From Media Week in the U.K.
Daily TV Marketplace - Soap fans split for crime feast
(Posted 27/04/2004)
Almost 12 million viewers were glued to their screens for 90 minutes last night – but neither ITV1 nor BBC One could retain viewers as a new thriller and Morgan Freeman movie kicked in.
Steven Seagal’s Exit Wounds (the film, not a medical examination) on Five at 9pm grabbed 2.5 million viewers, overrunning Channel 4’s Time Team by around 200,000 viewers.
A fix of two episodes of Coronation Street on ITV1, sandwiching the 30-minute Monday night offering of EastEnders, all pulled in around 11.5 million viewers between 7.30 and 9pm.
But ITV1’s latest stab at a detective thriller, the two-part Fallen at 9pm, starring Jonathan Cake (pictured), only managed to attract 5.5 million viewers and a 24.7%.
The Morgan Freeman-led movie Kiss the Girls, BBC One’s offering at 9pm, pulled even less, with 4.9 million viewers and a 21.6% share.
However, the break for the news at 10pm did not put viewers off, with 4.4 million returning at 10.35pm for the second part of the movie.
The slow build-up to the forthcoming Bank Holiday weekend snooker-fest has given BBC Two a gradual increase in viewers for its live coverage of the tournament from 9 to 10.30pm.
Around 2.4 million fans tuned for last night’s offering before Newsnight, although only 943,000 grabbed the matchsticks to keep their eyes open for the late-night session at 11.20pm.