England didn't take the World Cup home this year, but the high-tension match against Brazil was a real winner with viewers, according to a survey of this year's ratings. The game drew nearly 16 million viewers, making it the most-watched British TV broadcast of 2002.
Veteran soaps continued to be small-screen favourites, with the October episode of Coronation Street, in which Ken Barlow hit one of his students, edging out the famed New Year's Day instalment of EastEnders, which saw Little Mo strike back at her violent hubby Trevor with an iron. The shows brought in audiences of 14.84 million and 14.48 million, respectively.
Despite recent criticism of the prefab music trend, Pop Idol easily made the top five, with its with 13.34 million people tuning in to see Will Young beat Gareth Gates in the final episode. The nail-biting finale was able to beat the Golden Jubilee Party At The Palace concert, which was seen by 12.54 million revellers.
Reality TV, though seemingly unpopular, proved in some cases to be a surefire hit with British viewers – in addition to the close of Pop Idol, the last episode of I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here drew 10.95 million viewers, placing it firmly in the top ten.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
