Murray proves a ratings winner for BBC

Published on Tuesday 30 June 2009 12:16

Andy Murray's nailbiting win at Wimbledon last night was seen by more than 12 million viewers.

BBC1 cleared its schedule to show the match uninterrupted, and extended coverage meant the Ten O'Clock News was put back more than 40 minutes.

The match drew well over twice the usual audience who would be expected to tune in to the news at that time, which is normally around 5 million.

At the moment he won match point against Stanislas Wawrinka in the five-set battle, the audience reached 12.6 million, with an average of 8.6 million watching during the match's duration.

More than half of UK TV viewers were watching BBC1 in the build-up to Murray's triumph, figures showed.

A BBC spokesman said: "BBC1 is where viewers come to enjoy great sporting moments of national importance. Last night's Murray match was one such occasion.

"From the outset it looked like the match was going to be very close so we took the decision to move it to BBC1 as soon as we could and to stay with it right to the end to ensure that the maximum number of people could enjoy this nail-biting game."