Five's new crime drama The Mentalist made a strong start last night, early ratings figures suggest.
The US import - starring Simon Baker as psychic-turned-detective Patrick Jane - opened to 3.69m (16.7%) at 9pm.
The show was the most successful ever launch of any US drama shown on Five. CSI premiered with 2.41m in 2001, CSI: Miami took 3.09m in 2003 and 3.35m tuned in for CSI: New York in 2005. House opened with 1.97m in 2005, NCIS logged 1.63m in 2006 and the debut of Prison Break brought in 1.85m in 2006.
ITV1's The Truth About Superskinny Pregnancies, which saw Louise Redknapp examine the pressure on women to stay thin while pregnant, logged 2.51m (11.4%).
The latest episode of The Bill pulled in 4.34m (19.8%) for ITV1, while Channel 4's Ten Years Younger: The Challenge averaged 1.85m (8.4%) during the hour.
Elsewhere, the final episode of E4's Skins was seen by 698k at 10pm, while The Justin Lee Collins Show put in 277k (1.8%) for ITV2.
Living's screening of Jade: With Love, a special tribute to the late Jade Goody, averaged 531k (2.6%) during the 9pm hour.
Source: DigitalSpy
Tuesday 31 March 2009
'The Mentalist' opens with 3.7m
2.1m sign up for C4's Sex Education
Channel 4's latest version of The Sex Education Show managed to pull a respectable 2.1m viewers (8.9% share) at 9pm last night.
The hour-long show, which saw Anna Richardson present some frank sex advice to a group of Norfolk school children, held a largely stable audience throughout but hit a high of 2.3m (6.8%) at 9.15pm.
The show was up by 400,000 on the channel's slot average for last year of 1.7m (7.3%).
The show was a sizeable draw for upmarket viewers with 49.8% of those watching coming from the ABC1 demographic. Younger viewers, aged between 16 and 34, made up 28.3% of the audience.
At the time C4 had more viewers than its closest rivals. BBC2's Heroes kept up a steady pace from last week with 1.7m (7.3%) for 45 minutes at 9pm. Also keeping hold of its audience from the previous week was Five's Extreme Fishing with Robson Green with 1.6m (6.9%).
ITV1 had little trouble keeping ahead of the terrestrial pack at 9pm despite Law & Order: UK taking a hit. The sixth part of the drama series managed 5.4m (23.1%), the lowest audience so far and a fall of 700,000 from last Monday. The show though was still some way ahead of the competition from BBC1 which had 4.1m (17.7%) for Crimewatch in the same 60-minute slot.
Source: DigitalSpy
Sky to promote 20th Century Fox's new X-Men movie
Sky is to promote 20th Century Fox's new X-Men movie in a deal it claims is the first of its kind to run in the UK, with Fox booking three consecutive ad slots across a single programme.
Under the six-figure deal for X-Men Origins: Wolverine, three 60-second spots will run over consecutive breaks next Monday (23 March) at 9pm on Sky1 and Sky1HD over the course of a single episode of 24.
The three ads form a narrative revealing the origins of Wolverine and key elements of the movie.
Alongside the ads, there will be 10-second teaser promos across all Sky channels to generate awareness in the days running up to the broadcast.
Breaking today (20 March), a multi-platform campaign for the show will also include banner ads on Skysports.com, pre and post-rolls on Sky Anytime, plus advertising spots in Sky's dedicated feed to pubs and clubs.
20th Century Fox will also support the ads around 24, with outdoor and press advertising.
The deal was brokered by Sky Media in association with Aegis media agency Vizeum, with creative supplied by 20th Century Fox.
Source: BrandRepublic
Blinkx signs deal to offer travel video content
Video search engine Blinkx has signed a partnership deal to allow users to search content from a number of travel video sites, including BBC Worldwide-owned LonelyPlanet.tv, CompulsiveTraveler.tv and Overlander.tv.
The revenue from contextually relevant ads placed by Blinkx alongside the videos will be shared between Blinkx and its partners.
Users will be able to look at videos that include tips from Lonely Planet, "videos for travellers, by travellers" from Compulsive Traveller and films of one-man wanderer Mark Shea from Overlander.tv.
Suranga Chandratillake, founder and chief executive of Blinkx, said travel videos had always been hugely popular on Blinkx and now users could "tour a destination virtually" before committing to an expensive plane ticket or lengthy train ride.
Blinkz said it currently has more than 450 partners and more than 35 million hours of video and audio content.
Source: BrandRepublic
Tuesday 24 March 2009
10.8m see Dancing on Ice finale
The two-hour final of ITV1's Dancing on Ice averaged an impressive 10.8m viewers (43.2%) last night, completely dominating viewing from 6.55pm.
The show, which saw Ray Quinn lift the title, managed a five minute peak audience of 12.1m (44.1%) at 8.40pm. It hit 11.9m (44%) over 15 minutes at 8.25pm.
The entertainment format was a big draw for upmarket viewers with 38.2% coming from the ABC1 demographic. In comparison, just 16.8% of viewers were aged between 16 and 34. The show was also heavily female skewing with women making up 63.9% of the audience.
The Dancing on Ice final was up by a sizeable 83% on the channel's slot average for last year of 5.9m (24.8%), but was down by 900,000 viewers compared to the final last year. In 2008, 11.7m (44.2%) tuned in on 16 March at 7pm.
Over its entire run this year's series averaged just over 8.8m (34.2%), compared to 8.9m (3.57%) last year.
The show was just part of a solid ITV1 peaktime performance last night. Following on from Dancing on Ice at 9pm was the start of the third series of Lewis, which got 6.8m (29.8%) over two hours. Not quite on the same level at 6.30pm the factual show The Prince in the Rainforest had 3.6m (19.3%) for 25 minutes.
There were mixed fortunes for Channel 4. Initially it took a heavy knock at 8pm with Come Dine with Me, falling 900,000 from last week to average a disappointing 1.2m (4.5%) over an hour. The show then added on 153,000 on C4+1.
C4 then made up for lost ground with the return of The Secret Millionaire at 9pm. The start of the fourth series pulled in 2.5m (9.6%), way above the channel's slot average for last year of 1.6m (6.3%). The programme then drew 219,000 on C4+1
But the hour-long show well short of the 3.6m (15.9%) who saw the start of the last series on 5 August, when the show aired on a Tuesday night.
Five's comedy movie Shallow Hal, starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Jack Black, had 1.4m (6.4%). Earlier at 7.05pm its film I Spy had 631,000 (2.5%).
Source: BroadcastNow
Sky to promote 20th Century Fox's new X-Men movie
Sky is to promote 20th Century Fox's new X-Men movie in a deal it claims is the first of its kind to run in the UK, with Fox booking three consecutive ad slots across a single programme.
Under the six-figure deal for X-Men Origins: Wolverine, three 60-second spots will run over consecutive breaks next Monday (23 March) at 9pm on Sky1 and Sky1HD over the course of a single episode of 24.
The three ads form a narrative revealing the origins of Wolverine and key elements of the movie.
Alongside the ads, there will be 10-second teaser promos across all Sky channels to generate awareness in the days running up to the broadcast.
Breaking today (20 March), a multi-platform campaign for the show will also include banner ads on Skysports.com, pre and post-rolls on Sky Anytime, plus advertising spots in Sky's dedicated feed to pubs and clubs.
20th Century Fox will also support the ads around 24, with outdoor and press advertising.
The deal was brokered by Sky Media in association with Aegis media agency Vizeum, with creative supplied by 20th Century Fox.
Source: BrandRepublic
UKTV unveils Home and Really in latest phase of its rebrand
UKTV has unveiled the next phase of its rebrand, which has already led to the launch of brands such as Dave and Blighty, with lifestyle brands UKTV Style and UKTV Gardens to become Home and Really respectively.
UKTV Style will rebrand on 30 April, while UKTV Gardens will rebrand on 19 May. A new name and positioning for its third lifestyle brand - UKTV Food - has yet to be decided.
Home will only focus on homes and gardening-related programming, as opposed to its previous remit, 25% of which featured style programming.
The gardening content that was previously on UKTV Gardens will be absorbed into Home. It will target a core demographic of 35 to 54 and launch with the tagline: Home - there's no place like it.
Home will feature a mix of BBC content and independent commissions, such as DIY SOS, Groundforce and Fantasy Homes by the Sea.
Jane Mote, director of factual, lifestyle and new media, said: "Seventy eight per cent of viewing to UKTV Style was to its home content. So we see the rebrand as being clearer to consumers about what to expect on the station and giving them more of what they want."
The rebrand of UKTV Gardens to Really will target predominantly women aged 18 to 35 and launches with the tag line: Really - you couldn't make it up. Mote describes it as a "zeitgeisty and noisy female brand".
It will feature a range of programming such as The Baby Borrowers and Farm of Fussy Eaters.
The relaunch of UKTV Style and UKTV Gardens follows the rebrand of UKTV People to Blighty on 27 February, UKTV Documentary to Eden on 26 January and UKTV History as Yesterday on 2 March.
In october, it rebranded UKTV Drama to Alibi, UKTV Gold to GOLD and launched a new channel, Watch.
Source: BrandRepublic
Monday 9 March 2009
Katie Price bares all to 5.2m
Katie Price and Piers Morgan helped ITV1 to gain its highest performance in a 10pm slot since November 2007.
The hour-long chat show with the former glamour model picked up a strong average audience of 5.2m viewers (28.5%).
The interview, part of the series Piers Morgan's Life Stories, hit a high of 5.6m (25.8%) in the opening quarter of an hour. The show then slowly declined and ended on 4.7m (30.4%).
The commercial network last had a higher audience on 29 November 2007 when a results show of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! attracted 6.8m (31.8%).
The show was up by 44% on the channel's slot average for last year of 3.6m (19%). Last week's edition, which featured Richard Branson, had 4.5m (24.5%) in the same slot.
Channel 4 was on a stronger footing at 9pm with its own film, romantic comedy She's the Man, on 1.7m (8%) with another 215,000 watching on C4+1.
Dancing on Ice
ITV1's celebrity talent contest Dancing on Ice continued to go from strength to strength as the main show added on an extra 300,000 from last week to average an impressive 9.3m (35.4%) at 7.10pm. The show was head and shoulders above the slot average of 5.7m (24.8%). The results show of the competition at 9.15pm gained 8.5m (33.4%) over 45-minutes, up by half a million on the previous week.
Source: BrandRepublic
UKTV channels made available online through Sky Player deal
UKTV has signed a deal with Sky Player to make two of its channels available through the online TV service from today (5 March).
Eden and Gold will join the subscription online TV service alongside Sky's latest additions to its on-demand player: National Geographic Wild, Sky Real Lives and Sky Movies Screen 1 and 2.
It is the first time channels from UKTV, jointly owned by BBC Worldwide and Virgin Media, can be viewed as a live stream via an online TV service.
Viewers will be able to watch each channel's current output live, as well as selected archive programming.
Ben Phillis, UKTV's head of business development and platform distribution, said: "All of our recent rebrand activity has been about creating a portfolio of multi-platform brands so we're really excited about giving fans of Gold and Eden the opportunity to view these channels live online for the first time."
In December 2008, three online Sky Player TV subscription packages were made available by BSkyB. These ranged from £15 to £34 per month and included channels such as Nickelodeon and Sky Sports. A new premium movies subscription pack will be added and the entertainment pack will be enlarged from eight to 12 channels.
Source: BrandRepublic
Summer cinema admissions highest since 1969
Cinema takings in the UK have hit a new high with the latest figures showing last summer's admissions rose to 1969's record level.
According to the Film Distributors' Association UK admissions rose 1.1% to 164.2m in 2008 with box office takings up 3.7% to £854.4m, thanks largely to the popularity of films such as 'Mamma Mia' and 'The Dark Knight'.
The recession has done little to affect cinema attendance so far while falling media costs have also saved distributors money marketing their films -- £305m was spent last year promoting 531 films, down £9m on 2007.
Cinema's success in the last 12 months is largely thanks to some big budget franchises including the Batman film, 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' and Bond movie 'Quantum of Solace', which made £51m in the UK and Ireland.
Earlier this year 'Mamma Mia' overtook 'Titanic' as the UK's most successful film release ever, taking £69.2m.
Expectations for admissions and box office ratings this year are already high, with Oscar winner 'Slumdog Millionaire' making an estimated £25m and comic book adaptation 'The Watchmen' taking more than $55m in the US box office this weekend alone.
The unveiling of 3D technology is also expected to boost cinema ratings in 2009, with more than a dozen films planned in the format. However, the films require special glasses and cinema chains must install special projectors to play the films.
Source: BrandRepublic
Wednesday 4 March 2009
Blighty offers clear link for British brands
Blighty launched on 17 February, replacing UKTV People. It's the second of UKTV's factual channels to be rebranded, following Eden, which launched on 26 January.
Channel: Blighty
Owner: UKTV
What's happened? Relaunch from UKTV People
Both launches are part of the broadcaster's ambition to update the entire UKTV portfolio.
Blighty is aimed at couples in their 30s and 40s, and celebrates all things British, with documentaries from the usual suspects such as Louis Theroux and familiar BBC programmes, including Coast, Britain From Above and Who Do You Think You Are?
There are also new commissions, such as My Brilliant Britain, which took the 9pm slot on launch night and delivered an average of 24,000 commercial impacts.
The marketing around the launch of Blighty is quirky, fresh and innovative. Channel idents are lively and fun - for example, mocking British weather and laughing at typically British seaside antics.
However, do these promos actually reflect the channel's offering? Will people expect to tune into light-hearted, comedic programming and be disappointed to find River Walks with Charlie Dimmock or Matthew Pinsent tracing his family history? The proof I guess will be in the pudding.
However, what Blighty does do is bring together all of the best popular British factual programmes from the BBC and put them under one roof, giving the channel unique content - hence the strap line "one nation under one channel".
The rebranding could drive new viewers to the factual sections of electronic programme guides and is a far more attractive proposition for advertisers than UKTV People.
Blighty offers advertisers the opportunity to have a clear and relevant association for British brands and scope for sponsorship around some of the BBC's most popular factual programmes.
So, will this be another success for UKTV? Or will moving away from 12 years of UKTV heritage work against the factual channel?
What's good? Its uniqueness.
What could be better? The marketing and idents could be more reflective of Blighty's content.
Would I book my clients into this? I already have.
Leila Gould, head of TV, Total Media.
Source: BrandRepublic
STV reports 11% ad revenue rise
STV Group, owner of Scottish ITV franchise Stv, increased TV ad revenue by 11% year on year in 2008, capturing 22% of the Scottish ad market.
The group, formerly known as SMG, said it had targeted a 21% share of the Scottish ad market in 2008. In 2007, it captured 20% of the Scottish ad market. Its broadcast sponsorship revenue increased by 50% year on year, STV said.
Looking ahead, STV warned that across the TV market, ad spend is expected to be down 17% year on year in Q1 2009, with the ITV Network down 21%, adding that Stv's ad revenue "is in line" with this.
It said that its cinema advertising business, Pearl & Dean, will be sold once "the conditions are right". Pearl & Dean has been up for sale since September 2006.
Once that business is sold, STV will have completed the disposal of its non-core assets. Last year, it sold Virgin Radio to Times of India Group for £53m.
STV repeated its call for more scheduling flexibility from ITV plc. STV has previously rejected the notion of a single UK-wide Channel 3 licence and believes the interests of Scotland, and the nations and regions of the UK, are best served by the retention of the Channel 3 network with dedicated licences providing relevant content for regional audiences.
Source: BrandRepublic
Tuesday 24 February 2009
'Law & Order: UK' begins run with 6.4m
ITV1's new crime drama Law & Order: UK made a reasonable start last night, overnight ratings figures suggest.
The series - an adaptation of the long-running US show starring Bradley Walsh - drew a strong 6.37m (26.3%) in the 9pm slot. The audience was down on the impressive 7.55m (30%) for Whitechapel in the same slot last Monday, however.
Law & Order's closest rival was BBC One's Who Do You Think You Are? with 5.65m (23.3%) in the hour.
Over on Five at 9pm, sci-fi action thriller The 6th Day averaged 878k (4.7%), while Channel 4 had 930k (3.9%) for The Real Casino Boy, a documentary focusing on the crimes of millionaire John Aspinall.
Also at 9pm, Sky1's screening of cult show 24 - now in its seventh season - took an increased 494k (2.3%), drawing closer to a Gavin & Stacey repeat on BBC Three with 513k (2.3%) over 30 minutes.
Channel 4's Dispatches: The Problem Princes took a miserable 1.11m (4.4%) for the hour, while Fifth Gear averaged 795k (3.1%) for Five.
ITV1 dominated primetime with an average share of 26.6% to BBC One's 23.3%.
Source: DigitalSpy
Channel 4 to air ads on third-party VoD content
Channel 4 plans to carry ads around content that it distributes on third-party websites such as Bebo and YouTube. The move comes as the broadcaster rebrands its digital sales operation.
Channel 4 currently displays short clips of certain TV shows on YouTube and Bebo to drive consumers to Channel4.com. It now intends to commercialise this presence by distributing more content and carrying advertising around it. The broadcaster will carry pre-roll ads around this content.
The move is part of Channel 4's strategy to strengthen its video- on-demand offering and broaden the availability of content via third-party sites MySpace and Yahoo, in the near future.
Separately, Channel 4 has rebranded its New Media division as Future Media & Technology, to emphasise the growing importance of digital across its business.
A Channel 4 spokesman said: "The name change really reflects the evolution of its role as Channel 4 moves from being a pure broadcaster to a multi-platform, on-demand business."
The total number of people in the department is about 110.
Jon Gisby, director of Future Media & Technology, and a Channel 4 board member, heads up the department and seven people report into him: Richard Davidson-Houston, head of online product, Lloyd Shepherd, head of future media solutions, Louise Brown, head of cross platform commissioning, Tom Loosemore, head of 4iP, Sarah Rose, head of VOD, Bob Harris, chief technology officer and Kevin Gallagher, chief information officer.
Brown and Shepherd's roles are both new.
Source: BradRepublic
Channel 4 and Five compete for HD Freeview slot
Channel 4 and Five are competing for the final available slot for a high-definition TV channel on Freeview.
Channel 4 and Welsh counterpart S4C have made a joint application to Ofcom for the fourth and, for now, final available HD channel slot on the digital terrestrial TV platform.
The planned service would consist of an HD version of Film4, between 11am and 4am, plus a block of children's programmes between 7am and 11am.
Ultimately, the hours between 4am and 7am will be used to provide a free-to air video-on-demand service, it said, "as and when the technology becomes available".
The Channel 4/S4C venture could be on the air by late 2011 or early 2012.
Meanwhile, Five has submitted plans to launch a simulcast of its existing linear channel, Five. Between 6pm and 11pm the HD channel would simulcast Five programming, featuring shows such as drama, Uefa Cup football and Fifth Gear. And between 6am and 5pm, it said a HD service would be "supplied by another broadcaster" without detailing further what form this would take.
Like Channel 4, it plans eventually to launch a VoD service using the Freeview slot.
The BBC, ITV and Channel 4 have already been awarded one slot each on Freeview for simulcast of their HD services from later this year. The fourth slot is expected to become available in July 2010.
Source: BrandRepublic
New-look UKTV History launches
Yesterday, the rebranded version of UKTV History, will launch next Monday, alongside a new website called: Visityesterday.co.uk.
Type rest of the post here
will target upmarket 30-plus couples and go live at 9am on 2 March via Freeview, Sky Digital and Virgin Media's cable platform.
It aims to present history in a more accessible form. The channel proposition and name was developed in-house, with Red Bee creating Yesterday's on-screen identity, including 15 different variations of its logo.
It is the third of UKTV's factual channels to be rebranded, following Eden and Blighty's launches on 26 January and 17 February. The final wave will be completed in Q2 2009, with the rebrand of UKTV Style, Homes, Gardens and Food.
Separately, IDS, the Virgin Media-owned sales house responsible for UKTV's sales, has negotiated a six-figure deal on UKTV Food for New Zealand Lamb to be the exclusive broadcast sponsor of "World of Food" on UKTV Food. The deal begins tomorrow (25 February) and runs until 15 July.
Source: BrandRepublic
Tuesday 10 February 2009
Daily TV viewing figures at highest levels in four years
Average daily TV viewing figures over the last three months of 2008 were at their highest level since 2004, standing at 3.9 hours per individual.
The IPA's latest Trends in TV report also reveals that non-terrestrial TV channels continue to erode the terrestrial channels' share, achieving 40% of viewing in Q4.
Patronage levels - defined as the percentage of the population tuning into a channel for at least three minutes during the week - are higher for Five than at the same period a year earlier. However, patronage for BBC1, BBC2, ITV and Channel 4 were down over the year.
In a further boost to the multichannel sector, patronage of the non-terrestrial channels is established at nearly 80%, the IPA said. Patronage of non-terrestrials had increased from 60% in three years, according to the IPA.
In terms of audience shares by demographic, the terrestrial channels have retained largely the same pattern they have held for some time. Non-terrestrial channels' audience pick up more 16 to 34-year-olds than the terrestrials, while more ABC1s (62.4%) watch terrestrial channels than non-terrestrial channels (37.6%).
Including digital channels, its share in GMTV and ITV1, ITV captured 39.9% of commercial impacts in Q4, down from 41% in Q4 2007. Channel 4's share of commercial impacts rose from 17.5% in Q4 2007, to 18.1% in Q4 2008. Sky Media and Five managed to increase their share of commercial impacts, by 0.5 and 0.3 percentage points respectively.
Separately, media research firm Ebiquity forecasts UK TV ad spend will be down 10% year on year in 2009, and will total less than £3bn for the first time since 1998.
Source: BrandRepublic
Whitechapel slaughters rivals
ITV1's Ripper drama Whitechapel dominated viewing last night at 9pm with an impressive audience of 7.1m viewers (28.3% share), overshadowing everyone else.
The second instalment of the three-part drama began with 7.3m (29%) but slowly lost ground and ended the final 15 minutes on 6.9m (22.7%) at 9.45pm. The production, from Carnival Films, once again easily broke the channel's slot average for last year of 4.7m (19.9%).
The show, starring Rupert Penry-Jones on the trail of a modern-day Jack the Ripper, started last week with an impressive 8.1m (29.8%) on a day that saw bumper viewing figures due to the adverse weather conditions.
Channel 4's documentary The Princess and the Gangster, which marked the start of the broadcaster's Toffs and Crims season, managed 1.8m (7%) over an hour and then added on a further 177,000 on C4+1 at 10pm. Five's film Today You Die managed 1.1m (5.2%).
Source: BroadcastNow
Ramsay's US 'Nightmares' appeal to 2.6m
A new season of the US version of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares began with around 2.6 million viewers for Channel 4 on Friday.
The chef has become a firm fixture for the channel in the Friday, 9pm slot - and last week pulled in around 3 million viewers for a feature-length edition of his UK Nightmares show.
Season two of the American version opened to 2.59m (10.8%) for the hour, with a further 314k (1.8%) watching on Channel 4+1.
ITV1 won the slot with 5.53m (23%) for the first half of a new Trial & Retribution. On BBC One, QI took 4.16m (17.1%) then Not Going Out interested 3.26m (13.7%).
A new episode of NCIS brought in 2.33m (9.7%) to Five, leaving BBC Two in last place with 1.6m (6.7%) for Around The World In 80 Faiths.
The final episode of Channel 4 comedy Plus One was seen by 983k (4.7%) at 10pm, while on ITV1, Pushing Daisies notched up 1.66m (8.8%) for the hour.
This week's Natural World, about the increasing number of elephants in Botswana, put in a decent 1.77m (7.3%) for BBC Two in the 8pm hour. It beat Channel 4's A Place In The Sun: Home Or USA?, seen by 1.63m (6.7%), and Five documentary repeat Titanic's Final Moments: The True Story, which had 1.01m (4.2%).
Coronation Street drew the day's best numbers of any channel, with 10.13m (42%) tuning in at 7.30pm and 9.73m (39.5%) returning an hour later.
EastEnders managed 9.06m (37.6%) for BBC One at 8pm and 645k (3.4%) for BBC Three at 10pm. Emmerdale grabbed a strong 7.76m (34.4%).
Hollyoaks took 1.56m (7.1%) for Channel 4, and on Five, Neighbours had 1.68m (9.5%) and Home & Away had 1.08m (5.3%).
ITV1 led primetime with an average share of 25.7% to BBC One's 21.9%. Channel 4 was third with 6.8% (+1: 0.8%), followed by BBC Two with 6.6% and Five with 5.4%.
Fiver's premiere of the next Home & Away drew the strongest multichannel audience of the day, with 757k (3.9%) tuning in at 6.30pm.
Source: DigitalSpy
Monday 2 February 2009
Ramsay's 'Nightmare' appeals to 3m
Ramsay's Great British Nightmare was a ratings winner for Channel 4 on Friday night, with around 3 million viewers tuning in.
The special - a two-hour version of the chef's Kitchen Nightmares format - averaged 2.96m (14.2%) between 9pm and 11.05pm. The figure is up around a million viewers achieved by a Jamie Oliver special the night before.
Five also had a strong showing in the 9pm slot with a new episode of NCIS, which managed 2.12m (9.2%) for the hour. ITV1 was the slot-winner, however, with 5.26m (22.8%) for Trial & Retribution.
Hollyoaks took 1.44m (7.1%) for Channel 4, and on Five, Neighbours had 1.54m (9.5%) and Home & Away had 1.17m (6.1%).
On Five at the same time, US crime drama Numb3rs was seen by 1.13m (6%).
ITV1 improved its overall primetime share to 25.4%, comfortably ahead of BBC One's 20.7%. Channel 4 was third with 9.5% (+1: 0.7%), followed by BBC Two with 6.5% and Five with 5.3%.
Fiver's premiere of a new Home & Away was the most-watched multichannel programme of the day, with an average of 822k (4.5%) at 6.30pm. It had almost double the audience of E4's first-look Hollyoaks, which managed 447k (2.4%) at 7pm.
Two episodes of American Idol pulled in 590k (2.9%) and 528k (3.1%) for ITV2 from 9pm, while on ITV3, a Greece-set Poirot put in 632k (3%) for the 8pm hour.
Source: DigitalSpy
