Ant and Dec beat Mel and Sue in TV ratings for head-to-head shows

Ant and Dec beat rival duo Mel and Sue in the TV ratings when the presenters went head-to-head.

Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins returned to BBC screens together, for the first time since the final series of The Great British Bake Off, in Let's Sing And Dance For Comic Relief on Saturday night.

The BBC1 show, in which celebrities perform as music stars to raise money for charity, was watched by an average of 3.4 million viewers and peaked at 4.3 million.

On ITV, Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway notched up seven million viewers and a peak of 8.5 million, winning the slot.

The two shows went head-to-head for an hour, with Saturday Night Takeaway broadcast from 7pm to 8.30pm and Mel and Sue's Let's Sing And Dance For Comic Relief airing from 6.45pm to 8pm.

Meanwhile, The Voice, on ITV, had an average of 5.1 million viewers and a peak of 5.8 million when it aired later in the evening.

The Voice has seen its first three contestants make it into the quarter finals of the competition.

On Let's Sing And Dance For Comic Relief, Sara Pascoe and double act Melvin Odoom and Rickie Haywood Williams went through to the next round of the competition.

ITV is facing a weekday ratings problem with The Nightly Show, to be hosted by comedian John Bishop next week.

The topical entertainment show - which pushed the channel's flagship news out of its usual slot - has seen viewing figures plummet since launching with David Walliams.

ITV's figures include catch-up channel +1.