Bafta awards suffer slump in viewers

THE TV audience for the Baftas dropped by half a million compared with last year, overnight figures show.

Sunday night’s British Academy Film Awards drew an average of 3.5m viewers and a peak of 4.1m when it aired on BBC One. The Joanna Lumley-hosted ceremony had an audience share of 20.7 per cent when it aired between 9pm and 11pm.

Last year’s event, Lumley’s debut as host, averaged four million viewers and peaked at 4.6m. The film awards had previously been presented by Stephen Fry, whose final time hosting in 2017 had drawn an average of 3.9m viewers.

The awards, which saw The Favourite take seven of the prizes, was broadcast later than the actual ceremony, which took place from 7pm. Lumley drew mixed reviews from viewers for her jokes throughout the ceremony.