ITV’s EU referendum debate with Boris Johnson and Nicola Sturgeon had just 3 million viewers, less than half the 7 million who watched its general election debate last year, and was beaten by Nick Knowles’ DIY SOS on BBC1.
The ITV Referendum Debate programme had 3 million viewers, a 16% share of the audience between 8pm and 10pm on Thursday.
Its audience echoed the ratings for several other referendum programmes which have failed to match the appeal of election shows in 2015 and in 2010, the year of the first leaders’ TV debates.
ITV’s 2015 party leader debate had 7 million viewers (31%) last year and 9.4 million (37%) in 2010.
Thursday night’s two-hour programme, in which Labour’s Angela Eagle told Johnson to “Get that lie off your bus” over the Vote Leave’s message that EU membership costs Britain £350m a week, was presented by Julie Etchingham.
It was beaten by Knowles’ long-running home makeover show, DIY SOS, which featured a former fireman from Shropshire and his seven-year-old daughter. It was followed by BBC1 drama New Blood, watched by 3.4 million viewers (17.3%).
The hour-long BBC1 programme had 4.1 million viewers, a 22.7% share.
Thursday’s two-hour debate also failed to match the appeal of David Cameron and Nigel Farage’s appearance on ITV two days previously.
The show, in which the prime minister and UKIP leader separately answered questions from a studio audience, had 4 million viewers, making it the most watched current affairs show of the year so far.
The ITV debate with Farage and the prime minister attracted double the audience of the BBC’s first debate hosted by Victoria Derbyshire on 26 May.
How should I vote? The EU Debate, aimed at younger voters, attracted an overnight audience of 2 million.
