TELEVISION / Statistics

THE Big Breakfast has dipped to its lowest audience figure since its inception in October. Channel 4 Daily, which it replaced, finished with a quarter-hour audience peak of 200,000; The Big Breakfast opened with an audience of 700,000, put on an extra half million inside a month and settled at around one million. However, over New Year week, the figure fell to 600,000, perhaps a sign that Big Breakfast viewers like to sleep late when they get the chance.

The following week was a real test of strength - GMTV's much-publicised first full week on air. After its advertising campaign, natural public interest and first-week guests including Prince Edward, GMTV scored an audience peak of 2 million, only a 100,000 improvement on TV-am's regular audience towards the end of its tenure (at one time, TV-am regularly attracted ratings of 2.8 million). The Big Breakfast, meanwhile, rallied to 800,000, still 200,000 short of its previous norm. 'Our dip was something we always expected,' Kris Thykier, Big Breakfast's press officer, said. 'We actually see this as something of a success.'

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