TV
More people watched BBC One than ITV1 last year, according to figures from ratings body Barb. The Corporation's victory is the first ever since the launch of its commercial rival. BBC One averaged an audience share of 26.8%, with ITV1 marginally behind on 26.7%.
Lorraine Heggessey, controller of BBC One, welcomed the news. "What a way to celebrate the New Year! It's fantastic to see that public service broadcasting can be so strong in the competitive multi channel world. This shows the first fruits of rebuilding BBC1 — with extra investment — from Greg Dyke, allowing us to afford more drama and more landmark factual programmes to strengthen BBC1 schedules.
"The creative community has worked hard to deliver a wonderful range of programmes that have delighted audiences of all ages. We have got more work to do, but it's great to see the strategy that we agreed 18 months ago beginning to work so effectively."
ITV hit back at the figures however, saying that the BBC did not lead during primetime, the more "crucial" period of viewing. A spokesman said: “The figures show that BBC inched ahead by 0.1 per cent over the year. But these figures are not the figures which most broadcasters perceive to be the really crucial area, which is prime time. There ITV1 still has a very healthy lead of six percentage points.???
Lorraine Heggessey, controller of BBC One, welcomed the news. "What a way to celebrate the New Year! It's fantastic to see that public service broadcasting can be so strong in the competitive multi channel world. This shows the first fruits of rebuilding BBC1 — with extra investment — from Greg Dyke, allowing us to afford more drama and more landmark factual programmes to strengthen BBC1 schedules.
"The creative community has worked hard to deliver a wonderful range of programmes that have delighted audiences of all ages. We have got more work to do, but it's great to see the strategy that we agreed 18 months ago beginning to work so effectively."
ITV hit back at the figures however, saying that the BBC did not lead during primetime, the more "crucial" period of viewing. A spokesman said: “The figures show that BBC inched ahead by 0.1 per cent over the year. But these figures are not the figures which most broadcasters perceive to be the really crucial area, which is prime time. There ITV1 still has a very healthy lead of six percentage points.???
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