Showbiz

BBC's worst week

The Mummy returned on the BBC this Easter
Tara Conlan|Daily Mail
11 April 2012

The BBC had its worst week in history over Easter, with audiences slumping to a record low.


Viewers switched off in their millions, disgusted at a diet of repeats.

The seven-day slump followed a decision to stack the Easter schedules on BBC1 and BBC2 with more than 100 reruns - almost half the two flagship channels' output.

BBC bosses had gambled that people would be outside enjoying Bank Holiday sunshine.

But the clouds gathered, the viewers stayed in - and switched to other channels.

ITV1 and cable and satellite stations were the main beneficiaries, with ITV1 beating BBC1 and cable and satellite channels winning a record audience share.

Figures from the Broadcast Audience Research Bureau show that during the Easter week (excluding Bank Holiday Monday) BBC1 pulled in just 22.3 per cent of all TV viewers, its lowest ever weekly share.

The previous low was last September when schedules were cleared to make way for the World Athletics Championships resulting in just a 23 per cent share.

BBC2 also suffered last week, winning 10.3 per cent of audiences. And both channels, which have around £1.5billion to spend on programmes, suffered even more in homes which have satellite TV.

Just 19.8 per cent of those households watched BBC1 and BBC2 over the week from Monday morning to Easter Sunday night.

Usually BBC1 averages around 25 per cent share of viewers and the slump comes as the corporation's charter is under review. It will be a huge blow to BBC1 controller Lorraine Heggessey.

Over at ITV1, which won 22.9 per cent of viewers, and showed 14 of the top 20 programmes, it was a different story.

' We had some fantastically strong shows over Easter,' said a company spokesman. ' The climax of William and Mary won 7.9million viewers, then there were regulars such as Heartbeat which always deliver for us.'

Industry experts said that many families would have switched over to cable and satellite stations to watch films and sport during the Easter break. More than half the population now has access to digital TV through Sky, cable or the BBC's Freeview set-top box.

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The BBC admitted it had a disappointing week but pointed to better ratings on Bank Holiday Monday and to original dramas such as the Legend of the Tamworth Two.

A BBC spokesman said: 'Last week was tough for us with 22 per cent, but it was a tough week for all terrestrial channels. There were a number of factors, including the fact that it was children's holidays and there were a number of big football matches.

'From our viewpoint, we have a schedule of breadth and depth with dramas such as England Expects, and a documentary from Panorama which was put in peak time.'

One BBC insider said executives would be most concerned by the fact that so many viewers were switching over to cable and satellite-channels which captured
26.1 per cent of all viewers.

The BBC's worst week comes at a time of turmoil - it doesn't have a director general, following the resignation of Greg Dyke in the wake of the damning Hutton report.

And populist Michael Grade does not take over as chairman until next month.

Although Mark Byford is standing in as acting director general, many at the BBC feel the corporation is rudderless.

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