TV Overnights: The Voice UK shouts loudest, peaking at 11m
The Voice UK secured 11 million viewers in the final 15 minutes for BBC One on Saturday night, beating ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent.
Friday
The weekend’s prime-time viewing kicked off with Coronation Street at 7:30pm on ITV1. It was the day of Betty’s funeral and 8.3 million viewers tuned in to pay their respects. The first episode, which saw a dignified silence fall over the street as Betty departed the cobbles for the last time, was the most watched show of the night. Things didn’t stay quiet for long, of course, as resident simpleton Tyrone got in a bit of a scuffle with Tommy (over some magic beans apparently), helping secure a 39% audience share.
The second episode at 8:30pm pulled in a slightly smaller audience of 7.4 million as the mourners, scared and tired after leaving the Street for a short period, returned to the Rovers to drown their sorrows and slyly look left to right wondering ‘Who’s next?’.
In between the Betty sandwich was EastEnders (8pm) on BBC One. In an effort to tackle the recession head-on, Bianca and Carol decide to have a cheap night out. Surprisingly, instead of catching the tube to the nearest Wetherspoons, they decided to stay local and sneak some spirits in to E20. 7.8 million viewers tuned in to see Bianca’s mouth get in the way of a good plan. It’s easy to judge but we’ve all been there at some point – just not as a 39 year old.
It would seem the celebrities just can’t resist opening their hearts to Piers Morgan’s trusting, balmy, orange face as Frank Bruno took to the Chair of Honesty at 9pm. Piers Morgan’s Life Stories (ITV1) saw the boxing legend go through the motions and share all those personal details the nation has been craving to hear. Again. 4 million viewers (a 17% share) watched as Frank detailed his darkest moments – and who better to share with than the reformed rubbish sifter? It had it all; the dizzying highs, the terrifying lows, losing it all and then getting it back – on his own terms etc.
Saturday
Despite protesters dragging the F1’s good name through the sand, The Bahrain Grand Prix went off without a hitch and pulled in 3 million viewers on Saturday evening. The qualifying highlights commenced at 5.20pm and were watched by 18% of the available audience.
Like naughty children causing far too much of a ruckus in the playground, The Voice UK and Britain’s Got Talent were separated by a sensible distance this week, leaving no room for doubt who the winner was.
After weeks of focusing on the audience when the two shows overlapped, it would appear that both programmes benefited from Saturday’s new time. The Voice UK (BBC One, 7:30pm) was a night dominated by the slaughtering of dreams as the blind auditions were over. As a result the show moved past its novelty hook (chairs that spin) and was now indistinguishable from The X-Factor. The judges had to send half of their acts packing in a dramatic fashion as possible and pulled in 9.9 million viewers (an impressive 42% audience share). The audience peaked in the last few minutes as the nation simply had to know who made it through to Sunday’s show, hitting 11 million viewers at 8:15pm.
Unfortunately, it was business as usual on Britain’s Got Talent (BBC One 8:30pm), losing some of its thunder to the much-hyped weekend of double The Voice UK. Simon’s bad boy routine, Amanda’s caring mother earth persona and a David Walliams couldn’t compete with the tears and emotions over on BBC One. Saying that, the variety show wasn’t too far behind, with Cowell’s machine tracking down and capturing an average audience of 9.3 million viewers (a 37% share). Despite the rescheduling, The Voice UK ‘accidently’ overran by three minutes, although BGT’s opening wasn’t as badly affected as it was in the first few weeks of overlap. 7.2 milion viewers in the first 15 minutes, jumping up to 9 million once the BBC rival had finished.
Sunday
No doubt you’ve been hearing about it for months; the training, the money collecting and the vague sense of superiority all come together to make The London Marathon the event it is. Coverage kicked off at 8:30am on BBC One with Sue Barker grilling runners before and during the race, distracting them from important warming-up time. An average audience of 3 million viewers stayed tuned for the five and a half hour running time, securing a healthy 31% share.
As emotionally devastating and upsetting as Saturday’s ‘battles’ must have been for the all too-human judges on The Voice UK, someone up stairs thought the show would be more rewarding if the process was spread out as thinly as possible resulting in the Sunday show. Turns out they were right. In fact, Sunday’s extra offering of The Voice UK (BBC One, 7:30) attracted a bigger audience than on Saturday attracting 10 million viewers. Jessie J and will.i.am attempted to tick every cliché in the book by acting like ‘a norm’ and getting upset a lot before finally facing the inevitable and sending their less-than-stellar acts home, attracting a 39% share.
ITV1 attempted to take a bite out of BBC’s Sunday ratings with a second series of hardened detective drama Vera (8pm). In the first of four two-hour dramas Brenda Blethyn returned as DCI Vera Stanhope as she uncovered some secrets about a friend’s messy personal life. The show was watched by 4.4 million viewers, with 246,000 of those watching in HD.
BBC One’s glossy death drama Silent Witness (9pm) wasn’t too bothered by the less glossy Vera but has seen a loss since the current series debuted on April 1st with 8 million viewers. Last night saw the investigation in to the death of a child killer resulting in surprises, some super-serious dialogue and 6 million viewers (24% of the available audience).
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.