Arsenal victory draws 6m peak

WEDNESDAY: ITV1 scored a peak audience of nearly 6m viewers as Arsenal scraped through to the Champions League group stage.

The London team took a 1-0 aggregate lead to Italy where they faced a nervy second leg against Udinese to qualify for the next round.
The total coverage was watched by an average audience of 4.28m (19.5%) from 7.30pm to 10pm on ITV1 and ITV1 HD, while a further 79,800 (0.37%) watched on ITV1+1.
Udinese took the lead on the stroke of half time to level the tie, but Arsenal forged ahead in the second half through goals from Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott. The victory peaked with 5.87m (23.55%) viewers at 9.15pm, according to overnight Barb figures supplied by Attentional.
The football was beaten in the 9pm slot by Who Do You Think You Are?, which shed light on Sebastian Coe’s family history for an audience of 4.87m (20.4%) on BBC1 and BBC1 HD.
Next in line was Channel 5 documentary Losing One of My Giant Legs: Extraordinary People, which pulled in an audience of 1.84m (7.7%) over the 9pm hour.
Wallis Simpson: the Secret Letters enlightened 1.65m (6.9%) viewers about the private thoughts of the US socialite on Channel 4. An additional 362,100 (2%) watched on C4+1.
BBC2’s Seven Wonders of the Buddhist World lured an audience of 1.16m (5%) from 9pm to 10.15pm, while another 79,800 (0.34%) watched on BBC HD.

Big Brother continues march

Later in the evening, the audience for Celebrity Big Brother continued its upward trajectory, suggesting the show is settling into some sort of rhythm.
The reality contest was watched by an average audience of 2.52m (13.8%) over the 10pm hour, which was an increase of 150,000 viewers on Tuesday’s 2.37m (12.76%). It has now grown its audience three nights on the trot.
Big Brother was followed by new singing and dancing gameshow The Beat Goes On, which entertained an audience of 450,000 (4.4%) over the 11pm hour. The Dave Berry-fronted vehicle was below C5’s slot average of 677,300 (7.06%) for the year so far.