Spain's Euro 2008 triumph draws more than 10m to BBC One

by Nikki Sandison, Brand Republic 30-Jun-08, 11:00

LONDON - Spain's 1-0 victory over Germany to win Euro 2008 pulled in an audience of 10.6m viewers on BBC One last night, according to unofficial overnight figures.

Spain's triumph, delivered through a goal by Liverpool striker Fernando Torres in the first half, netted a 42% share of the audience for the BBC between 6.55pm and 10pm.

The BBC said that the audience peaked at 12.9m and achieved an average audience of 10.6m. The 10m-plus audience gave BBC One its highest viewing figures of the whole tournament and easily beat its coverage of Germany's 3-2 win over Turkey in the semi-finals, which pulled in 7.2m.

The second episode in the new series of 'Top Gear' attracted 4.7m viewers for BBC Two and a 17.9% share of the audience between 8pm and 9pm.

The show featured Richard Hammond racing an Audi RS6 estate in the French Alps against two French skiers, who narrowly beat him.

'Top Gear' beat the second part of ITV drama 'The Royal' which attracted 4.3m viewers and a 16.6% share of the 8pm slot.

ITV1's detective series 'Taggart' attracted 3.7m viewers and a 15.2% share of the 9pm to 10pm audience, while BBC Two's repeat of 'Jeremy Clarkson: Greatest Raid of all Time' netted 2.3m viewers and an 8.6% share.

'Top Gear' presenter Clarkson told the story of the commando raid on the German occupied dry dock at St Nazaire in France on March 28 1942.

'Big Brother' only managed to attract 2.5m viewers and a 9.5% share of the 9pm audience for Channel 4. Including Channel 4+1 it reached 3m viewers and an 11.5% share.