'Long Lost Family' sees off 'Crimewatch' to win 9pm slot

[dutchman]

Long Lost Family's second series ended with 4.5m viewers last night (June 1), the latest overnight data has shown.



Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell's reunion show grabbed 4.22m (19.7%) in the 9pm hour, adding 229k on ITV1 +1.

With Crimewatch only able to muster 3.41m (15.9%) for BBC One, Long Lost Family has now won its slot on all seven Thursdays it aired, never once dipping below 4m.

Meanwhile, new Griff Rhys Jones factual vehicle Britain's Lost Routes drew 2.74m (12.6%) for BBC One in the 8pm hour, predictably losing out to ITV's soap zone.

Springwatch interested 2.04m (9.3%) on BBC Two at 8pm, then 1.45m (6.8%) stayed around for Springwatch Unsprung, and The Meat Market: Inside Smithfield had 1.43m (7.1%) from 9.30pm.

Married to the Moonies made its Channel 4 debut with 1.3m (6.1%) at 9pm (+1: 288k), prior to which Phil Spencer: Secret Agent logged 1.18m (5.4%) at 8pm (+1: 152k), and 24 Hours in A&E managed 1.06m (6.2%) at 10pm (+1: 252k).

World's Scariest Animal Attacks (780k/3.6%) and Cowboy Builders (719k/3.4%) were screened on Channel 5 to fairly modest audiences.

Overall, ITV1 led primetime with 21.9% (+1: 0.8%), beating BBC One's 18.4%. BBC Two claimed third place with 7.1%, ahead of Channel 4's 5.3% (+1: 1%), and Channel 5's 3.5% (+1: 0.3%).

The Big Bang Theory continued to dominate the multichannels with 1.02m (4.9%) at 8pm and 383k (1.8%) on E4 +1, while Russell Howard's Good News entertained 793k (3.7%) at 9pm, and was the most-watched programme on TV at 1am with 415k (13.1%) for a repeat of the clip show.

[dutchman]

'Long Lost Family' to return for third series, tweets Nicky Campbell

Long Lost Family has been renewed for a third run, according to presenter Nicky Campbell.

Campbell, who co-hosts the family reunion show with Davina McCall, tweeted this morning: "Long Lost Family recommissioned for series 3. The work begins."

Production company Wall to Wall's chief executive Alex Graham supported Campbell's statement, adding: "Long Lost Family ends its run with strong numbers. Thanks @NickyAACampbell and @ThisisDavina for another brilliant show. See you on series 3."

Though ITV could not confirm that more episodes have been ordered, the broadcaster has been advertising for contestants to apply for next year, with auditions taking place between April 1 and May 31 2013, suggesting the third run will play out in the autumn.

Long Lost Family, which ended its second series last night (May 31), has been in formidable ratings form for the last seven Thursday nights - never falling once below 4 million viewers.

The emotional programme's first run aired in April 2011 to similarly solid audience figures.

Wall to Wall also produces BBC One's successful family history format Who Do You Think You Are?, which began in 2004 and has now been sold to several countries from the US to Norway.

Long Lost Family was originally given the green light by factual and daytime director Alison Sharman and controller of popular factual programming Jo Clinton-Davis.