Yahoo News Britain's Got Talent 2020 suffers lowest final ratings ever with 5.8 million
Britain's Got Talent suffered its lowest-ever viewing figures for a final last night (October 11).
The ITV show's 2020 final was watched by an overnight average of just 5.8 million viewers. For comparison, last year's was watched by more than 8 million.
However, despite the comparison to previous series, it should be noted that BGT's figure is actually very strong given the current TV climate.
The final was comfortably the biggest show of the night (via TVZoneUK) and fared significantly better than the BBC's Saturday night line-up, which attracted 3m for Strictly Come Dancing's winners retrospective and a series low 1.8m for Little Mix: The Search.
BGT's semi-finals brought in a change of format due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and got rid of the live studio audience (although they were replaced by a wall of Zoom faces, like something out of Black Mirror).
Following last night's final, many viewers noted a lack of variety among this year's acts, with five of the 10 finalists being magic-themed, which may account for some of the drop-off in ratings year-on-year.
Or perhaps Simon Cowell's absence had a far bigger impact than anyone could have anticipated.
Related: Britain's Got Talent crowns this year's winning act
In other Saturday night TV news, next weekend sees Strictly's 2020 launch show on BBC One, while ITV revealed recently that this year's series of The Voice UK will resume later this month.
Britain's Got Talent airs on ITV.
Digital Spy has launched its first-ever digital magazine with exclusive features, interviews, and videos. Access the latest edition with a 1-month free trial, only on Apple News+.
Interested in Digital Spy's weekly newsletter? Sign up to get it sent straight to your inbox – and don't forget to join our Watch This Facebook Group for daily TV recommendations and discussions with other readers.
You Might Also Like
