ITV's The Masked Dancer got off to an underwhelming start in the ratings over the Bank Holiday weekend, early figures show.
The new series - a spinoff of the hugely-popular The Masked Singer - is being stripped this week in the slot normally occupied by Britain's Got Talent, which was cancelled this year due to coronavirus.
The first episode on Saturday night brought in 3.09m (24.2%) between 7pm and 8.30pm - the top-rated show of the day on any channel but less than half the audience an equivalent episode of BGT managed in 2019.
On Sunday - the hottest day of the year so far - the ratings dropped to just 2.17m (15.1%) between 7.30pm and 9pm for episode two. Every single programme in BBC One's primetime schedule brought in at least a million more viewers, however, topped by Call The Midwife with 5.54m (36.7%).
The figures rebounded somewhat on Monday night, with 2.93m (22.3%) watching between 7.30pm and 9pm to beat BBC One, which had just 2.49m (17.7%) for EastEnders between 8.10pm and 8.30pm.
Ratings for The Masked Dancer are not appearing to rise significantly once catch-up viewing is factored in, meanwhile, with around only 50,000 additional views having come for the first two episodes over the weekend.
Media Mole's ratings data is supplied by overnights.tv
Note: Figures include VOSDAL figures and viewing on +1 channels where available
Neil Wilkes
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