As expected, the British Broadcasting Corporation won the ratings war for the general election coverage according to BARB, which provides UK weekly viewing figures.
David Dimbleby in his last election night, bowed out with (yet again) the most viewed programme. He beat off the competition of Jeremy Paxman, Adam Boulton and Tom Bradby.
The BBC stuck to its trusted and winning formula of Mr. Dimbleby at the helm with Jeremy Vine at the swingometer amongst many others. This was David Dimbleby's last election night as host after 36 years as head honcho, likely his retirement will give hope to the pretenders to his throne in 2020.
Sky was again fronted by Adam Boulton for the sixth year running. The channel reported from the very start till the end of the elections. This meant that they didn't have a preset beginning or end time and were on air till the bitter end. Their multi-platform formulae was a hit with the smartphone brigade.
Tom Bradby was at the helm for ITV in his first election night. Still a relative newbie, especially when put alongside the heavyweight names from the other channels. He is one for the future. Social media and interaction were on the agenda alongside the normal facts and figures.
Last but not least we had Jeremy Paxman and his ''alternative'' election night on Channel 4. Their manifesto was a mixture of news, comedy and Mr.
Paxman's unique love him or loathe him style. Those who wanted a lighthearted look at the election were to be seen here.
During the General Election coverage of 2010 just over 8 million viewers watched the coverage via the main channels over the first 3 hours after 10 pm with the BBC gaining the highest viewing figures. To put the popularity of the elections (a very important part of UK culture) into perspective, 13.5 million switched on to watch the Great British Bake Off final in October 2014.
So as all the commotion finally draws to an end a hearty congratulations to the BBC, David Dimbleby and his team on a clean and fair fight, culminating in another knockout triumph in 2015.
