Ratings woe for ITV

The Nightly Show lost more than half its audience in its second day.

ITV’s much-hyped new comedy-entertainment format attracted 2.9million viewers when it launched on Monday night. But last night’s episode, featuring guests Kim Cattrall and Katherine Ryan alongside host David Walliams, averaged only 1.3million – and slumped as low as 1.1million by the end.

It casts questions over the broadcaster’s decision to move the News At Ten for the next six weeks to make way for the new programme, as the bulletin has averaged 1.8million viewers over the past 12 months.

Even Channel 5 beat ITV in the time slot last night, with Shannon Matthews: What Happened Next winning 1.4million viewers.

Meanwhile, the third series of Channel 4’s Catastrophe attracted 870,000 viewers, in line with the previous series opener; and Inside No 9’s The Riddle Of The Sphinx was seen by 820,000, marginally down on the previous week’s episode and the slot average.

The figures come from Barb research and overnights.tv, as reported by trade website Broadcastnow.

Published: 1 Mar 2017