TV ratings: Glee hits new high after mid-series break

E4's US drama import Glee returned from its mid-series break refreshed, hitting a new ratings high of nearly 1.6 million viewers last night, Monday 19 April. Glee was watched by 1.596 million viewers – a 6.5% audience share – on E4 in the 9pm hour. A further 351,000 (1.9%) watched an hour later on E4 +1. This made Glee the fourth most popular programme in its slot, ahead of the BBC2 cookery show Out of the Frying Pan (1.158 million/4.7%) and – by a whisker – Channel Five's FlashForward (1.546 million/6.3%). Glee was also snapping at the heels of Channel 4's new second world war history series, Blitz Street, which brought in 1.633 million (6.7%) to watch Tony Robinson and stuff getting blown up. Blitz Street had another 213,000 (1.2%) on Channel 4 +1. Joanna Lumley's Nile on ITV1 won the 9pm hour with 4.546 million (18.6%), ahead of BBC1's News Tricks repeat (4.026 million/16.5%). Glee's mid-season break proved even more successful for the show in the US, with the show attracting 13.7 million viewers on its return to the Fox network last week – nearly double the series average up to that point. Fox's canny viral marketing of the Sue Syvester Vogue pastiche video clip during the show's mid season break probably helped boost ratings as well. In the UK, Glee has been increasing its audience steadily since premiering on E4 with 1.1 million in January . The last new episode before the break had 1.466 million three weeks ago . Last night's figures make Glee one of the top rating non-sport multichannel shows of the year to date. ITV2's Katie Price documentary What Katie Did Next had 1.512 million last month and on Saturday the same channel's new series of Britain's Got More Talent debuted with 1.302 million . Mid-season breaks have long been a feature of US network scheduling, with specials and repeats filling the gaps between drama and comedy series lasting 22-24 episodes in a TV season that runs each year from September through to May. They are a more recent addition to scheduling patterns here, as the time lag between US and UK transmission dates has narrowed in recent years to combat online piracy. Other new episodes of US series broadcast last night: E4 10pm: The Cleveland Show (530,000/2.6%) 10.30pm: King of the Hill (144,000/0.9%) ITV2 9pm: Hell's Kitchen USA (478,000/2%) Sky Movies Premiere 9pm: The Pacific (367,000) Sky1 10pm: NCIS: Los Angeles (276,000/1.5%) Virgin 1 10pm: Trauma (203,000/1.1%) Comedy Central 10pm: 30 Rock (new series) (64,000/0.3%) 10.30pm: 30 Rock (42,000/0.3%) Election watch: The second Conservative party election broadcast, hastily changed over the weekend to focus on a direct message from David Cameron after the Liberal Democrats' opinion poll boost, attracted 8.722 million viewers across the five main networks and Channel 4 +1 between 5.55pm and 9pm. Last week's PEBs: Monday: Labour (8.937 million) Tuesday: Conservative (8.991 million) Wednesday: Liberal Democrat (8.437 million) 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%) BBC1 7pm: The One Show (4.815 million/23.5%) 7.30pm: Bang Goes the Theory (3.968 million/18.2%, 34,000/0.16%) 8pm: EastEnders (9.201 million/38.8%) 8.30pm: Panorama (2.826 million/11.6%) 10.45pm: The Graham Norton Show (2.176 million/18.1%, BBC HD: 8,000/0.06%) BBC2 8pm: Hidden Houses of Wales (1.388 million/5.9%) ITV1 7pm: Emmerdale (7.04 million/34.3%) 7.30pm: Coronation Street (8.653 million/39.7%) 8pm: Countrywise (3.707 million/15.6%) 8.30pm: Coronation Street (8.929 million/36.7%) Channel 4 8pm: Young, Autistic and Stagestruck (615,000/2.6%, C4+1: 109,000/0.5%) 10pm: The World's Most Identical Twins and Me (1.076 million/6.1%, C4+1: 119,000/1.2%) 11.05pm: Comedy Lab: iCandy (new series) (268,000/2.7%, C4+1: 38,000/0.7%) 11.40pm: Comedy Lab: Happy Finish (168,000/2.4%, C4+1: 26,000/0.8%) Channel Five 8pm: The Gadget Show (1.32 million/5.5%) 10pm: Justin Lee Collins: Good Times (320,000/1.8%) 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 ITV3 10pm: Ladies of Letters (327,000/1.6%) ITV4 9pm: The Prisoner (rpt) (174,000/0.7%) BBC3 10pm: EastEnders (rpt) (788,000/3.8%) BBC4 9pm: The Beauty of Maps (new series) (453,000/1.9%) 10pm: Goldsmiths: But Is it Art? (141,000/0.6%) 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 Living 8pm: Australia's Next Top Model (45,000/0.2%) 9pm: Four Weddings (309,000/1.3%) Sky1 9pm: Steve Jones in the Jones Boys Amazon Adventure (new series) (116,000/0.5%) 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. 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