Wimbledon late finish and popularity of BBC's football coverage hands ITV1 worst weekend's ratings for at least a decade
Andy Murray and the exploits of the Spain football team consigned ITV1 to its worst weekend's ratings for at least a decade – and most likely the worst viewing figures since the commercial network launched in 1955.
The commercial broadcaster was hit by a double whammy of Murray's late-night win in the third round of Wimbledon on Saturday, which peaked with more than 8 million viewers on BBC1, and Spain's Euro 2012 victory watched by six times as many people on BBC1 as it was on ITV.
It left the commercial broadcaster with a 7.9% share of the audience across the entire weekend, and a 9.7% share of the audience in peaktime across Saturday and Sunday, according to industry figures.
It was the channel's worst weekend performance since the current system of measurment began – today's audience measurement system was introduced by official ratings body Barb in 2002.
The weekend also saw BBC1 take its biggest lead over ITV1 since July 2006, when the rival broadcasters went head to head with their coverage of the World Cup final between Italy and France.
Murray's third-round win over Marcos Baghdatis at Wimbledon ended just after 11pm on Saturday, the late-night finish made possible by the £80m retractable roof on Centre Court.
Previously a strictly daytime affair, it will not be the last time the championships prove a primetime draw for the BBC, with a roof also mooted for Wimbledon's No 1 court.
The BBC traditionally beats ITV when they go head to head with a big sporting event and the Euro 2012 final was no exception.
But even by historical standards, when the BBC typically takes 75% to 80% of the audience, the BBC's lead was a substantial one, with a live match average of 12.3 million against ITV1's 2 million, and this despite no shortage of plaudits for ITV's coverage, anchored by Adrian Chiles.
ITV1 had the consolation of performing better during the course of Euro 2012 than its previous international football tournaments, with an average audience of 6.2 million against 4.9 million for the 2010 World Cup and 4.6 million for Euro 2008, when it did not show the final live.
ITV1 had an all-hours share of 7.7% on Saturday, rising to 8.6% with ITV1 +1, and a primetime share of 10.5% (11.8% including ITV1 +1) between 6pm and 10.30pm.
BBC1 had an all-day share of 27.6% on Saturday, and a primetime share of 29.4%.
On Sunday, ITV1 had an all-hours share of 6.8%, rising to 7.4% including ITV1 +1. Its primetime share was 7.6% (7.9% including ITV1 +1) between 6pm and 10.30pm.
BBC1's all-day share on Sunday was 25.3%, with a primetime share of 37.7%.
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