Direct marketer Hopkins helps Secret Millionaire pull in 3.7m viewers

by Darren Davidson, Brand Republic 27-Aug-08, 11:00

LONDON - Channel 4's 'The Secret Millionaire', which featured Carl Hopkins, the former chairman of direct marketing agency JDA, pulled in 3.7m viewers last night, according to unofficial overnight figures.

The programme, in which Hopkins posed as a community warden in the former colliery town of Easington in Durham, captured a 15.7% share of the audience between 9-10pm. Including Channel 4+1 it had 4m viewers and a 16.9% share.

However, the prime time slot was won by BBC One's new 30-something drama 'Mutual Friends', starring Marc Warren and Alexander Armstrong, with 4.6m viewers and a 19.6% share.

ITV1's 'Fiddles, Cheats & Scams', the first of three programmes showing the lengths people go to cheat the insurance industry and the investigators determined to bring them to justice, was watched by 3.4m viewers and a 14.3% share in the 9-10pm slot.

BBC Two's 'Maestro', in which six famous amateur conductors go head to head in a 'X Factor'-style contest, attracted a lowly 1.5m viewers and a 6.3% share in the same slot.

Later on in the evening, the latest instalment of 'Big Brother' brought Channel 4 3.2m viewers and a 17.6% share between 10pm and 11.05pm. The ratings increased to 3.4m viewers and an 18.7% share on Channel 4+1.