Great British Bake Off 2017: Viewing figures drop by almost 4 million after Channel 4 move
The commercial broadcast will likely still be delighted by a 6.5m average
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Your support makes all the difference.Viewing figures for the opening episode of Great British Bake Off on Channel 4 averaged 6.5 million, a drop of almost four million compared to the previous series premiere. That number includes Channel 4+1, which added another 700,000 viewers.
The total figure marks a 30.4% share of the TV watching audience, down from the first episode of the BBC's last series which was watched live by 10.4 million.
With seven day viewing figures, that number rose to 13.58, so we can also expect the number of Channel 4 viewers to increase significantly with on demand streaming.
The series debut also marks the lowest watched premiere since 2013, when the fifth series launched to 5.6 million viewers on BBC Two.
Despite the drop in viewership, Channel 4 will no doubt be celebrating the result. According to their press office, Bake Off is the most-watched Channel 4 show in five years, since London's Paralympics Opening Ceremony in 2012.
One reason for the drop is the commercial broadcaster's reach, far fewer television sets having access to Channel 4 compared to BBC One. Another may be people purposely recording the show and watching at a later date to skip through advert breaks, which annoyed some viewers on the night.
Jay Hunt, Channel 4's Chief Creative Officer, said of the viewing figure: "The Great British Bake Off's audience last night proves it's still one of the country's favourite shows.
"I am delighted millions watched the new team put 12 magnificent bakers through their paces. It's the largest share of young audiences we've had for a show for over a decade."
Hunt previously said they needed to attract at least 3 million viewers per episode to break even on their £75 million purchase.She added that they would be delighted with anything between 5 million and 7 million.
The general reaction to the show was positive, many finding Noel Fielding, Prue Leith, and Sandi Toksvig fun addition to the cast, although many missed Mel, Sue, and Mary Berry.
Many fans were quick to comment on Fielding's voice, the Mighty Boosh star seemingly trying to appease the critics by keeping things fairly down-to-earth.
Catch up on everything that happened in the episode here and read our review here. Bake Off airs every Tuesday on Channel 4 at 8pm.
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