Its studio audience was not as big as the BBC’s Wembley debate but the guest list at Channel 4’s EU referendum show was surely more eclectic, beating BBC1 in the ratings last night.
The debate hosted by Jeremy Paxman, which featured 150 guests including Delia Smith, Simon Schama and Katie Price, was watched by 1.6 million viewers last night from 9pm.
More familiar faces on this sort of thing, including Alan Johnson and Alastair Campbell, also featured. Viewers who have missed Paxo getting grumpy with people on Newsnight were in for a treat.
It just had the edge over BBC1 documentary The Big C and Me, which drew 1.5 million viewers, also from 9pm.
The evening’s viewing was predictably dominated by ITV’s coverage of the Republic of Ireland’s last-gasp 1-0 win over Italy, which had an average of 5.7 million viewers (29.4%) from 7.15pm.
Earlier this week, BBC1’s EU debate from Wembley arena, fronted by David Dimbleby, had 3.9 million viewers on Tuesday.
