UK TV Chart - w/e 16th August 2009

Here's the rundown of the Top 20 most popular UK TV programmes or series for the week ending Sunday 16th August 2009 collated from information compiled and presented by BARB. Note that figures for multi-episode TV broadcasts (ie soaps or other shows with more than one episode per week) are rounded up into an average figure for the series and are denoted in the chart by * News broadcasts are excluded from the figures.

1) Coronation Street (ITV1).................8.72 *
2) New Tricks (BBC1)........................7.69
3) EastEnders (BBC1)........................7.62 *
4) Emmerdale (ITV1).........................6.33 *
5) Who Do You Think You Are (BBC1)..........6.27
6) Football: Spain v England (ITV1).........5.65
7) Rivers With Griff Rhys Jones (BBC1)......5.52
8) Holby City (BBC1)........................5.04
9) The Street (BBC1)........................4.55
10) Total Wipeout (BBC1).....................4.45
11) Match of the Day (BBC1)..................4.18
12) (Countryfile (BBC1).......................4.04
12) (National Lottery Guesstimation (BBC1)....4.04
14) The One Show (BBC1)......................3.79 *
15) (Jam and Jerusalem (BBC1).................3.66
15) (Send In The Dogs (ITV1)..................3.66
17) The Bill (ITV1)..........................3.63
18) Hotel Babylon (BBC1).....................3.42
19) Coast (BBC2).............................3.41
20) Single-Handed (ITV1).....................3.40

BBC: 14 ITV: 6

Chart commentary: An embarrassing week for ITV as the BBC dominate the chart with a strong run of 14 titles. Strong drama performances from New Tricks and The Street and even Hotel Babylon bows out with a Top 20 placing. Solid if unspectacular performance from the new short-run Jam and Jerusalem series and old favourites like Match of the Day and Countryfile continue to give good results for the Corporation. There's a rare BBC2 entry for Coast and Griff Rhys Jone's Sunday night series Rivers is proving to be a big atraction. ITV's performance remains pitiful, though with only the two soaps, a bit of football, a cheap documentary filler about Police dogs, The Bill (more or less killed dead by the inappropriate new 9pm timeslot and creative retooling which has sapped it of its dramatic energy) and their sole other drama entry, the Irish Police drama Single-Handed dragging its heels in pole position. ITV have four months of tiresome X Factor shenanigans to bolster their position but nothing much else they're attempting is making much of a splash so it looks like it'll be a BBC-led chart for some time to come. Fine by me.