TV Overnights: ITV1 enjoys a bumper ratings weekend

Simon Cowell’s return to Britain’s Got Talent provided a boost to ITV1’s bank holiday ratings yesterday.

The first live BGT semi-final attracted more than 10.6 million peak viewers and a 37.6% average audience share during the Monday night prime time slot, ahead of the first episode in a week-long Coronation Street run.

Over 9.7 million viewers tuned in to see the latest from the Street, as John Stape continues to get away with murder and social services visit Becky & Steve. The 30-minute episode, on at the later time of 9pm, secured a 36.3% audience share.

At 9.30pm, the Britain’s Got Talent Results Show pulled in 9.3 million peak viewers and a 34.8% average audience share for ITV1.

The channel also dominated the prime time ratings on Sunday evening, though BGT picked up a slightly lower 9.7 million peak viewers and 36.4% average share.

It was followed by ITV1’s new peak-hour drama Scott & Bailey, with Suranne Jones and Lesley Sharp, which debuted with more than 7.4 million peak viewers and a 29% average audience share.

And on Saturday night, ITV1’s football coverage dominated the prime time ratings. The UEFA Champions League Final between Manchester United and Barcelona peaked with more than 9.5 million viewers (and banked a 28.9% average audience share).

However, BBC One did manage to get a look in, securing the majority of the daytime ratings. On Saturday, Formula 1, Golf: PGA Championship, So You Think You Can Dance and Doctor Who proved popular among viewers.

On Sunday, the Monaco Grand Prix pulled in over six million peak viewers, before BBC Two’s Golf coverage picked up a high of 2.2 million peak viewers in the afternoon 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.