Television Viewing Round-Up – March 2008

Five was the only terrestrial channel not to lose weekly viewing share in all homes year on year for March, keeping its share at 5.5% for the month.

BBC One retained its dominance despite a slight fall year on year, whilst BBC Two and Channel 4 recorded the most significant downturns in their share.

Other channels once again bolstered their share, by almost four percentage points year on year for the month.

BBC One kept its lead in all homes with a viewing share of 21.2% for March 2008, which represented a year on year fall of under one percentage point.

Big winners for the channel during the period came from the likes of Ashes To Ashes (see 5.9m Tune In To Ashes To Ashes), period adaptation Lark Rise To Candleford, the finale of Life In Cold Blood at the start of the month (see Life In Cold Blood Ends With Over 5.8m), and the new series of The Apprentice, which started at the end of the month (see The Apprentice Bags Six Million).

Despite airing new shows like Rock Rivals and a new series of Dancing On Ice (see ITV1 Dominates Sunday Night’s Ratings), ITV1 recorded a decline of one percentage point, dropping from 19.7% in 2007 to 18.7% in March 2008.

Five continued to be buoyant, with Neighbours, CSI and UEFA Cup coverage (see BBC One Bags The Viewers With Apprentice Special) undoubtedly aiding this, keeping its share at 5.5% for the month.

The greatest declines were seen for BBC Two and Channel 4, which fell almost 1.5 percentage points and 1.2 percentage points respectively. BBC Two now reports a viewing share in all homes of 7.2%, whilst Channel 4’s share has fallen year on year from 8.8% to 7.6% for March.

Other channels saw their share rise, by almost four percentage points year on year, climbing from a share of 35.5% in March 2007 to 39.3% in 2008.

Five was again the only terrestrial channel to boost its viewing share year on year in digital homes, rising to 5.2% for March.

The station’s share in digital homes was at 4.9% for the same month in 2007, but recorded a 0.3 percentage point upturn in March 2008.

BBC One’s share dropped slightly to 19.8%, whilst as in all homes, BBC Two and Channel 4 lost the greatest share in real terms. BBC Two’s share dropped year on year from just over 7% to 6.3%, whilst C4’s slid 0.6 percentage points to 6.8% in 2008.

ITV1’s share also declined, dropping 0.2 percentage points to a share of 17.5%.

Other channels reported an upturn of less than one percentage point in digital homes year on year for March, with their share sitting at 43.7% for the month.

BARB: www.barb.co.uk