'Celebrity Masterchef' opens to 4.6m

[dutchman]

The new series of Celebrity Masterchef opened to 4.6m on Wednesday evening, according to overnight audience figures.

The cooking show's first episode, which featured six celebrities including former athlete Tessa Sanderson and radio DJ Nihal, averaged 4.67m (22.3%) on BBC One in the 8pm hour.

Dragons' Den pulled in 2.95m (12.9%) on BBC Two in the 9pm hour, with a further 136k (0.6%) watching on BBC HD.

New series Penguin Island appealed to 3.33m (18.5%) on BBC One between 7.30pm and 8pm. Later on the channel, Traffic Cops took 3.7m (16.2%) from 9pm.

On ITV1, Midsomer Murders averaged 3.97m (18.5%) between 8pm and 10pm, up 160k week-on-week. An additional 137k (0.6%) tuned in on ITV1 HD.

Earlier on the channel, Emmerdale brought in 6.16m (33.7%) between 7pm and 7.30pm, with a further 183k watching on ITV1 HD.

The second episode of Katie & Alex: For Better For Worse appealed to 1.22m (5.3%) in the 9pm hour, which was the largest multichannel audience of the night. The programme also pulled in 328k (1.7%) on timeshift.

The latest Big Brother took 2.43m (13.7%) for Channel 4 between 10pm and 11.10pm. A further 229k (2.5%) watched the show on Channel 4 +1.

How To Look Good Naked pulled in 1.55m (7.4%) from 8pm and 151k (0.7%) on timeshift. It was followed by Cutting Edge special My Weird And Wonderful Life, which took 1.67m (7.3%) in the 10pm hour and 196k (1%) on Channel 4 +1.

How To Beat Tough Times: Money Watch brought in 1.45m (6.9%) for BBC Two in the 8pm hour. Later on the channel, comedy panel show QI secured 1.92m (9.2%) between 10pm and 10.30pm.

Escape From Colditz attracted 625k (3.5%) to Five between 7.30pm and 8pm, before Emergency Bikers pulled in 1.14m (5.5%) in the 8pm hour. NCIS secured 1.17m (5.1%) for the channel between 9pm and 10pm.

Overall, BBC One narrowly won primetime with 18.8% against ITV1's 17.4%. BBC Two came in third with 8.9%, followed by Channel 4 with 7.9% (+1: 0.9%) and Five with 4.6%.

Elsewhere, documentary How The West Was Lost averaged 487k (2.2%) for BBC Four between 9pm and 10.30pm, which was the fourth largest multichannel audience of the night.

BARB ratings data supplied by Attentional