5’s new NCIS trailed behind with 1.6 million viewers and a 6.6% share between 9pm and 10pm.

Earlier on in the evening, Emmerdale proved to be ITV1’s gem, attracting a high of more than 7.5 million viewers and a 31.9% share during the 7pm to 7.30pm slot.

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.