Viewers Turn To BBC1 For Funeral Coverage

Twice as many people watched coverage of the Queen Mother’s funeral on BBC1 than on ITV1 yesterday, according to unofficial overnight figures from BARB.

The figures show that BBC1’s live coverage of events, which ran from 9.15am to 2.10pm, attracted an average of 5 million viewers and achieved a 51.3% share. ITV1’s coverage, which ran from 9.25am until 3.15pm, drew an average audience of 2.5 million and secured a 26.8% share of viewing.

BBC1’s highlights of the funeral service, which were broadcast at 9pm, were watched by 6.4 million viewers and averaged a 20.5% share, while ITV1’s 7pm news special, which offered a condensed version of the day’s proceedings, attracted 4 million viewers and achieved a 19.6% share of viewing.

News of the Queen Mother’s death last Saturday prompted over 9 million people to tune into special news bulletins on BBC1 and ITV1 and caused traffic to the royal website to increase by 1200% (see Millions Tune Into News Of Royal Death).

BBC: 020 8743 8000 www.bbc.co.uk ITV: 020 7843 8000 www.itv.co.uk

Recent TV Stories from NewsLine: ITV Digital Could Be Closed By Monday Leaked Figures Reveal End Of TV Slump TV Will Rebound In 2003, Says AA

Subscribers can access ten years of media news and analysis in the Archive