Comedy has long been a staple of Friday nights on Channel 4. However, its latest offering, sitcom Free Agents, got off to a lukewarm start.

The half hour show, from Big Talk, the company behind Black Books, picked up 1.3 million viewers/6.5 % at 10pm with 107,000 preferring to watch an hour later on C4+1.

The programme was down somewhat on last year's slot average of 1.7 million/8.4%.

Although hardly a smash hit for the channel, Free Agents did appeal to a strong upmarket audience, with ABC1's accounting for 61.2% of those watching. A third of the viewers were aged between 16 and 34.

The previous show to air in the same slot was another sitcom Plus One - which launched on 9 January with a healthier total audience (including C4+1) of 2.2 million/10.5%, the biggest audience for a C4 comedy so far this year. The show's audience did tail off quite severely though ending on 999,000/4.8%.

C4's biggest Friday night sitcom last year was The IT Crowd on 19 December, which gained a total audience of 2 million/10% (including C4+1) in a 35-minute slot at 10pm.

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