The six-part series of hour-long episodes follows modern-day man's battle against dinosaurs, which have slipped into the present through a hole in time. It aired at 7.45pm and followed the celebrity ice-skating series 'Dancing on Ice', which earned ITV1 the evening's biggest audience of 8.9m viewers.
'Dancing on Ice' took a 40.1% share, easily beating the Graham Norton-hosted variety talent show 'When Will I Be Famous?' and the film 'Shrek' on BBC One.
'Shrek', on from 7.15pm to 8.30pm, got 6.2m viewers and a 26.7% share, and provided stiff competition to 'Primeval', which debuted to mixed reviews. Some critics savaged it while others enjoyed it greatly.
Kathryn Flett in The Observer was one to : "Anyway, Primeval is terrifically good fun, nostalgic and modern at the same time, and exactly what ITV needs to give itself a confidence boost. I love it to pieces. Look out, Dr Who".
Viewers then gravitated to 'Casualty' on BBC One, which managed 7.8m and a 32% share, and away from 'Poker Face' on ITV1, which managed 5.3m and a 22% share.
Earlier in the day, the BBC's coverage of the England v Italy and Scotland v Wales rugby matches from 1pm to 5.30pm gave it a leading 36.3% share with 4.9m viewers.
On Sunday night, BBC One's line-up was horseracing drama series 'Rough Diamond' at 8pm, followed by the Bafta ceremony at 9pm.
With 4.3m viewers, 'Rough Diamond' was eclipsed by 'Top Gear''s 6m viewers for BBC Two and 'Wild at Heart''s 7.1m viewers for ITV1.
Channel 4's Sunday night film, global warming blockbuster 'The Day After Tomorrow' from 8pm to 10.15pm proved more of a draw than the Baftas. The former got 4m and the latter got 3.9m before the 10pm news and 3.4m after.
However, ITV1 earned the biggest post-8pm audience with the two-hour episode of wartime detective series 'Foyle's War'. It brought in 7.6m viewers and a 31.6% share.
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