Back in February (the 14th to be precise) the Prime Minister Gordon Brown appeared before Piers Morgan’s ‘Life Stories’ which aired late on that Sunday evening and was viewed by 4.2 million people – roughly 22% of the audience share.A month later, it was the turn of the Conservatives and leader Cameron who had opted for a “serious interviewer” and chose to give interviews with former gardener Alan Titchmarsh and ITV news legend Sir Trevor McDonald. And it showed in the audience share that the Guardian is reporting today – a miserly 1.7 million (10.8% share).
As with Mr Brown the month before, Cameron’s submitted fly-on-the-wall documentary was in direct competition on the other channels with Match of the Day 2 on BBC2 and a repeat of Great British Railway Journeys on BBC1 – both of which outscored it.
MOTD2 was watched by 2.685 million viewers (14.1% share) while the Great British Railway Journeys – presented by the former Conservative MP Michael Portillo - attracted 2.1 million viewers (12.5%) – more than his party leader…
While his appearance was not seen by as many, it will unlikely do him as much harm as no-one was watching! It also says a lot about his appeal as even for me despite my interest in politics I chose to watch Portillo travel back in time on the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway…
(PS. should you be desperate to watch Cameron's documentary - it's here on ITV Player but only for another 29 days... Quickly now...)
