Commissioning If Katie Hopkins Ruled the World was a “no-brainer” and the show is racking up good viewing figures despite early reports of tiny audiences, according to one of the senior executives behind the show.
Phil Craig, chief creative officer of Discovery Networks International, the company that runs the TLC channel where Hopkins’ show is airing, said her “Marmite” personality was a huge part of her appeal.
“Katie has elbowed herself, she’s tweeted herself, into the national conversation, said Craig. “She’s great talent, and we were very impressed with [her previous one-off TV show] My Fat Story, which was one of the most successful, I think one of the best documentaries of the last year.”
“That really made it a no-brainer to work with Katie again.”
My Fat Story documentary gave TLC its biggest ever ratings hit with 275,000 viewers, but the debut of the first episode of Katie Hopkins Ruled the World only attracted 68,000 viewers.
However, Craig said many viewers were seeking out the show after it was first broadcast, driven by word of mouth and social media.
He said: “Are we happy with the overnights? Not particularly but we don’t count them in the same way. If you look at the seven-day figures for the first three episodes of Katie’s series, it’s up to 300,000.
“That’s because she is who she is, people commenting on the show, they tweet about it. People are coming to the repeats, some of the repeats are getting more viewers than the original show.”
