TV ratings: Party election broadcasts watched by almost 9m

The TV general election campaign was in full swing last night, Monday 12 April, with a Labour party election broadcast, leader interviews and profiles, and even Michael Cockerill on BBC2 explaining how to win a TV debate. There is an ongoing debate about the value of party election broadcasts (PEBs) – does anyone other than supporters of the party in question actually watch them? The figures for last night's Labour PEB, The Road Ahead, featuring Sean Pertwee and the voice of David Tennant , provide positives and negatives. Just under 9 million viewers watched the PEB across the five main terrestrial networks and the digital service Channel 4 +1 between 5.55pm and 9pm – the vast majority, nearly 6.9 million, on BBC1 and ITV1, as would be expected. On both BBC1 (6.55pm: 4.050 million/22.1%) and ITV1 (18.25pm: 2.826 million/16.3%) the PEBs were among the top five most popular non-news programmes of the day. However, both PEBs were also in the top five terrestrial channel shows showing the biggest decline in audience share against the slot average for the past three months – on ITV1 down 17%, and on BBC1 down 15%. On BBC1, the PEB came at the end of the 6.30pm regional bulletins, which attracted a collective 5.565 million (30.6%), and immediately before The One Show (4.21 million/22.1%). The Labour PEB on ITV1 was at the end of the regional bulletins (2.797 million/17.2%) and just before the 6.30pm national news (3.097 million/17%). ITV1 also had a Tonight: Spotlight on the Leaders edition profiling David Cameron, which attracted 2.631 million (11.6%) in a Coronation Street sandwich between 8pm and 8.30pm. Last Monday, admittedly atypical because of the Bank Holiday, a Countrywise factual show had 4.392 million (16.9%) in the same ITV1 slot. Yesterday, BBC1 had Jeremy Paxman Interviews: Nick Clegg in the 8.30pm Panorama slot. The Clegg interview had 2.212 million (9.4%), with another 13,000 choosing to watch the Lib Dem leader on BBC HD. Last Monday a QI repeat had 3.08 million (11.7%) in the same BBC1 slot. BBC2's How to Win the TV Debate featured Cockerill looking at the history of such televisual confrontations in US politics ahead of Thursday's first leader debate on ITV1 and attracted 708,000 (3.6%) in the 7pm hour. In the same slot Channel 4 News had 667,000 (3.4%), with 501,000 (2.3%) from 7.55pm for the Labour PEB. Another 48,000 watched Channel 4 News an hour later on Channel 4 +1, with 46,000 for the PEB on the digital service. Five main terrestrial analogue networks BBC1, BBC2, ITV1, Channel 4, Channel Five (available in all UK homes with TV, except Five, which reaches about 95%) 9pm: BBC1 New Tricks (rpt) (3.83 million/15.9%) BBC2 Out of the Frying Pan (new series) (1.248 million/5.2%) ITV1 Joanna Lumley's Nile (new series) (4.774 million/19.8%) Channel 4 Saxon Gold: Finding the Hoard (1.81 million/7.5%, C4 +1: 282,000/1.6%) Five FlashForward (1.598 million/6.6%) Other new series: BBC1 10.35pm: The Graham Norton Show (2.192 million/18.6%, BBC HD simulcat: 23,000/0.2%) BBC2 8pm: Hidden Houses of Wales (1.761 million/7.8%) Channel 4 8pm: Young Autistic and Stagestruck (837,000/3.6%, C4 +1: 70,000/0.3%) 10pm: The World's Strangest Plastic Surgery and Me (1.792 million/10.4%, C4 +1: 225,000/2.5%) Freeview/digital terrestrial TV free-to-air networks Available in 23.4m UK homes – 91.4% of total – as of 31/12/09. Source: Ofcom digital progress report, Q4 2009 ITV2 9pm: Hell's Kitchen USA (515,000/2.1%) 10pm: Celebrity Juice (342,000/1.8%) ITV3 9pm: Taggart (rpt) (429,000/1.8%) 10pm: Ladies of Letters (new series) (464,000/2.4%) E4 10pm: The Cleveland Show (372,000/1.9%) 10.35pm: The Cleveland Show (289,000/1.9%) BBC3 9pm: Gavin & Stacey (rpt) (854,000/3.5%) 10pm: EastEnders (rpt) (813,000/4.1%) 10.30pm: Undercover Princes and Princesses (310,000/2.4%) BBC4 8.30pm: Only Connect (series final) (363,000/1.5%) 9pm: Goldsmiths: But Is it Art? (new series) (124,000/0.5%) Virgin1 10pm: Trauma (186,000/1.1%) Cable and satellite pay-TV networks Available in 12.4m UK homes – 48.2% of total – as of 31/12/09. Source: Ofcom digital progress report, Q4 2009 Bravo 9pm: Alex Reid: The Fight of His Life (153,000/0.6%) Living 9pm: Four Weddings (351,000/1.5%) Sky1 10pm: NCIS: Los Angeles (224,000/1.3%) Sky Movies Premiere 9pm: The Pacific (401,000/1.7%) All ratings are unofficial live overnight figures, excluding other viewing – including timeshifted (recorded), on demand, HD, +1 or other – unless otherwise stated • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email [email protected] or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. • If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication ".