F1 helps ITV win ratings race

Lewis Hamilton's win at the Canadian Grand Prix gave ITV1 4.6 million viewers yesterday.

The commercial broadcaster's coverage took a 29.6% audience share over three hours from 5pm. This is well above the 2 or 3 million viewers the network usually gets for its Formula One coverage.

And and Dec-fronted talent show, ITV1's Britain's Got Talent at 8.30pm at attracted 6.4 million viewers and a 28% share over an hour at 8.30pm on Sunday, beating its Saturday night debut of 4.9 million viewers and a 23% share.

The new series of BBC Two's Coast also did well at 8.30pm, taking 4.2 million viewers and 18% of the audience. BBC One drama The Chase attracted just 4 million viewers and a 17% share at the same time.

Later in the evening, new four part drama Talk to Me, starring Max Beesley, debuted with 4.2 million viewers and a 19.9% share of audience at 9.30pm on ITV1. Though it was not enough to contend with BBC One's How We Built Britain, which managed 5 million viewers and a 23% share at the same time.