Football ... you're fired ...
BBC business talent show The Apprentice beat ITV’s Champions League coverage of Tottenham Hotspur versus Inter Milan by 6.5 million viewers to 3.7 million viewers in the prime-time television slot last night.
The biggest game so far in Tottenham’s Champions League campaign attracted an average audience of 3.747 million viewers on ITV1 and ITV1 HD between 7.30pm and 10pm. Around 250,000 of those watched in high definition. The exciting footballing encounter which ten man Spurs narrowly lost 4-3 at the San Siro in Milan commanded 15.5 per cent of all those watching television at that time.
However, despite the attraction of the beautiful game on ITV, BBC enjoyed 6.561 million (25.7 per cent share) viewers for the third episode of The Apprentice which aired on BBC One between 9pm and 10pm the same evening, with a further 325,000 (1.3 per cent share) viewers choosing to see the snivelling sales wannabes in even more glorious detail over on BBC HD.
So, it looks like Lord Sir sub-deity Alan Sugar made the right choice giving Spurs the boot when he sold his shares to ENIC in 2001 as football might be a national obsession, but nothing compares to the might of the television talent show.
How did he know the world was going to turn out like this?
Right I’m off to buy an Amstrad E-Mailer on eBay … they’ve got to be the future, right?
