Britain’s Got Talent attracts 12.6 million viewers

Britain’s Got Talent has become the most successful entertainment show on British television this year after attracting 12.6 million viewers in last night’s live final.

The 8pm show, which saw the finalists compete for the public vote to win a place to perform on the Royal Variety Performance, averaged at 11 million viewers and audience share of 44%, with a peak of 12.6 million and a share of 53%.

The results show at 10pm saw an audience of 10.6 million tune in to see Paul Potts win the competition with his rendition of Nessun Dorma. The results show peaked at 12.1 million, with a share of 53%.

Overall the series, which has been broadcast across the ITV1 schedule for the last nine nights, won an average audience of 8 million viewers and a 33.6% share.

The show saw contestants compete in front of a panel of judges made up of Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan.

It was a co-production between Cowell’s production company Syco and Talkback Thames and will return for a new series next year.