World Snooker Champs' Viewing Figures Up 7 per Cent
Viewing figures for the 2003 Embassy World Championship are up seven per cent on last year – and the tournament has already produced five higher peak audiences.
The maximum break compiled by Ronnie O’Sullivan during his first-round exit against Marco Fu provided the first big news story of the tournament and Ken Doherty’s dramatic final-frame victories over Shaun Murphy and Graeme Dott were among the other first-week highlights.
Paul Hunter’s thrilling 13-12 win against defending champion Peter Ebdon, which finished at 10.30pm on Wednesday, produced a peak viewing figure of 4.5 million on BBC Sport.
Recorded highlights of the second-round clash between Fu and Alan McManus shown last Saturday evening (April 26) peaked at 3.1 million – an exceptional figure for the time slot.
The highest peak at this stage of the Championship a year ago was 2.9 million. Five programmes have already beaten that figure.
Barbara Slater, the BBC’s Head of General Sport, said: 'We are pleased with the viewing figures so far. The World Championship usually does well for us, particularly in the later stages, so let’s hope we have a final as exciting as last year.
'We have made a determined effort to try and build the profiles of young, up-and-coming players. The viewing public are now getting more familiar with them and want to follow their progress.'
There are still four days of snooker’s blue riband event to go at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre. The semi-finals are due to be completed on Saturday with the final, played over the best of 35 frames, being staged on Sunday and Monday. The winner will collect a record first prize of £270,000.
Date: Friday, May 2, 2003
Contact: World Snooker Media Office on 0114-278-6737
BBC Sport Publicity on 0208-576-7789
www.worldsnooker.com
The maximum break compiled by Ronnie O’Sullivan during his first-round exit against Marco Fu provided the first big news story of the tournament and Ken Doherty’s dramatic final-frame victories over Shaun Murphy and Graeme Dott were among the other first-week highlights.
Paul Hunter’s thrilling 13-12 win against defending champion Peter Ebdon, which finished at 10.30pm on Wednesday, produced a peak viewing figure of 4.5 million on BBC Sport.
Recorded highlights of the second-round clash between Fu and Alan McManus shown last Saturday evening (April 26) peaked at 3.1 million – an exceptional figure for the time slot.
The highest peak at this stage of the Championship a year ago was 2.9 million. Five programmes have already beaten that figure.
Barbara Slater, the BBC’s Head of General Sport, said: 'We are pleased with the viewing figures so far. The World Championship usually does well for us, particularly in the later stages, so let’s hope we have a final as exciting as last year.
'We have made a determined effort to try and build the profiles of young, up-and-coming players. The viewing public are now getting more familiar with them and want to follow their progress.'
There are still four days of snooker’s blue riband event to go at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre. The semi-finals are due to be completed on Saturday with the final, played over the best of 35 frames, being staged on Sunday and Monday. The winner will collect a record first prize of £270,000.
Date: Friday, May 2, 2003
Contact: World Snooker Media Office on 0114-278-6737
BBC Sport Publicity on 0208-576-7789
www.worldsnooker.com