I'm a Celebrity swings back with 8.9m

The eighth series of ITV1's I'm a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! got off to a cracking start as 8.9m viewers (34.9%) tuned in for 90-minutes at 9pm.

The opening 90-minute edition of the reality series hosted by Ant and Dec managed to hit a high of 9.5m (35.7%) at 9.45pm.

It is ITV1's best performance on a Sunday at 9pm since 17 June this year when the results show of Britain's Got Talent pulled in 10.6m.

The show, which saw the likes of Dani Behr, Carly Zucker and Robert Kilroy-Silk enter the Australian jungle, averaged 8.9m (34.9%) and was up on the slot average of 5.3m (22.7%) by 68%.

Sunday's opening show was up on the opening edition of the last series when 8.7m (37.8%) tuned in on 12 November 2007. The entire series averaged 7m (29.4%).

The series in 2006 gained an audience of 8.9m (38.1%) for the opening edition on 13 November.

Last night's show was a big attraction for both upmarket and younger viewers. ABC1 viewers made up 44% of the show's audience while those aged between 16 and 34 accounted for 26% of those watching the show.

Ratings for I'm A Celebrity... opening episodes, 2005-2008

Date Viewers (m) Share (%)
16 Nov, 2008 8.9 34.9
12 Nov, 2007 8.7 37.8
13 Nov, 2006 8.9 38.1
20 Nov, 2005 9.4 37.9

While ITV1 had a stranglehold over viewers in the key 9pm slot BBC1 didn't roll over and play dead at the time as Stephen Fry in America ended on a high with 6.2m (23.4%). The show though was down by 400,000 from the previous week.

BBC2's Dragons' Den: Peter Jones's Story, also at 9pm, managed a respectable 2.4m (9%) over an hour.

Channel 4 and Five battled it out with films. Five's repeat of the Oscar-winning 2000 film Erin Brockovich pulled in 1.5m (7.2%). C4's repeat of AVP: Alien vs Predator managed 1.2m (5%).

Britannia High

Earlier in ITV1's peaktime line up the commercial network's struggling Britannia High at 7pm remained steady. Last night's show pulled in 2.5m (10.2%), on par with the previous week. The show was once again way down on the slot average of 6.1m (27.5%).

Source: BroadcastNow