Britney serenades 391,000

Sky 1's 90-minute profile of Britney Spears averaged a respectable 391,000 (1.8%) at 8pm, overshadowing most of the competition.

The documentary Britney: For the Record, which saw the singer talk openly about her recent troubles, managed to hit a peak of 463,000 (2.1%) at 8.30pm.

The show was also a big hit with both upmarket and younger viewers. Of those watching 53.7% were from the ABC1 demographic while 53.4% were aged between 16 and 34.

Sky 1 capitalised on the show by airing an episode of The Simpsons featuring the singer, which pulled in 576,000 (2.8%) at 7.30pm.

The show was up by 57% on the channel's slot average for the year so far of 249,000 (1.2%).

Whilst the Spears programme was on air, Sky 1 had more viewers than any of its closest entertainment rivals.

ITV2's Kids Do the Funniest Things at 8pm had 330,000 (1.5%), which was followed by Cops with Cameras at 9pm on 345,000 (1.6%).

ITV3 also put in a respectable performance. Its new series The Story of Costume Drama kicked off with 320,000 (1.5%) which was followed by Persuasion on 367,000 (2.0%).

E4's usual double helping of Friends got underway at 8pm with 230,000 (1.1%) - and another 119,000 on E4+1 at 9pm. The second instalment at 8.30pm grabbed 217,000 (1%) with 148,000 watching on the timeshifted option.

BBC3 wasn't up to much at the time with Clone at 8.30pm picking up just 132,000 (0.6%) and a repeat of Little Britain at 9pm on 198,000 (0.9%).

Top of the multichannel pile though at the time was Setanta Sports with its live coverage of Liverpool's 0-0 draw against West Ham in the Premier League. The broadcaster's entire coverage between 7pm and 10.15pm averaged 502,000 (2.4%) with a high of 884,000 (4%) at 8.15pm.

Source: BroadcastNow