LIVE television coverage of the Blenheim Palace stage of the Network Q Rally of Great Britain set a new record.

Peak ratings on BBC2 were during their live coverage of the Blenheim special stage, when the rally obtained an audience share of 18 per cent.

Overall, the number of adult viewers for the event was more than double the figure for 1998.

Preliminary statistics, covering only national terrestrial programmes, show a 26 per cent increase in total coverage to 4 hours 23 minutes (up from 3 hrs 28 min in 1998).

The total adult audience was 58m (compared with 23.7m in 1998).

Figures for regional terrestrial and satellite channels will not be available until the New Year (in 1998, these broadcasters accounted for almost five hours of coverage and added over 16 million viewers).

Story date: Tuesday 28 December

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