Subdued start to Euro 2008

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Football's Euro 2008 tournament got off to something of a lacklustre start on BBC1 as just 3.5m viewers (27%) watched the opening game on Saturday, some way below the channel's slot average.

The live coverage of the opening game between Switzerland and Czech Republic hit a high of 4.4m (28.1%) in the final 15 minutes of the game.

Audience levels are expected to be down as there are no home nations involved in the knock out competition.

So far this year BBC1 has averaged 4.3m (25.9%) in that slot while in 2007 it averaged 4.1m (27.1%).

But BBC1's audience was strong enough to win the slot as ITV1's coverage of the qualifying round of the Canadian Grand Prix attracted 2.1m (14.6%) between 5.15pm and 7.15pm.

ITV1's coverage of Euro 2008 also got off to a sluggish start later on as Portugal's opening game against Turkey also fell short of its respective slot average.

The commercial network's entire coverage between 7.15pm and 10pm averaged 4m (20.4%) with a high of 5m at both 8.15pm and 9pm.

The live coverage fell somewhat sort of the channel's slot average for this year of 5.4m (24.2%) while in 2007 it averaged 5.7m (27%).

BBC1 took full advantage early on with Doctor Who at 7pm on 7.1m (39.9%). The corporation's audience fell off though at 7.45pm as the lottery show 1 vs 100 managed 5.1m (27.7%). Casualty at 8.35pm gained 5.5m (27.2%).

BBC2 effectively opted out of the daily ratings battle as it dedicated the vast majority of its peaktime schedule to an opera.

The first half of The Minotaur – between 7.35pm and 9pm – interested just 200,000 (0.9%) with the conclusion – between 9.40pm and 10.35pm – not fairing much better with 300,000 (1.7%).

After its initial flurry of interest surrounding the launch Channel 4's Big Brother had its predictable downturn.

The 60-minute show at 9pm managed a relatively poor 2.4m (11.8%). But the show did manage to grow its audience substantially from 1.8m (8.7%) to 3.1m (15.6%).

The show also performed remarkably well on C4+1 where 418,000 watched the show from 10pm. It is the time-shifted channel's fifth most popular show ever.

Five's US dramas all faired well. NCIS at 8.20pm drew 1.3m (6.5%) which was followed at 9.20pm with CSI: NY on 1.7m (8.6%). Law and Order at 10.20pm gained 1.2m (7.6%).

All hours shares for Saturday 7 June 2008: BBC1 – 24.4%, ITV1 – 13.8%, C4 – 7.8% (C4+1 – 0.7%), Five – 4.9%, BBC2 – 4.8%, multichannel – 43.9%.

Peaktime (6pm to 10.30pm) shares: BBC1 -27.8%, ITV1 – 18.3%, C4 – 9.3% (C4+1 – 0.7%), Five – 6.1%, BBC2 – 4.2%, multichannel – 33.6%.