Spain jubilation nets 6.4m viewers on ITV1

by Darren Davidson, Brand Republic 27-Jun-08, 10:55

LONDON - Spain's 3-0 defeat of Russia, which earned them a place in the final of Euro 2008 against Germany, pulled in 6.4m viewers on ITV1 last night, according to unofficial overnight figures.

Spain's highly convincing display against Russia, who were comprehensively outclassed, was watched by a 29% share of the audience between 7.30pm-10pm.

The match is ITV's last live game of Euro 2008 because the commercial broadcaster decided against airing Sunday's final in Vienna. Some observers have attributed the decision to ITV's fear of being beaten by the BBC in the competition for viewers.

ITV has struggled to come anywhere near the BBC in recent years when both broadcasters have aired live football finals in tandem. Instead, ITV1 will air dramas 'The Royal' and 'Taggart' on Sunday evening.

BBC One's Wimbledon coverage earned 1.9m viewers and a 10.7% share between 1.45pm-6pm yesterday afternoon.

Channel 4's brand new fashion series 'Gok's Fashion Fix', presented by Gok Wan and Alexa Chung, launched with 2m viewers and an 8.9% share between 8pm-9pm. It had 2.1m viewers and a 9.6% share including figures from Channel 4+1.

The latest instalment of Channel 4's 'Big Brother' could only manage a lowly 2.8m viewers and a 12% share between 9pm-10pm, as it struggled to compete with ITV1's live football coverage. Including figures from Channel 4+1, it earned 3.2m viewers and a 14.1% share.

The penultimate episode of US sci-fi series 'Heroes' drew 2m viewers and an 8.3% share between 9pm-9.45pm on BBC Two.

Channel Five's 'House' also reached the penultimate episode of its current series and attracted 1.7m viewers and a 7.6% share.