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Great British Bake Off 2017: Viewing figures drop by almost 4 million after Channel 4 move

The commercial broadcast will likely still be delighted by a 6.5m average

Wednesday 30 August 2017 10:41 BST

Twitter reacts to the return of the Great British Bake Off

Viewing figures for the opening episode of Great British Bake Off on Channel 4 averaged 6.5 million, a drop of almost four million compared to the previous series premiere. That number includes Channel 4+1, which added another 700,000 viewers.

The total figure marks a 30.4% share of the TV watching audience, down from the first episode of the BBC's last series which was watched live by 10.4 million.

With seven day viewing figures, that number rose to 13.58, so we can also expect the number of Channel 4 viewers to increase significantly with on demand streaming.

The series debut also marks the lowest watched premiere since 2013, when the fifth series launched to 5.6 million viewers on BBC Two.

Despite the drop in viewership, Channel 4 will no doubt be celebrating the result. According to their press office, Bake Off is the most-watched Channel 4 show in five years, since London's Paralympics Opening Ceremony in 2012.

One reason for the drop is the commercial broadcaster's reach, far fewer television sets having access to Channel 4 compared to BBC One. Another may be people purposely recording the show and watching at a later date to skip through advert breaks, which annoyed some viewers on the night.

Jay Hunt, Channel 4's Chief Creative Officer, said of the viewing figure: "The Great British Bake Off's audience last night proves it's still one of the country's favourite shows.

"I am delighted millions watched the new team put 12 magnificent bakers through their paces. It's the largest share of young audiences we've had for a show for over a decade."

Meet The Great British Bake Off 2017 contestants

Show all 12

1/12Meet The Great British Bake Off 2017 contestants

Meet The Great British Bake Off 2017 contestants

Kate, 29, from Merseyside

A health and safety inspector from Merseyside, Kate also dabbles in blacksmithing, furniture restoration and yoga. She also loves the outdoors. When she's indoors though, indulging in her love of baking, she is a fan of "old-fashioned" baking techniques. She taught herself to bake when she began to grow her own vegetables two years ago.

Meet The Great British Bake Off 2017 contestants

Liam, 19, from North London

Hackney-born Liam has been baking for four years and is fondly known as the 'Cake Boy' amongst his university friends. He believes that baking is a universal language that can bring people together from all walks of life, and he wants to make it acceptable amongst his peers and the younger generation.

Meet The Great British Bake Off 2017 contestants

Chris, 50, from Bristol

A software developer who loves the science behind baking and developing quirky flavour combinations. He is a cancer survivor and passionate about helping other people whose lives have been affected by cancer. He is married (his wife's name is Catherine), and he loves sailing, travelling (especially visiting bakeries) and writing.

Meet The Great British Bake Off 2017 contestants

Flo, 71, from Merseyside

Flo is retired and the oldest amateur contestant to appear on Bake Off to date. She was one of 11 children and was raised in Huyton, Liverpool. She met her late husband Richard when she was 21 years old and working at a sausage factory. Following Richard's death two years ago, her son Stephen encouraged her to take up baking. She bakes treats for his restaurant when she's not baking for the family - or 'having a boogie' with friends.

Meet The Great British Bake Off 2017 contestants

Steven, 34, from Hertfordshire

Despite having a background in marketing, Steven's heart lies in the kitchen. His mum, Judi, has been his cooking mentor. He cooks and bakes all of his own food and has lost an impressive five stone thanks to his own home-cooking. He likes putting a twist on recipes from his mum's old cookbooks.

Meet The Great British Bake Off 2017 contestants

Julia, 32, from West Sussex

Julia has spent three years honing her baking prowess so she could enter Bake Off. She is originally from Kemerovo, Siberia. She met her husband Matt while on holiday in Turkey as a 17-year-old.

Meet The Great British Bake Off 2017 contestants

Yan, 46, from North London

Hong Kong-born Yan moved to the UK with her family when she was two. She started to bake seriously 10 years ago when she found herself in between 24 hour shifts, working as a molecular biologist for the NHS. Currently working as a laboratory research scientist, Yan now lives in north London with her wife, Marian and cat Kacey.

Meet The Great British Bake Off 2017 contestants

James, 46, from Essex

James describes himself as a bald, baking banker - but his friends say he looks more like a bank robber than a banker. He was taught to bake by his father more than 40 years ago and grows his own fruit and vegetables to incorporate into his recipes. James lives in Essex with his wife Ann, sons Oliver and Ethan and their three chickens: Sparkles, Superman and Jeff.

Meet The Great British Bake Off 2017 contestants

Sophie, 33, from Surrey

A former Officer in the Royal Artillery, Sophie did not discover her talent for baking until she volunteered to make a friend's birthday cake. The psychology graduate, who lives in Surrey with her boyfriend and a cat named Loki, has also developed a passion for patisserie. When she is not baking, Sophie enjoys track cycling, rowing, teaching military boot camps and is also training to be a

Meet The Great British Bake Off 2017 contestants

Tom, 29, from Edinburgh

Architect Tom lives in Edinburgh with his partner David, where he can often be found making fresh shortbread for family and friends. Baking has always been a huge part of family life for Tom and his siblings, who were taught to bake by their mother, a home economics teacher. The family cherishes recipe books passed down by grandparents from both sides of the family.

Meet The Great British Bake Off 2017 contestants

Peter, 52, from Essex

Born in Brixton, IT programme manager Peter had a well-travelled youth. He lived in Nigeria from the age of seven and moved back to the United Kingdom when he was 24. He has a wife, Tito and two children - Temi and Toni. He was bitten by the baking bug eight years ago when he started making his own bread. He reckons one of his specialities is making a melt-in-your-mouth Macaron, which is based on a recipe from French pastry maestro Pierre Hermes. When he's not kneading dough he loves running on the beach, spinning, playing chess and badminton.

Meet The Great British Bake Off 2017 contestants

Stacey, 42, from Hertfordshire

Former school teacher Stacey has fond memories of helping her grandmother make bread and butter pudding when she was a little girl, but it was during university that she really started to bake seriously. Stacey likes to incorporate her Jewish heritage into her baking, with a traditional homemade Challah with every Friday night dinner.

Hunt previously said they needed to attract at least 3 million viewers per episode to break even on their £75 million purchase.She added that they would be delighted with anything between 5 million and 7 million.

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The general reaction to the show was positive, many finding Noel Fielding, Prue Leith, and Sandi Toksvig fun addition to the cast, although many missed Mel, Sue, and Mary Berry.

Many fans were quick to comment on Fielding's voice, the Mighty Boosh star seemingly trying to appease the critics by keeping things fairly down-to-earth.

Catch up on everything that happened in the episode here and read our review here. Bake Off airs every Tuesday on Channel 4 at 8pm.

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