The BBC are celebrating a ratings success with the first show of the five week Eurovision Song Contest national selection series, Your Country Needs You. The first weekly show attracted a peak audience of 5.86million viewers and an average share of 4.9million viewers.
With the BBC balancing a fine line between pushing the Eurovision Song Contest in a way that will attract a strong viewing audience whilst doing justice to the competition in a way that will promote the eventual entry abroad, the new show has been seen as a ratings success by the media industry.
A 4.9million average viewing audience gave the show a 21% television audience share in the first week, just 4% behind ITV, which for a Saturday night prime time slot is a strong showing. It is hoped that interest will grow throughout the month to provide the strongest viewing figures for a Eurovision Song Contest selection show in the United Kingdom for many years.
