Nadal victory wins BBC One 7.4m viewers in marathon final

by Darren Davidson Brand Republic 07-Jul-08, 11:10

LONDON - Rafael Nadal's epic win over Roger Federer in the men's final at Wimbledon pulled in an average audience of 7.4m, during a slot that lasted more than eight hours to accommodate the longest final to date.

BBC One's live coverage stretched from 1.30pm-9.30pm and captured a 38.1% share of the audience. Play was delayed twice by rain, while the match itself lasted five sets, with Nadal and Federer locked in a tight battle that saw two tie-breaks.

ITV1's live coverage of Lewis Hamilton's win in the penultimate British Grand Prix at Silverstone, which last week lost the rights to hold the annual event to rival track Donnington, netted 4.4m viewers between 12-3pm.

The race, which marked the first time an Englishman has won the race since Johnny Herbert in 1995, was watched by a 35.7% share of the audience.

The channel's crime drama 'Midsomer Murders', starring John Nettles, drew 6.3m viewers and a 23.7% share between 8pm-10pm.

It faced competition from a BBC Two documentary, which explored the conspiracy theory that the September 11 attacks were orchestrated by the Bush administration with the collusion of the intelligence services and the New York fire and police departments.

'9/11: The Conspiracy Files' brought BBC Two 2.4m viewers and a 9.1% share between 9pm-10pm. It was based in part on the internet conspiracy film 'Loose Change', which alleges that Tower 7 was deliberately blown up to protect the conspiracy.

Channel 4's latest instalment of 'Big Brother' had a lowly 2.8m viewers and a 10.6% share between 10pm-11pm. Including Channel 4+1, the ratings rose to 3.1m viewers and an 11.6% share.

The house now includes three new female housemates who were introduced on Friday night. They include a model, who has appeared in a Lynx deodorant ad, an Angelina Jolie look-a-like and a 40-something theatre director.

The Friday night instalment pulled in 3.6m viewers and a 17.1% share, with Channel 4+1's ratings taking the figures up to 3.8m and 17.9%.

Channel 4 said that the show was the second-highest rated eviction show in the current series as Jen was voted out. She was the third woman to be evicted, prompting the influx of three new women into the house.