Only 19,000 stick with BBC3

The audience for the BBC's new digital channel BBC3 slumped to as little as 19,000 on its opening night, despite a high-profile launch.

An attempt to boost viewing numbers with a simultaneous broadcast on the terrestrial BBC2 also backfired, bringing in 1.5 million viewers - 300,000 fewer than the channel's average audience figure of 1.8 million on a Sunday.

The BBC3 launch night was hosted by Johnny Vaughan. Audiences peaked with the Steve Coogan show Paul And Pauline Calf's Cheese And Ham Sandwich, watched by 270,000 viewers at just after 9pm. This Is Dom Joly, starring the comic who made his name with Trigger Happy TV, was watched by just over 200,000.

The audience for the new channel became thinner as the night wore on, falling to 144,000 for a Liquid News interview with Hollywood stars Kiefer Sutherland and Christian Slater.

By 11.45pm the figure dropped to 19,000 for the comedy sketch show 3 Non Blondes. The BBC defended the show, saying the average audience figures were almost three times as high as for the channel's predecessor, BBC Choice.

The BBC said it was happy with the launch. "We're really pleased with the launch night of BBC3," said the channel's controller Stuart Murphy.

"It is great that so many BBC2 viewers had a chance to sample it and I feel this is a good base from which BBC3 can grow.

"BBC3 is in it for the long game, nurturing new talent and new ideas."