Celebrity Big Brother launch brings in 3 million viewers

Celebrity Big Brother launched with over 3 million viewers on Wednesday, overnight ratings reveal.



Channel 5's latest series opened with an average audience of 3.09m (15.4%) at 9pm, with a further 178,000 (1.4%) tuning in on +1. Bit on the Side entertained 968k (11.0%) at 11pm.

It is slightly lower than last January's ratings of 3.18m when it launched on a Friday night. However, it is higher than August's launch figures of 2.24m.

Earlier on the channel, a repeat of Benefits: Too Fat To Work fascinated 1.23m (5.5%) at 8pm (120k/0.5% on +1).

BBC One's Silent Witness topped the night overall with 6.42m (27.6%) at 9pm. A repeat of Miranda amused 3.81m (17.8%) at 8pm.

On BBC Two, Six Puppies & Us appealed to 2.69m (12.0%) at 8pm, followed by Super Cars vs Used Cars with 1.82m (7.8%) at 9pm.

Channel 4's Restoration Man returned with 2.03m (9.0%) at 8pm (210k/0.9%), while the new series of 24 Hours in A&E gathered 1.72m (7.4%) at 9pm (292k/1.7%).