TV Overnights: Nadal delivers BBC One ace
Rafael Nadal’s second Wimbledon win completed BBC One’s peak run this weekend.
Over 6.4 million peak viewers tuned in to see the men’s singles final between Nadal and Czech Republic champion Tomas Berdych, which saw Nadal win easily 6-3, 7-5, 6-4.
BBC One’s full coverage from the All England Club attracted more than 4.8 million average viewers and a 36.6% audience share between 1.30pm and 6.20pm yesterday, and with the exception of one fifteen minute slot, the channel held on to the peak audience from early in the morning right through to 8pm.
It was a similar story on Saturday – BBC One banked the highest ratings all day with the exception of one fifteen minute slot. The channel’s Saturday morning breakfast line-up took it through the ladies’ singles final at Wimbledon, which attracted 2.1 million average viewers and a 25.5% audience share between 1pm and 2.30pm.
Coverage of the Serena Williams v Vera Zvonareva match was soon diverted to BBC Two, along with the peak audience share. BBC Two’s Wimbledon coverage continued until 8.15pm that night, scoring a high of 2.6 million viewers in the first fifteen minutes after the programme moved from BBC One to Two.
Meanwhile, BBC One made room for the World Cup quarter final between Argentina and Germany. The game, which saw Maradona’s team knocked out of the competition after a 4-0 Germany victory, pulled in almost 7 million peak viewers during the Saturday afternoon slot.
The full match picked up 4.9 million average viewers and a 40% audience share between 2.30pm and 5.30pm. BBC One continued to carry the peak audience from 5.30pm onwards with the BBC News, Walk on the Wild Side and Hole in the Wall, before the next Match of the Day Live.
The Spain v Paraguay match, which saw Spain book a semi-final place after a 1-0 win, banked 8.2 million peak viewers and a 31.6% average audience share between 7pm and 10.15pm. BBC News at Ten followed at the slightly later time of 10.15pm, before the film Con Air, which secured the top spot for BBC One late in to the night.
It was a different story on Friday, however, with ITV1 claiming the highest ratings during the all-important evening slot. The Uruguay v Ghana game, which ended 4-2 to Uruguay on penalties, attracted an impressive high of 9.1 million viewers and a 30.9% average share.
ITV1 also secured the top spot on Sunday evening with its non-sporting line-up of Emmerdale, Coronation Street and Lewis. Corrie picked up the highest ratings with 7.1 million peak viewers, while Lewis held the prime time slot with 4.1 million viewers and a 19.1% share.
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.