ITV1's The Marriage Ref flops on debut

ITV1's new offering 'The Marriage Ref' attracted a disappointing 2.45 million viewers on Saturday night, trounced by BBC One's 'Casualty'.

The Marriage Ref: notched up a disappointing debut on ITV1
The Marriage Ref: notched up a disappointing debut on ITV1

The programme is hosted by Dermot O'Leary and is a UK version of a US format developed by American comic Jerry Seinfeld.

It involves a panel of celebrities trying to sort out the real-life married couples' problems.

The first of seven episodes brought in celebrities Geri Halliwell, Sarah Millican and Jimmy Carr to discuss superficial marital disagreements of several couples.

However, the programme attracted just a 10.5% share of viewing between 9pm and 10pm, and was outperformed by hospital drama 'Casualty', which managed a 22.7% share between 8.45pm and 9.45pm.

'Casualty' was watched by an average of 4.94 million viewers, according to unofficial overnight figures.

BBC Two’s 'Have I Got A Bit More News for You' attracted 2.1 million viewers between 9pm and 9.45pm, while Channel 4’s 10-part drama 'Camelot', starring Eva Green and Joseph Fiennes, pulled in 1.6 million viewers between 9pm and 10pm.

On Friday night, the opening episode of 'The Kennedys', starring Hollywood actress Katie Holmes, drew 2.6 million viewers to BBC Two from 9pm to 9.45pm.

The historical mini-series, which aired initially on Sky’s History channel, had an 11.5% share of the TV-watching audience.

Paul O'Grady's 'Lady Gaga Special' on ITV1 attracted 3.6 million viewers and had a 16.2% share.

The most popular terrestrial programme on Friday night between 9pm and 9.30pm was BBC One family comedy 'My Family', which attracted four million viewers, with a 17.7% audience share. Comedy quiz show '8 Out Of 10 Cats' on Channel 4 had 1.5 million viewers and a 6.5% audience share.

ITV1's new police drama 'Scott & Bailey' took the lead in the ratings on Sunday night, attracting five million viewers at 9pm to10pm.

Channel 4’s 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' film pulled in 2.6 million viewers, while the film 'Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves' on Channel Five, attracted fewer than a million viewers.

Topics

Market Reports

Get unprecedented new-business intelligence with access to ±±¾©Èü³µpk10’s new Market Reports.

Find out more

Enjoying ±±¾©Èü³µpk10’s content?

 Get unlimited access to ±±¾©Èü³µpk10’s premium content for your whole company with a corporate licence.

Upgrade access

Looking for a new job?

Get the latest creative jobs in advertising, media, marketing and digital delivered directly to your inbox each day.

Create an alert now

Partner content