TV Overnights: Downton Abbey returns with 9m viewers
Downton Abbey returned to ITV1 for a second series last night with a peak audience of more than nine million viewers.
The popular costume drama starring Maggie Smith and Hugh Bonneville, which also picked up four emmy awards last night including best mini-series and best supporting actress, attracted 8.2 million average viewers and a 31.7% audience share in the 9pm to 10.30pm slot.
In the 8pm to 9pm pre-watershed slot, the final audition show before boot camp won a peak audience of more than 10.9 million viewers for The X Factor. The series, with new judges Gary Barlow, Kelly Rowland and Tulisa, secured a 38.4% average audience share during the hour.
On Saturday night, The X Factor banked over 10 million peak viewers and a 40.6% average share between 8pm and 9pm. In the 9pm to 10pm slot, the third episode of ITV1’s new Jonathan Ross Show, with guests including Stephen Fry and Peter Kay, pulled in 4.1 million peak viewers and a 16.9% share.
ITV1 also attracted the top ratings with its Live Rugby World Cup coverage this weekend. The Australia v Ireland match scored a high of 2.7 million peak viewers on Saturday morning. Meanwhile, the England v Georgia game peaked with 2.9 million viewers on Sunday morning.
However, the BBC achieved its fair share of peak ratings during the weekend. On Sunday, BBC One’s coverage of the Great North Run pulled in almost two million viewers; the first Planet Dinosaur documentary reached a high of 1.2 million viewers and Countryfile peaked with over seven million viewers.
BBC One’s Saturday schedule also secured the peak ratings from 11.30am to 5.30pm. The Live Athletics attracted 1.4 million viewers, Triathlon 1.6 million viewers and Final Score 2.3 million.
In the evening slots, Casualty hit a high of 4.6 million viewers from 9pm, while Match of the Day scored a peak audience of 4.3 million viewers at 10.30pm.
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.