6.2m think BBC1 is The One and Only

BBC1's latest talent show delivered the viewers on Saturday as The One and Only pulled in a respectable 6.2m (26.4%) at 7.20pm.

The Graham Norton-fronted show, which sees the nation's tribute acts battle it out, began with 5.7m (24.7%) and steadily grew to a peak of 7m (29%) at 8.15pm.

The eight-part entertainment format was well above the channel's slot average for 2007 of 5.3m (25.8%).

ITV1's slightly different take on the talent show format was no match for The One and Only. When Britain First Had Talent, a look at the talent show over the years, pulled in a rather modest 4.8m (20.7%) over an hour at 7.20pm. It was down 1.5m on the slot average of 6.3m (30.5%).

The second outing of The One and Only later on in the evening didn't fare quite so well. The hour-long edition at 9.25pm had 4.5m (19.9%), down by 400,000 on the slot average.

The spoils at the time went to ITV1 thanks to a Dancing on Ice special edition of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? at 9.05pm with a solid 5.3m (22.3%) over 60-minutes.

But viewers left the commercial network at 10.05pm as its fantasy movie Constantine, starring Keanu Reeves picked up just 2.4m (11.8%).

Game, Set, Match

The initial The One and Only at 7.20pm was given a significant boost by the preceding live FA Cup action between Aston Villa and Manchester United on Match of the Day.

The entire coverage – between 5.05pm and 7.20pm – gained a strong average audience of 7.4m (36%) hitting a peak of 9m (39.5%) towards the end of the match at 6.45pm. The game itself, which kicked off at 5.15pm averaged 7.7m (37.5%).

ITV1 wasn't really in contention at the time. It's film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory charmed 3.7m (18.6%) although its audience picked up at 6.50pm with You've Been Framed! on 5.4m (23.6%).

BBC2's own sporting action was also no match for the football. Its coverage of the first day of the World Professional Darts Championship took just 1m (4.5%) over 90-minutes from 5.55pm.

Apocalypse Now

Both Channel 4 and BBC2 devoted a large chunk of their peaktime schedules to feature-length documentaries.

C4 kicked off first with 1983: the Brink of Apocalypse at 7.30pm on 1.2m (5%), right on par with the channel's slot average. A bit further ahead at the later time of 7.55pm was BBC2's Viking Voyage, marking the return of the channel's Timewatch strand. The 90-minute documentary interested 1.9m (8%), slightly above the channel's slot average of 1.6m (7.6%).

Five had more populist fare at 6.50pm with the very first film in the Police Academy franchise attracting 2m (8.5%). A repeat of NCIS at 8.30pm took 1.4m (5.6%).

All hours shares for Saturday 5 January 2008: BBC1 – 25.4%, ITV1 – 15.4%, C4 – 7.3%, BBC2 – 6.3%, Five – 5.8%, multichannel – 39.8%.

Peaktime (6pm to 10.30pm) shares: BBC1 – 28.2%, ITV1 – 20.9%, Five – 7.1%, BBC2 – 7.1%, C4 – 6.5%, multichannel – 30.2%.


Source: Broadcast Now