German joy at Euro 2008 pulls in 7.2m on BBC One

by Darren Davidson, Brand Republic 26-Jun-08, 11:00

LONDON - Germany's dramatic last gasp win over Turkey in the semi-finals of Euro 2008 netted BBC One 7.2m viewers last night, according to unofficial overnight figures.

The corporation's coverage of Germany's 3-2 win, which was interrupted on two separate occasions by blackouts for about ten minutes, was watched by a 31.9% share of the audience.

The BBC is to lodge a formal complaint with Euro 2008 organiser Uefa about the blackouts, which also affected all other countries broadcasting the match.

The first blackout lasted more than seven minutes and the second interruption prevented UK viewers from seeing Miroslav Klose put Germany 2-1 ahead in the 79th minute.

In the UK, the BBC switched to its audio commentary from Radio 5 Live during the blackouts, accompanied by an on-screen apology, and this continued as pictures returned for a short time.

BBC Two's roundup of the day's play at Wimbledon, 'Today at Wimbledon', drew 880,000 viewers and a 4% share between 5.50pm and 8pm.

ITV1's 'Real Crime: The Fight for Sarah's Law', in which police officers and forensic scientists discussed how they trapped the killer of eight-year-old Sarah Payne, pulled in 2.1m viewers and a 9% share between 9pm and 10pm.

Channel 4's documentary 'Snowdon and Margaret: Inside a Royal Marriage' scored 3.1m viewers and a 13.2% share between 9pm and 10pm. Including Channel 4+1, it had 3.2m viewers and a 13.7% share.

The broadcaster's latest instalment of 'Big Brother' only managed a lowly 2.9m viewers and a 17.5% share between 10pm and 11pm. Channel 4+1 bumped the ratings up to 3.1m viewers and an 18.5% share.