mcginn
09-08-2004, 10:56 AM
From mediaguardian (http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,7493,1279372,00.html)
Channel 4 bosses will feel vindicated in their decision to get "evil" with Big Brother this year after 9 million viewers tuned into Friday's final.
Viewing and voting figures for Big Brother bounced back after last year's disappointing showing, with this year's show second only to 2002 in terms of viewing figures and the numbers who voted.
Friday night's Big Brother final, which runaway bookies' favourite Nadia surprised no one by winning, attracted more than 8 million viewers - making it Channel 4's second most popular show so far this year, beaten only by the last ever Friends episode.
Big Brother 5 bowed out with an average of 8.3 million viewers and a 41% audience share between 10pm and 11.10pm, as first runner-up Jason and then winner Nadia left the house.
During the final show, the Big Brother audience peaked at 9 million viewers and a 48% share, according to unofficial overnights.
The Friends final, broadcast before the Big Brother 5 launch show on May 28, attracted 8.6 million viewers.
Ratings for the Big Brother 2004 final were well above the figures for last year's much criticised series, which finished with 6.6 million viewers watching Cameron emerge as the winner.
Of the five Big Brother finals so far, only Big Brother 3 - when 9.4 million viewers saw Kate Lawler emerge victorious - has proved more popular than Friday night's show.
Earlier on Friday night, the Big Brother show in which Shell and Dan were evicted attracted 6 million viewers and a 28% audience share between 8.30pm and 9.35pm - making it more popular than any other programme in that slot.
Voting figures for Big Brother 5 have also increased this year after falling off dramatically in 2003.
In the final week of this year's series, more than 6.3 million votes were cast - 3,863,696 of them for Nadia - bringing the total for Big Brother 5 to 14,790,551.
Two years ago, the novelty of text voting was introduced for the first time and the antics of Lawler, Jade Goody and the other housemates pushed the total vote figure to 22.7 million.
But last year the fact that the show was seen as dull and Cameron was odds-on favourite in the final week meant that the total vote for the series slumped to just 7.6 million
Channel 4 bosses will feel vindicated in their decision to get "evil" with Big Brother this year after 9 million viewers tuned into Friday's final.
Viewing and voting figures for Big Brother bounced back after last year's disappointing showing, with this year's show second only to 2002 in terms of viewing figures and the numbers who voted.
Friday night's Big Brother final, which runaway bookies' favourite Nadia surprised no one by winning, attracted more than 8 million viewers - making it Channel 4's second most popular show so far this year, beaten only by the last ever Friends episode.
Big Brother 5 bowed out with an average of 8.3 million viewers and a 41% audience share between 10pm and 11.10pm, as first runner-up Jason and then winner Nadia left the house.
During the final show, the Big Brother audience peaked at 9 million viewers and a 48% share, according to unofficial overnights.
The Friends final, broadcast before the Big Brother 5 launch show on May 28, attracted 8.6 million viewers.
Ratings for the Big Brother 2004 final were well above the figures for last year's much criticised series, which finished with 6.6 million viewers watching Cameron emerge as the winner.
Of the five Big Brother finals so far, only Big Brother 3 - when 9.4 million viewers saw Kate Lawler emerge victorious - has proved more popular than Friday night's show.
Earlier on Friday night, the Big Brother show in which Shell and Dan were evicted attracted 6 million viewers and a 28% audience share between 8.30pm and 9.35pm - making it more popular than any other programme in that slot.
Voting figures for Big Brother 5 have also increased this year after falling off dramatically in 2003.
In the final week of this year's series, more than 6.3 million votes were cast - 3,863,696 of them for Nadia - bringing the total for Big Brother 5 to 14,790,551.
Two years ago, the novelty of text voting was introduced for the first time and the antics of Lawler, Jade Goody and the other housemates pushed the total vote figure to 22.7 million.
But last year the fact that the show was seen as dull and Cameron was odds-on favourite in the final week meant that the total vote for the series slumped to just 7.6 million