'Games' final pulls in 3.4 million

The final of The Games 2005 pulled in an average of 3.4 million viewers to Channel 4 last night (Friday), according to overnight ratings figures.

The live finale, which saw Philip Olivier and Kirsty Gallacher crowned champions, pulled in an average of 3.4 million and a 16.9% share of the audience over 100 minutes from 9.30pm.

Top programme of the day was ITV1's Coronation Street, which had 10.81 million (53%) at 7.30pm. EastEnders took 10.06 million (46.8%) for second, followed by Emmerdale with 8.48 million (45%).

The Two Ronnies Sketchbook continued to perform admirably, meanwhile, with an audience of 7.18 million (31.9%) between 8.30pm and 9.30pm. It easily outpaced ITV1's Friday night Bond movie, The Living Daylights, which managed just 4.2 million (19%).

Elsewhere, BBC Two enjoyed success at 9pm with a documentary about the British tsunami of 1607. Timewatch drew an average of 2.78 million (12.4%) over 50 minutes.

Over on multichannel, ITV2's continuing American Idol ranked highest with an average of 489,000 (3.3%) from 8.30pm. A Sky One Michael Jackson Special pulled in 454,000 (3.8%) at 7pm to finish in third place.

ITV3 also proved popular with digital viewers, with a two-hour Inspector Wexford intriguing 367,000 (2.6%) from 9pm. Sky One's 90-minute countdown of the World's Biggest Celebrity Mingers had 352,000 (2.4%) between 9pm and 10.30pm, while on LivingTV, a new CSI: Miami hooked 274,000 (1.8%).

Coverage of the Pope's fading health drew large audiences to the news channels all day long, with BBC News 24 coming out mostly on top. It managed a peak of 218,000 (1.5%) for its 10pm bulletin, while Sky News reached a high of 173,000 (1.2%) an hour earlier.

Ratings data supplied by ViewingFigures.com