25m watch England crash out of Euro 2004

A peak of almost 25 million viewers saw England knocked out of Euro 2004 in Lisbon last night (Thursday), according to unofficial figures.

The tense match, which included 30 minutes of extra time and a climactic penalty shootout, averaged a hefty 20.6 million viewers and a 73.6% share of the audience across almost three hours on BBC One.

A peak of 24.7 million - an 84.4% share - came in the final five minutes.  As many as 10 million more could have been watching in pubs, clubs and at outdoor venues around the UK.

According to Broadcast, the figure is the BBC's highest ever TV sports audience since ratings began.

Predictably, ratings elsewhere were down across the board.  On ITV1, The Bill mustered just 3.4m (13.7%) at 7.30pm while C4's Big Brother dropped to a lowly 1.8m (6.7%) at 10pm.