ITV and BBC celebrate TV ratings

The real-life story of innocent lives ruined by the Government-owned Post Office has proved a ratings hit for ITV and STV…

Mr Bates vs. the Post Office is ITV’s biggest new drama in over a decade which has overtaken previous holder, Downton Abbey‘s launch in 2010. The Beeb are also celebrating ratings success as former ITV series Gladiators proves a viewing hit with audiences.

The ITV Studios and Little Gem series has now averaged 9.8m viewers across its four episodes, including 7-day viewing across all devices plus pre-broadcast viewing. Including post-7 day viewing, the first three episodes have now all been watched by over 10.6m viewers, with the launch currently averaging 10.9m after ten days of catch-up.

The series, including the documentary, has had 16.6m streams so far on ITVX. It is the biggest drama across all channels since Line of Duty series six on BBC One in 2021. It is the biggest new drama across all channels since Bodyguard on BBC One in 2018. And it is ITV’s biggest drama since Broadchurch in 2017 the broadcaster notes. Mr Bates vs. the Post Office tells the true story of how many postmasters were wrongly accused of fraud thanks to a faulty computer system which the Post Office went on to cover up rather than come clean.

Meanwhile BBC One’s revival of London Weekend Television’s Saturday night entertainment game Gladiators proved a audience pleaser. Overnight ratings show the revived format hosted by Bradley Walsh and his son Barney, peaked at 6.4 million people on BBC One. This will increase in figures once the 7-days catch-up is added to the figure. In the first episode classic challenges returned mixed with sixteen new gladiators.