OK, so there was a day when Big Brother was pulling in upwards of 5 million for an ordinary weekday episode, but it’s a long-established fact now that that time has passed.
The show, now airing its 13th season – its second on Channel 5 – has become much more of a niche reality show, appealing to die-hard fans who have stuck with it since the innocence began to wear off it way back in 2004.
And, surprisingly, it remains more popular than current ‘in’-show The Only Way Is Essex. The ITV2 smash hit’s Marbella special, The Only Way Is Marbs, appealed to 982,000 at time of broadcast before piling on an additional 148,000 on ITV2+1.
Over on Channel 5, 1.32 million BB fans tuned in to see the housemates try their best not to laugh in their amusing shopping task.
Last week the new season launched with the exact same figure as last year’s opener, presenting the first time in years that the first episode has not been down on the previous year.
