BBC Three launched on February 9, almost a year after its sister channel BBC Four debuted, because it initially failed to get past stringent government conditions that ensured it was sufficiently different from its commercial rivals.
Between February 9 and February 16, the BBC said that 16.3m viewers watched the new channel for at least 15 minutes during the period.
Its average audience during the week was 219,000, almost three times the 78,000 its predecessor BBC Choice attracted during the last quarter of 2002.
However, there are doubts about whether BBC Three will continue to be as popular after its initial launch period is over. The first two weeks of the channel includes showing 'EastEnders' before it is screened on BBC One.
According to reports, four of the top 10 programmes in the channel's first week were episodes of 'EastEnders', which were screened ahead of its normal broadcast on BBC One.
Three of its episodes are reported to have attracted more than 1m viewers, the first time a show has passed the 1m mark in the four-year history of the BBC's digital channels.
After 'EastEnders', the channel's most popular show is 'Burn It', a new drama about six friends fast approaching 30 and staring responsibility in the face. 'Burn It' stars Lisa Faulkner, best known for being nastily killed off in the second episode of the BBC One MI5 drama 'Spooks', and Scary Spice Mel B. 'Burn It''s first episode attracted 700,000 viewers on BBC Three, while on BBC terrestrial, which broadcast the show simultaneously, 800,000 viewers tuned in.
Dom Joly's spoof chat show 'This is Dom Joly' peaked with an audience in digital homes of 214,000 and 500,000 viewers on BBC Two. 'Fast Show' offshoot 'Swiss Toni' drew a peak audience of 297,000 in digital homes and 600,000 on BBC Two.
Stuart Murphy, controller of BBC Three, said: "BBC Three has got off to an encouraging start and it's a tribute to the creative strength of the talent and the programme makers. These figures show that there is an appetite in the market place for original British programming covering all subjects from entertainment and drama to news and current affairs."
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