Channel 4's Great British Bake Off launch episode breaks TV ratings records

The Great British Bake Off got off to a tasty start with young viewers as it landed the highest volume of 16-34 year olds across all commercial channels so far this year.

It comes after the overnight figures for the show, which launched on September 2, were the lowest in more than a decade, at 3.2million. But the seven-day figures showed that almost as many again watched on catch-up.

A total of 5.8million viewers tuned in to see Ukrainian national Natalia crowned Star Baker when the show launched earlier this month on Channel 4, in which the first of the group to exit was Hassan, following the collapse of his Swiss roll.

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The audience over the first week have made the show Channel 4’s most streamed episode so far this year.

The ratings are good news for Channel 4, after the overnight ratings were down by 400,000 on the 3.6million who watched last year’s opener. The programme, hosted by Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding, was easily the most-watched show of the night, with a share of 27% of viewing from 8-9.30pm..

A spokeswoman told the Mirror: “The first episode of the new series of The Great British Bake Off achieved the biggest ever streaming views on our own platforms for a launch episode. The linear performance, which won the slot for all individuals across all channels, had an audience of 3.2million and the highest overnight share of young viewers in the series’ history.”

Speaking about the new series, judge Paul Hollywood said he’d been stunned by the talent in the tent. "I think this is an exceptional year,” he declared. “I think the standard of the baking has been phenomenal. I was really shocked – it was unbelievable. Proper borderline-professional from the off.”

Natalia moved to the UK before the Russian invasion of her home country. The office assistant impressed the judges in the opening episode with a showstopper cake inspired by the war-torn country she loves, which sparked emotion in the tent.

Natalia bakes using traditional family recipes and infuses them with Ukrainian flavours.

The second episode saw Leighton depart the tent and drew laughs for a scroll biscuit that looked like a rude body part.

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