5m have Grand Designs on C4

Channel 4's property show Grand Designs gained its highest audience of the current series so far last night with 5m viewers (20.5%) tuning in at 9pm.

Channel 4's property show Grand Designs gained its highest audience of the current series so far last night with 5m viewers (20.5%) tuning in at 9pm.

The hour-long programme started off on 4.5m (18.6%) and steadily grew to a high of 5.5m (23.3%) in the final 15-minutes. A further 200,000 people saw the episode at 10pm on C4+1.

It was the ninth most popular edition of the show ever. Three editions last year broke the 5m mark but the most popular outing was on 3 March 2004 when 5.6m (24.9%) tuned in.

The show, hosted by Kevin McCloud, was way above the C4 slot average for 2007 of 3.2m (13.7%) and towered over the other terrestrial channels.

ITV1's drama series Honest added on an extra 800,000 viewers from last week to end its six-part run on 4m (16.5%).

BBC1 had to settle for third place for its historical drama documentary Attila the Hun. The hour-long show, starring Rory McCann, could only interest 3.6m (15%). It launched at 9pm with 3.8m (15.5%) but then hovered around the 3.6m mark for the remaining 45-minutes.

Attila the Hun was down on the channel's slot average of 5m (21.8%) for last year.

Not too far behind BBC1 was BBC2's episode of sci-fi drama Torchwood. The fifth episode appealed to 3.3m (13.8%), holding a rock solid audience over the 50-minutes it was on air.

Five lagged behind the terrestrial pack at 9.05pm with a re-run of 50 Most Shocking Moments in Comedy on just 989,000 (5.6%).

It was, overall, another strong Wednesday peaktime performance from C4 with the channel coming out on top between 8pm and 11pm. Over those three hours the channel gained an audience of 4m (18.1%). ITV1 wasn't too far behind on 3.8m (17.4%) and BBC1 on 3.6m (16.6%).

Relocation, Relocation at 8pm had 3.5m (14.6%) while after Grand Designs, the US edition of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares at 10pm on 3.4m (19.1%).

Top of the pile at 8pm was ITV1's The Bill on 5.6m (23.2%). BBC1's Sky Cops, in the same hour-long slot, had 4m (16.8%).

Viewers preferred BBC1 at 10pm with The 10 O'Clock News on 4.3m (21.3%). ITV1's News at Ten was off the pace on 2.3m (11.6%).

BBC2 struggled at 9.50pm with Wonderland: The End of the World Bus Tour on just 940,000 (4.5%). The channel was much more popular earlier in the evening with Masterchef at 8.30pm on 2.9m (11.6%).

Viewers supported Five thanks to its Uefa Cup coverage. Everton's game against SK Brann averaged a decent 1.7m (7.3%) between 6.45pm and 9.05pm. Its audience was three times over the slot average of 557,000 (2.6%) for last year. The game itself, from 7pm, averaged 1.8m (8.2%). The second half averaged 2m (8.4%) and peaked with 2.1m (8.7%) at 8.30pm.

Freaky Wednesday

The second day of BBC3's new look had some mixed fortunes. A new series of Freaky Eaters at 9pm picked up 325,000 (1.52%) for 50-minutes. The corporation's entertainment channel was boosted significantly at 9.50pm with a new episode of Torchwood on 807,000 (4.48%).

All hours shares for Wednesday 13 February 2008: ITV1 – 19.8%, BBC1 – 18.6%, C4 – 11.3%, BBC2 – 7.6%, Five – 6.5%, multichannel – 35.5%.

Peaktime (6pm to 10.30pm) shares: ITV1 – 23.1%, BBC1 – 18.6%, C4 – 13.2%, BBC2 – 9.5%, Five – 6.1%, multichannel – 29%.

Source: Broadcast Now