TV Overnights: BGT ends on a high of 11.7m viewers

ITV1’s Britain’s Got Talent final attracted over 11.7 million viewers on Saturday night.

The final night, which was split in to two shows after a week-long build up, is expected to have generated more than £5 million in advertising revenue for ITV.

The main event, on between 7pm and 9pm, peaked with 11.1 million viewers and secured a 41.8% average audience share for the channel. However, the results show banked the winning ratings of the night – a high of more than 11.7 million viewers and a 44.5% average audience share.

The finale was this season’s highest ratings but a let down on last year’s final, which attracted 13 million viewers and 52.1% share for ITV1.

However, ITV1 will be pleased with its weekend performance after securing the top ratings for the England v Switzerland Euro 2012 Qualifier (over 6.4 million peak viewers), Britain’s Got Talent and the all-new Popstar to Opera Star: The Curtain Raiser (5.8 million viewers).

ITV1 also banked the peak ratings during Sunday night’s prime time slot. Scott & Bailey, the new detective drama with Suranne Jones and Lesley Sharp, achieved an average audience of 5.6 million viewers and a 21.8% average audience share.

At 10pm, the Popstar to Opera Star results also picked up a high of more than 3.6 million viewers.

During the daytime schedule, BBC Two’s sports coverage helped it dominate the afternoon ratings on Sunday – the Live MotoGP raced off with 1.4 million peak viewers before the Live Tennis scored over three million peak viewers.

Meanwhile, BBC One’s live coverage of Derby Day banked a high of 3.2 million peak viewers at 4pm on Saturday.

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.