TV Overnights: Football 1 – 0 I’m a Celebrity
Wednesday night saw ITV1 wield its ruthless power over the nation – after lulling needy reality show fans in to a false sense of security after three days of bush tucker trials and squealing famous people, the broadcaster cruelly snatched their daily fix out of their hands.
With the viewing public now hooked on gratuitous shower shots and the generally incessant goings on of jungle-based celebrities, ITV1 rubbed salt in to the wounds of many…by showing football instead. The outrage didn’t even end there – International Live Football: England v Sweden (ITV1, 7:15pm) wasn’t even an essential game, just a run of the mill international friendly.
Roy Keane was on hand to guide Adrian Chiles through the warm-up, highlighting just how hard it is to hype up such an inconsequential game. The action kicked off at 7:30pm from the charming and appropriately named ‘Friends Arena’ in Stockholm. It wasn’t long before Swedish kicking machine Zlatan Ibrahimovic woke everyone up, securing the first goal twenty minutes in. The entire coverage brought in an average audience of 5.1 million viewers, resulting in a 23% share.
Welbeck and Caulker were quick to retaliate, netting a goal each for England, just before half time. Unfortunately that sort of boisterous behaviour simply fuelled Ibrahimovic, who transformed the second half in to an unrelentless campaign, netting a hat-trick in the final fifteen minutes. The audience peaked to just over six million viewers in the final minutes, resulting in a 4-2 victory for Sweden.
Later, on BBC One, Michael Palin had one eye on his passport and suitcase in the final chapter of his Brazilian escapade. It wasn’t that he didn’t have a lovely holiday; just that not a lot happened. The series had the rigid structure of an open top bus route in London, losing any sense of adventure or spontaneity in the process.
The three previous weeks had seen a steady decline in viewers and the final outing in the country’s southern tip was no exception. The first episode of Brazil with Michael Palin (9pm) brought in 4.8 million for BBC One, with last night’s finale only managing 3.5 million viewers (a 16% share).
At the same time on BBC Two, was a familiar tale – a highly publicised and stylish period show that lacked an actual audience. 9pm saw The Hour return for a second series and we picked up a year after the series one’s finale. The refreshingly transparent plot saw the news team attempt to pull in more viewers than that new-fangled commercial (read: undignified) ITV malarkey, with the help of newly appointed Head of News Malcolm Tucker.
The return to Lime Grove Studios grabbed 1.3 million viewers, resulting in a 6% share. This is down significantly on the series premier, which managed to attracted 2.8 million viewers in July 2011.
The 50’s set drama was also dealing with Grand Designs (9pm) on Channel 4. This was a Revisited episode that guarantees a finished building at the end of the hour. There’s nothing worse than wasting an hour of your life looking at leaking roofs, stressed financial spread sheets and project managers teetering on the edge of the abyss – only for your patience not to pay off.
2.4 million viewers watched Kevin return to the Isle of Wight two years after a bungalow conversion was given a creative make over. The second property viewing attracted a 11% audience share and provided Channel 4 with their biggest hit of the day.
Rural drama Emmerdale had a bit of a tough day, with viewers down 22% week on week. It may only be midweek but the drama never stops for Debbie Dingle. It was the day of little Sarah’s operation, so the last thing Debbie needed was a phone call from her ex (love rat/murderer/ASDA’s Own Brand Robert Downey Jr.) Cameron.
5.4 million watched as begoateed villain tried to make out he was a nice guy, bringing along a little stuffed animal to cement the image. Despite the drop in viewers, the episode managed a 25% share.
Meanwhile, in the nether regions of the soap world Hollyoaks (E4, 7pm) was celebrating a wedding…which can only mean one thing really. EXPLOSIONS! The proposition of seeing the beautiful people of Chester shatter in a glittery fireball secured a record audience for the Wednesday evening ‘first look’ slot on E4.
970,000 viewers tuned in to see which sacred and memorable characters made it through the Great Minibus Disaster of ’12. Half an hour earlier 1 million people tuned in for the build up to the accident on Channel 4.
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.