[Hooly One]

LONDON - 'Big Brother 5' is officially a hit, with Channel 4 figures revealing it is the second most-watched 'Big Brother' series, averaging 4.9m viewers or a 24% share a night, up six points on last year, but four points off the third series.

'Big Brother 3', won by Kate Lawler, was the most popular with an average 5.8m viewers. 'Big Brother 1' was third most-watched series with 4.7m, while 'BB4' and 'BB2' tied in fourth place with 4.6m viewers.

The results also reveal there has been a 10% increase in 16- to 34-year-old viewers and 5% increase in ABC1 adults watching 'Big Brother 5' this year.

A total of 12 shows had more than 6m viewers and 42 shows attracted more than 5m viewers this year. In comparison, 'Big Brother 4' had a total of 19 shows with 5m and over.

The official 'Big Brother' website has been getting its fair share of traffic. An average 267,128 fans visit the site each day, up a whopping 280% on last year.

'Big Brother's Little Brother' on Channel 4 also fared well -- up 12% on last year to an average 1.9m viewers or 12% audience share.

E4's 'Big Brother' coverage has managed 2.9% of the total audience share. This has put it ahead of digital viewers on Sky One (2%), ITV2 on 1.6%, UK Gold on 1.8% and BBC Three on 0.6%.

Due to the success of the finale shows, averaging more than 9m viewers, the overall statistics for 'Big Brother 5' could change, but it is likely to be only for the better.

MB