TV Overnights: Simon’s defiant return attracts a peak of 10.9m
Friday
Friday was dominated by the BBC’s biennial night of charitable celebrity fun that was Sports Relief 2012. Watching seven hours of continuous coverage is a worthy marathon in itself, with 5.8 million viewers sticking out the first segment on BBC One (7pm-10pm). The event then moved over to BBC Two for half an hour, netting 3.3 million viewers, before moving back to the BBC’s flagship channel at 10:30pm. The programme, featuring more smiling TV presenters and well-meaning celebrities than you could fit into Salford’s new Media City, saw viewers trailing off as the night grew late. The final slice of comedy and pleading pulled in an average audience of 2.4 million.
Despite the overwhelming presence of charitable do-gooding on BBC, ITV1 only needed half an hour of Weatherfield drama to steal the biggest audience of the night. The first episode of Coronation Street (7:30pm) featured Sunita venting all her frustration through the medium of alcohol, until she was finally arrested. In fairness, a lifetime caught in Dev’s gravity would break you sooner or later. 7.9 million people watched the binge drinking action, resulting in the biggest average audience for the the full running time for any show on Friday.
Saturday
Prime time Saturday saw the return of one tired format and the introduction of another. The Voice UK (BBC One, 7pm), already a global franchising phenomenon, featured a fresh take on the boring judging panel format. This time the judges turn their backs on the contestants while they perform! And who better to judge the young hopeful’s raw talent than industry mainstay Jessie J and auto(tuned)philiac William James Adams, Jr? The Voice UK performed very well, with an average audience of 8.4 million viewers (a 38% share). Strangely enough, the show actually peaked when main rival Britain’s Got Talent kicked off over on ITV1, with 9.6 million viewers.
Having worked on his tan for long enough, it was finally time for the return of Simon Cowell. He came to take a tight hold on the reins of Britain’s Got Talent (8pm) and steer it in a more profitable direction. Simon was once again joined by beacon of talent Amanda Holden and new judges David Walliams and an ex-judge from another show. 39% of the available audience watched throughout out the entire running time, resulting in 9.3 million viewers. The opening of the talent show was hit hard by clashing with the last 15 minutes of The Voice UK, but bounced up by 2.5 million viewers 15 minutes in. Viewers eventually peaked to just under 11 million around 20:45pm.
Casualty (BBC One, 9:10pm) took on the might of Take Me Out (ITV1, 9:20pm) and won, with the medical drama netting 4.7 million viewers. The dating show, featuring 30 ‘strong’, ‘sassy’, ‘opinionated’ women and one idiot man, put on the slap and heels much later than usual and viewers were affected as a result. Presumably the target audience were already out on the town, with 4.2 million viewers tuning in. Over on Channel 4 Davina McCall provided the station’s main draw of the day with The Million Pound Drop banking 1.2 million viewers.
Sunday
Channel 4’s big weekend audience finally arrived on Sunday in the shape of James Cameron’s hugely successful Dances With Smurfs Avatar with 2.5 million viewers (a 12 % share) tuning in to watch the 3D spectacular in glorious 2D.
The nation has been holding its collective breath for twelve long weeks now and last night we were rewarded with the finale of Dancing on Ice (ITV1, 6:50pm). The tension was palatable as the finalists donned their special costumes and swang their legs about on the ice; they consisted of two former soap stars and a Chico. 7 million viewers tuned in to see Emmerdale star Matthew Wolfenden beat ex-Hollyoaks employee Jorgie Porter to be crowned King of the Ice Ring, resulting in a 30% audience share.
Poor old Upstairs Downstairs. As well as being constantly and unfairly labelled as the BBC’s knee-jerk reaction to Downton Abbey, the second series finale was scheduled to go head-to-head with ITV1’s ‘Drownton Abbey’. 4.4 million viewers watched as Lady Agnes returned home desperate to mend her marriage.
With a variety of social stereotypes neatly tucked up in their respective decks, the RMS Titanic set sail at 9pm on ITV1. The first of four episodes to mark the centenary of actual real people dying, greeted us to a diverse host of characters to root for. Luckily the producers know what the audience need, and just like the premiere episode, the ship will sink at the end of each installment. An average audience of 6.9 million viewers (a 27% audience share) watched throughout but interest actually fell as the ship steered ever closer to the iceberg, down to 6.2 million in the last 15 minutes.
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.