FA Cup semi-finals peaks at 7.2m on ITV

ITV’s coverage of the FA Cup semi-final between Manchester United and Coventry peaked at 7.1 million viewers in the UK.

The UK free-to-air broadcaster said the football game was its second highest overnight this year after the quarter-final match which aired last month on ITV. Manchester United’s win over Liverpool drew 8.6 million viewers for the pubcaster. Whilst, Sunday’s match averaged at 4.4 million viewers and secured a 41% audience share.

Elsewhere, the first two episodes of the new Britain’s Got Talent season reached 12 million viewers. According to ITV, episode one peaked with 5.8 million views, with a 39% share and has already consolidated up to 6.2 million views. The second episode attracted a slightly smaller audience, peaking at 5.2 million and earning a 32% share.

ITV’s new drama series Red Eye debuted with a peak of 4.1 million viewers and secured an average of 3.7 million viewers. The PSB said the thriller becomes ITV’s third biggest drama this year after true drama series Mr Bates vs The Post Office and crime drama Vera.