Big Brother fights back pulling in 3.4m on C4

by Nikki Sandison, Brand Republic 02-Jul-08, 12:15

LONDON - 'Big Brother' is pulling back the viewers for Channel 4, after a dip in ratings, with 3.4m tuning in to see the housemates nominate last night, according to unofficial overnight figures, the BBC's 'Criminal Justice' pulled in almost 5m in the primetime slot.

Channel 4 netted a 19.8% share of the 10pm to 11pm audience as viewers tuned in to see enemies Jennifer and Rex nominated for eviction by their fellow housemates. Including Channel 4+1 it managed 3.5m and a 20.7% share.

The show suffered a dip in ratings at the beginning of the week with just 2.5m tuning in on Monday night and 2.9m on Tuesday, lower than the series average of 3.3m.

'Big Brother' followed 'Gordon Ramsey's F-Word' on Channel 4, which attracted 3.1m and a 14.3% share of the 9pm to 10pm audience. Including Channel 4+1 it managed 3.3m and a 20.7% share.

The programme featured Tom Parker Bowles cooking and eating a whole pig from nose to tail and Edith Bowman beating Ramsey in the recipe challenge with her version of haggis.

The 'F-Word' was narrowly beaten by the second episode of ITV1's 'Doc Martin' series which drew in 3.7m viewers and a 17% share of the 9pm to 10pm audience, but it was not strong enough to beat the second part of BBC One's five-part thriller 'Criminal Justice'.

Written by Peter Moffat and starring Ben Whishaw, David Harewood and Pete Postlethwaite, the hard-hitting drama performed will attracted 4.8m viewers and a 21.9% share of the 9pm to 10pm audience.

Channel 4 pulled in 2.2m and a 10.7% share of the 8pm to 9pm audience for makeover show '10 Years Younger', which saw the team transform a naturist yoga teacher, whose skin had been severely damaged by the sun. Including Channel 4+1 it managed 2.4m and an 11.5% share.

'10 Years Younger' beat BBC Two's 'Today at Wimbledon' highlights which netted 1.5m and a 7.3% share of the 8pm audience.