ITV1 pulls in almost 4m more than rivals

by Daniel Farey-Jones, Brand Republic 06-Jan-09, 11:00

LONDON - Television audiences flocked to ITV1 last night as 7.3m watched the concluding part of 'Above Suspicion' while BBC One's 'Traffic Cops' tied with 'Celebrity Big Brother' on 3.4m, according to unofficial overnight figures.

'Above Suspicion', a murder mystery two-parter penned by 'Prime Suspect' screenwriter Lynda La Plante, earned a 28.7% share of viewing.

Coverage from the fourth day of 'Celebrity Big Brother', which launched on Friday night with 5.5m viewers, brought 3.4m to Channel 4, or 13.1% of the audience. Another 400,000 caught the programme on Channel 4+1.

Ulrika Jonsson and Lucy Pinder have become the first celebrities to be secretly nominated for eviction by head of house Terry Christian.

BBC One also had 3.4m viewers for its repeat of an instalment of 'Traffic Cops'.

BBC Two was the next best performing terrestrial channel with an audience of 2.9m, and a share of 11.5%, for 'Three Men In More Than One Boat', following comedians Griff Rhys Jones, Dara O'Briain and Rory McGrath making their way along the Cornish coast.

Five scored a disappointing 700,000 (2.6%) for the debut of 'Warzone', an eight-part documentary series following the lives of British servicemen and women at Kandahar airbase in Afghanistan.