Episode One

Desperate Romantics opens to 2.5m

Wednesday, July 22 2009, 17:35 BST

By Dan French, TV Reporter (DigitalSpy)

Desperate Romantics had a decent debut for BBC Two last night, according to early ratings figures.

The first episode of the series, starring Zoe Tapper, opened to 2.47m (11%), putting the channel in fourth place in the 9pm hour.

It was beaten by ITV1's Car Crime UK, which had 3.17m (14.2%), the similarly-themed Truth About Crime, which took 3.04m (13.6%) for BBC One, and Five's screening of the latest CSI: Miami, which was seen by 2.54m (11.4%).

The latest visit to the Big Brother house attracted 2.24m (10%) to Channel 4 over the same period.

Holby City came top during the 8pm hour, putting in 5.42m (24.4%) for BBC One, while ITV1's Send In The Dogs logged 3.65m (16.5%).

BBC Two's Coast had 3.11m (14%), Property Snakes And Ladders grabbed 2.06m (9.3%) for Channel 4, and 810k (3.65%) tuned in for Monster Moves on Five.

Overall, BBC One dominated primetime with an average share of 21.6% to ITV1's 16.1%. BBC Two was third with 9.8%, followed by Channel 4 with 7.7% (+1: 1.3%) and Five's 6.6%.

Elsewhere, Sci Fi's 8pm screening of Knight Rider averaged 125k (0.6%). Dollhouse followed at 9pm, pulling in 117k (0.6%).

Ratings data supplied by Attentional

Original article here.