Record viewing figures for ITV1 talent show

Simon Cowell’s talent show pulled in an average of 8.8 million viewers for ITV, compared to the 7.7m who watched Bonnie Tyler finish 19th in BBC One’s marathon four-hour broadcast. (itv)

The first episode in the new series of Britain's Got Talent drew a record peak audience of 12.2 million viewers, ITV said. The figure – which equated to a 49 per cent audience share on Saturday night – was the highest for a launch episode of the show.

Last year's launch show peaked at 11.8 million viewers. The talent contest is hosted by Ant and Dec and features Simon Cowell, Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden as judges.