[mcginn]

From MediaGuardian.co.uk

The eviction of Michelle Bass from the Big Brother house on Friday night gave Channel 4 a lift in ratings, with audiences of more than 6.2 million viewers.
But as the 10-week show approaches it climax, it is still failing to live up to its 2002 potential when 9.4 million viewers tuned into the final when Jade Goody kept viewers glued to the show.

Michelle's eviction was watched by just 6.3 million viewers, with the show peaking at 6.6 million and a 32.4% share at 10pm. Voting for the show is likely to have netted Channel 4 in excess of £700,000 as 2.8 million voted by phone and text to evict the brassy northerner.

The earlier 9pm show in which the housemates discovered who was being evicted got an average of 5.6 million viewers and a 27% share, peaking at 5.9 million.

But Channel 4 will be pleased because the ratings are way up on last year when the show failed to capture the imagination because of a lack of dramatic tension.

At the same point in the series last year, the penultimate eviction show got just 4.2 million viewers for the first Friday night episode, with 4.9 million and a 24% share at 10pm.

The most watched episode so far this year remains the opening night when 7.2 million tuned in to see who was in the house.

The dramatic week of the alcohol fuelled on-screen brawl was watched by 6.2 million.