Channel 4 election coverage beats ITV in ratings

David Mitchell and former Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman put a comedy spin on this year’s election on Channel 4

Channel 4’s Alternative Election Night, hosted by David Mitchell and Jeremy Paxman, has beaten ITV in the ratings, according to early overnight figures.

An average of 1.9 million watched Channel 4 in the first hour after the polls closed at 22:00 BST, with 1.45 million tuning in to ITV’s coverage.

BBC One’s Election 2015 show, hosted by David Dimbleby, dominated the audience, with an average of 6.35 million.

Sky News attracted 356,000 viewers to the first hour of its rolling coverage.

ITV political editor Tom Bradby hosted the channel’s election broadcast for the first time, alongside newsreader and moderator of the TV leaders debate, Julie Etchingham.

BBC One’s programme saw Dimbleby host his final election coverage, with help from Jeremy Vine, Sophie Raworth, Fiona Bruce, Emily Maitlis, Andrew Neil and the BBC’s political editor Nick Robinson.

Channel 4’s alternative election coverage had kicked off an hour earlier than BBC One and ITV, and included special editions of the channel’s hit show The Last Leg, which averaged 2 million viewers.

David Dimbleby hosted the BBC Election Debate and will present a special edition of BBC Question Time on Friday evening

From 22:00 BST the coverage included special Gogglebox inserts, featuring the show’s regulars discussing political broadcasts such as last week’s Question Time featuring party leaders.

Earlier on Thursday evening, More 4’s broadcast of live play The Vote, starring Dame Judi Dench, Mark Gatiss and Catherine Tate, was seen by an average of 523,000. It followed the drama in a fictional polling station in real time in the last hour-and-a-half before the polls closed.

The main coverage on Sky News was anchored by Adam Boulton and also offered viewers a behind-the-scenes look at its newsroom, broadcasting live coverage on Sky Arts 1 which attracted an average audience of 6,000.

As voting ended, BBC Two comedy W1A attracted 800,000 viewers, with 600,000 watching the film Kinky Boots on the channel from 22:30 BST.

BBC