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Belfast Live
Belfast Live
National
Brendan Hughes

BBC ratings for Twelfth coverage revealed after rivalry with Arlene Foster's GB News show

Viewing figures for the BBC's highlights show on the Twelfth of July can be revealed following top ratings for live coverage by rivals GB News.

An average of almost 113,000 viewers tuned in for the hour-long programme which aired on Tuesday from 9pm on BBC One Northern Ireland, with a peak between 9.15pm and 9.30pm of more than 120,000 viewers.

The audience was nearly double the average for the same slot on the previous Tuesday, according to BARB figures seen by Belfast Live.

Read more: Review: Arlene Foster's GB News coverage of the Twelfth unfocused and amateurish

It emerges after BBC NI had refused to release the specific figures. It would only say the show had almost 10% more viewers compared to last year, when it was aired after the late news at 10.35pm.

The BBC faced fresh competition this year from GB News, which announced it would broadcast live from the parades after unionists slammed the BBC for axing the live segment of its TV coverage.

GB News said its coverage, broadcast from 11am and hosted by former DUP leader Arlene Foster, was its highest-rated programme of the day - beating Sky News in the battle for TV viewing figures.

The hour-long programme peaked between 11.30am and 11.45am at 98,300 viewers. In the same period TalkTV had 7,100 viewers, Sky News had 76,500, and the BBC News channel 115,900.

The average viewers across the hour were 78,300 for GB News, 4,400 for TalkTV, 59,900 for Sky News, and 124,900 for BBC News, according to BARB figures provided by GB News.

It said the figures relate to TV viewers and do not include the channel's figures via online platforms such as YouTube.

Dame Arlene was joined by historian Dr Gavin Hughes, former Coronation Street actor Charlie Lawson and GB News reporter Dougie Beattie as the programme focused on the parade in Armagh.

The coverage divided opinion, with many warmly praising GB News for stepping in to provide live coverage and others branding it "cringeworthy".

Last month Dame Arlene said she was "incredibly proud of GB News for stepping up to fill a void left by the national broadcaster".

A BBC NI spokesman said: "We wanted to increase the audience for our evening-time television programme about 12 July demonstrations across the region.

"We've delivered on this objective, with almost 10% more viewers than the equivalent programme last year.

"And we expect this total to increase further as people take the opportunity to watch our 12 July coverage and related programming on BBC iPlayer."

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