'Deal or No Deal' is ratings monster for C4

Afternoon gameshow Deal or No Deal is shaping up to be a huge hit for Channel 4.

The series, fronted by Noel Edmonds, began strongly a month ago with 1.85 million (18%) and has been on a steady ratings increase ever since. Yesterday’s (Friday) episode put in a series high of 3.19 million – a 28.1% audience share – from 4.15pm, easily beating all competition in the slot. The show came within a whisker of topping BBC Two’s long-running quiz series The Weakest Link - shown an hour later – with 3.19 million and 20.2% share.

In primetime, ITV1 managed another overall victory over BBC One, albeit by a reduced margin.

A soaps double-header began strongly for ITV1 in the 7pm hour, with Emmerdale averaging 8.29 million (41.5%) and Coronation Street 10.58 million (51.3%), enough to rank first for the day.

At 8pm, EastEnders had 10.03 million (47.6%) over Tonight’s 3.47 million (16.5%). A close race in the latter half hour saw Airline come out marginally on top with 6.11 million (27.2%) over 5.99 million (26.7%) for Bleak House. On BBC Two, 1.55 million (7.4%) turned up for Garden School, an audience that rose to 1.81 million (8.1%) in the latter half for a Gardeners’ World Special. Channel 4 began poorly with an ironic 0.72 million (3.4%) for Everybody Loves Raymond before improving to 1.67 million (7.5%) for The Simpsons. Five interested just 0.78 million (3.6%) with Stargate Atlantis.

An hour later, I’m A Celebrity steamrolled the competition, averaging 8.96 million (40.8%) over 90 minutes. Have I Got News For You delivered a respectable 5.48 million (24%) before Blessed fell to an unholy 2.73 million (12.5%), while BBC Two’s documentary on The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag consumed 1.62 million (7.2%). Kevin Costner film Wyatt Earp brought in a healthy 1.56 million (9.7%) to Five through 12.35am and on Channel 4, just 1.09 million (4.9%) attended Derren Brown: The Gathering.

Strong multichannel performers included ITV2’s I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here Now! (419,000, 3.6%), BBC Four’s QI (370,000, 2.8%) and Living TV’s CSI (286,000 + 127,000, 3.1%).