TV MARKETPLACE Bye-bye Brookside

MediaWeek, Media Week, Thursday, 13 November 2003, 7:00am,

TV MARKETPLACE Bye-bye Brookside

Brookside: the final, 90-minute episode drew almost two million viewers

Brookside, Channel 4's longrunning soap - but one of the casualties of Mark Thompson's arrival at the broadcaster - went out with a bang last week and pulled in four times its usual audience.

An estimated 1.9 million viewers tuned in on Tuesday for the last time to see the return of Barry Grant to the close. After airing the show for 21 years, Channel 4 managed a final 18.7% share for the 90-minute special at its 10.40pm slot.

Earlier that evening, ITV1's coverage of Manchester United's Champions' League victory over Rangers got a 24% share.

Six million tuned in to watch the game at 7.30pm, as the Reds triumphed in the second instalment of "the battle of Britain".

Janine's quandary over Barry proved to be a bigger draw for eyeballs, however. One in two viewers - 12 million in all - watched EastEnders at 7.30pm over on BBC1.

Saturday's Rugby World Cup coverage on ITV1 got mixed viewing. The second of the quarter finals - between Australia and Scotland - drew 2.6 million viewers, giving the channel a 31.2% share. But the highlights at 4.10pm gathered only a 9.8% share for ITV1, with 1.3 million viewers.

Sunday's Match of the Day Live on BBC1, between minnows Accrington Stanley and League side Huddersfield Town, marked the first round of this year's FA Cup competition.

A hearty 2.2 million viewers tuned in to watch Accrington's 1-0 victory, giving BBC1 a 19.6% slice of the viewing pie and the lion's share of TV watchers at that time.

BBC2's 12.40pm instalment of Hi De Hi put up a good fight in kicking against the footie, though. The programme had a 15.9% share with 1.6 million viewers, beating ITV1's 12.40pm edition of My Favourite Hymns, which drew in 1.2 million viewers and an 11.4% viewing share.

Later that day, the debut of Louis Theroux's new vehicle over on BBC2 made a decent debut.

Nearly four million viewers watched Louis and the Brothel at 9pm, giving BBC2 a 16% share, beating Channel 4's 100 Greatest Number 1s show, and Five's movie, The Presidio, starring Sean Connery.

This article was first published on Media Week