BGT continues ratings fight-back

Britain's Got Talent continued its ratings fight-back to quieten The Voice by pulling in in excess of a million viewers more than the BBC1 show.

The ITV1 show landed 9.5 million viewers when it screened at 8.40pm, and a total of 9.8 million when its +1 viewers were included.

The Voice on BBC1 drew an average audience of 8.2 million - losing more than a million viewers in a week. It had 9.3 million the previous Saturday.

There had been gloomy predictions the BBC show would lose viewers when it moved to its later stages and no longer had the novelty of the coaches' spinning chairs.

And the show's fortunes were not helped by the ratings success of the FA Cup Final which drew an average of 9 million.

The Voice won the ratings battle for three consecutive weeks, but with the shows no longer overlapping, ITV's talent hunt has fought back.

BGT viewers saw contestant Ryan O'Shaughnessy dropped from the show because he had been tied into a contract after appearing in the Irish version of The Voice.

But he has now been given a reprieve by BGT bosses who have allowed him through to the live semi-finals.

A show spokeswoman said: "Ryan has now been released from his contract with Universal."