Did Blue Peter actually get zero viewers?

Headlines have emerged in the last couple of days claiming an episode of Blue Peter got zero viewers. Could the legendary BBC children's show really have hit such a low? And how do viewing figures actually work? Let us explain...

Where did the story come from about Blue Peter getting no viewers?

On Wednesday, the Mail Online published an article claiming that Blue Peter had “NO viewers” for one of its episodes and asked: “Is Blue Peter sunk?”

The article said that the BBC show had suffered a “dramatic slide” since moving to CBBC in 2012, reporting that “a repeat of the show aired at 2.30pm on Tuesday June 13 got a dreaded ‘zero’ rating on the official system used to measure TV audiences”.

It did acknowledge however that the “lacklustre” episode was watched by 53,100 viewers when it was originally broadcast in June.

How did the BBC react to that?

Defiantly.

“Zero viewers? We beg to differ…” the BBC press office tweeted, explaining that the episode had technically been watched by 252,000 people in total across all of its broadcasts.

And she wasn't the only presenter to take to the social network to show their support...

While others claimed it was unfair to draw attention to the viewing figures of a repeat.