THE BBC and ITV both scored in the ratings battle sparked by the new season of Saturday night football.

ITV said its new show, The Premiership, pulled in 4.3 million viewers for its prime time 7pm slot, 400,000 more than last season's average for the BBC's long-running Match of the Day which it replaced.

But the charms of presenter Des Lynam were no match for acid-tongued Anne Robinson, who drew 6.7 million viewers for a special showing of The Weakest Link on BBC1.

The schedule shake-up came after ITV paid £183m to win the broadcasting rights for Premiership football and take over from Match of the Day.

An ITV spokesman said it was a "good start" for The Premiership.

"Des and the team were in great form and we're looking forward to the rest of the season."

He said another 1.1 million viewers tuned in for the second edition of The Premiership at 11.45pm, compared to only 800,000 who watched the Match of the Day repeat on Sunday mornings.

However, the new show received a mixed response from North-East fans. Middlesbrough supporter David Buckton, from Coulby Newham, Teesside, said he had been impressed.

He said: "In general it was quite good, but there were too many commercial breaks.

"I did like some of the new features and the time was ideal for me as well - there's not usually much competition on the television at that time anyway."

But Peter Thornes, chairman of the Darlington FC Supporters' Club, said: "There was too much talking and it was on too early. It was their first attempt, though, and it will presumably get better."

The Premiership not only offered an earlier schedule time but boasted a new soundtrack. Gone was the traditional Match of the Day fanfare and in its place was Beautiful Day by Irish rockers U2.