Marc
30-06-2009, 05:51 PM
11.8m tune in for Murray battle
Source (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8126147.stm)
Tennis star Andy Murray's floodlit Wimbledon epic on BBC One attracted a peak audience of 11.8m people, overnight figures have revealed.
Murray's five-set match, which was played under the roof on Centre Court and lasted close to four hours, gained an average of 8.6m viewers.
BBC One's planned schedule, including an episode of EastEnders, was screened on BBC Two to make way for the match.
The Ten O'Clock News was delayed for almost 45 minutes.
A BBC spokesman said the decision to screen the match on BBC One was taken swiftly as the channel "is where viewers come to enjoy great sporting moments of national importance and last night's Murray match was one such occasion".
"From the outset it looked like the match was going to be very close so we took the decision to move it to BBC1 as soon as we could and to stay with it right to the end to ensure that the maximum number of people could enjoy this nail-biting game," he added.
As Murray's match against Stanislas Wawrinka drew to a close, BBC One secured more than 53% of all TV viewers.
Other regular BBC One shows which were shifted to BBC Two included The One Show, Crimewatch and Panorama.
EastEnders - screened at 2000 BST on BBC Two - attracted 5.5m viewers, while the tennis captured almost two million extra viewers at the same time.
Source (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8126147.stm)
Tennis star Andy Murray's floodlit Wimbledon epic on BBC One attracted a peak audience of 11.8m people, overnight figures have revealed.
Murray's five-set match, which was played under the roof on Centre Court and lasted close to four hours, gained an average of 8.6m viewers.
BBC One's planned schedule, including an episode of EastEnders, was screened on BBC Two to make way for the match.
The Ten O'Clock News was delayed for almost 45 minutes.
A BBC spokesman said the decision to screen the match on BBC One was taken swiftly as the channel "is where viewers come to enjoy great sporting moments of national importance and last night's Murray match was one such occasion".
"From the outset it looked like the match was going to be very close so we took the decision to move it to BBC1 as soon as we could and to stay with it right to the end to ensure that the maximum number of people could enjoy this nail-biting game," he added.
As Murray's match against Stanislas Wawrinka drew to a close, BBC One secured more than 53% of all TV viewers.
Other regular BBC One shows which were shifted to BBC Two included The One Show, Crimewatch and Panorama.
EastEnders - screened at 2000 BST on BBC Two - attracted 5.5m viewers, while the tennis captured almost two million extra viewers at the same time.