Leanne Mitchell's 'Voice' UK win seen by 8.7m

Published Jun 6 2012, 12:30 BST  |  By Paul Millar

Leanne Mitchell's Voice UK victory was seen by a peak audience of 8.7 million on Saturday night, the latest overnight data has shown.

The BBC One singing contest commanded an average audience of 7.14m (34.2%) between 7.15pm and 8.30pm, a sharp rebound from its recent loss of form.

The Voice UK's figures are even more impressive given its inheritance of just 2.23m (12.8%) from the film Ratatouille in the early evening.

Coverage of England's friendly win against Belgium scored 4.85m (30.8%) on ITV1 from 4.30pm until 7.30pm, peaking with 6.8m as the match reached its conclusion.

However, Alistair McGowan's new impressions vehicle Sports Burp: You Cannot Be Serious followed with just 2.16m (10.7%) at 7.30pm. Philip Schofield's The Cube then entertained 2.28m (10.8%) at 8pm (+1: 111k), before 1.36m (6.4%) tuned in for The Greatest Footie Ads Ever at 9pm (+1: 121k).

Channel 4's repeat screening of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King attracted 1.7m (8.5%) and 260k on timeshift - overall nearly succeeding in toppling ITV1.

BBC Two's Robin Gibb tribute night attracted decent ratings, with Robin Gibb: Me and My Songs (1.41m/7.5%), TOTP2 Bee Gees Special (1.52m/10.1%) and ...Sings Bee Gees (1.22m/11%) airing back-to-back from 11pm.

Meanwhile, Law & Order: SVU was Channel 5's most-watched show with 901k (5.5%) at 10.15pm.

Overall, BBC One stormed primetime with 28.1%, ahead of ITV1's 10.5% (+1: 0.6%). Channel 4 claimed third place with 8.2% (+1: 0.5%), beating BBC Two's 4.9%, and Channel 5's 4.1% (+1: 0.2%).

BBC Three gave its best Saturday performance this year, with a share of 3.2% - largely thanks to Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest's 777k (3.7%) from 8pm.

Doc Martin (1.13m/5.4%) and Lewis (967k/5%) gave ITV3 a share of 4.8%, superior to Channel 5 and close to matching BBC Two.

BARB ratings data supplied by Attentional