Extended tennis coverage pays off for BBC

The BBC channels enjoyed strong ratings on Monday, with coverage of Andy Murray's four-hour Wimbledon match peaking at 10.4m viewers.

Schedules were rearranged to make way for the match, in which Murrary ultimately defeated Richard Gasquet and progressed to the quarter-finals.

Coverage began on BBC One at 5.30pm and drew 3.8m (28%) until 6pm, when it moved to BBC Two and attracted 4.3m (23.5%) until 8.30pm.

Back on the flagship channel, the closing stages drew an impressive 8.6m (37.2%) until 9.35pm and peaked with a 44% share between 9.15pm and 9.30pm.

BBC One was forced to drop benefit fraud documentary On the Fiddle? and delay new drama Criminal Justice and The 10 O'Clock News.

The crime drama, which stars Ben Whishaw and Pete Postlethwaite and is being stripped across this week, attracted 5.5m (26%) over an hour from 9.35pm.

ITV1 ratings dropped slightly against the tennis, with Coronation Street instalments at 7.30pm and 8.30pm drawing below-par figures of 7.6m (38.4%) and 7.4m (32.6%) respectively, and Police, Camera, Action! interesting 4.4m (19.2%) at 9pm.

On Channel 4, the opening of the widely-promoted Disarming Britain strand on violent crime also failed to make an impression. A Dispatches special, The Truth About Street Weapons, attracted 746,000 (3.4%) from 8pm with Kids, Knives and Broken Lives drawing 997,000 (4.4%) in the following hour.

The channel's biggest attraction was the Big Brother catchup show which interested 2.8m (15.2%) over 65 minutes from 10pm.

Five drew 840,000 (3.8%) for The Gadget Show at 8pm and 640,000 (3.5%) for Greatest Ever Blockbuster Movies at 9pm.