‘Britain’s Got Talent’ final, Richard Jones’ win draws lowest ratings in show’s history

Given some of the hype surrounding the “Britain’s Got Talent” final over the weekend, especially given it being the tenth anniversary and with many acts returning from past seasons, we expected it to be a ratings powerhouse for ITV. In some ways it still ways. However, it just wasn’t the huge ratings juggernaut that it has been in the past.

Overall, a grand total of 8 people watched this final on average per the BBC, and this marks the smallest overall audience that the show has ever had for a live finale. At its peak, close to 10 million people were watching. We ultimately don’t attribute this much to the acts, the judges, or anything other than the fact that we’re in an era of great fragmentation. Ten years ago, there were simply fewer options for British viewers, and therefore this was a more appealing choice to more of the masses. That is not entirely the case now, since there are some other things that the average viewer can go and check out.

Do we think that the show was hurt slightly by there not being a Susan Boyle, a Paul Potts, or someone else not really taking the world by storm? We do feel that way, given that the most viral act in Boogie Storm wasn’t really something that you needed to see repeat performances of to fully understand.

We just hope that ITV doesn’t make any sweeping changes to what is a very good shot because of ratings for one final. As a whole, this remains one of the strongest talent competitions in the world.