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

ITV said its 'The Premiership' pulled in 4.3 million viewers for its prime time 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 presenter Anne Robinson, who helped attract 6.7 million viewers to a special showing of The Weakest Link over on BBC1.

The schedule shake-up came after ITV paid £183 million 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.

The new soccer show did however receive a mixed response from North-East footie fans.

Middlesbrough fan 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 for the opening credits.

Gone was the traditional Match of the Day fanfare recognised by generations of football fans and in its place was Beautiful Day by Irish rockers U2.

The BBC said its Saturday night schedule, which also included the National Lottery Draw watched by 7.6 million people, had proved a big hit with armchair viewers.

A BBC spokesman said: ''We are really pleased with how our Saturday night schedule performed and our entertainment shows have done well across the summer.

''We feel we are offering viewers a choice and they can look forward to more goodies in our new Autumn season of programmes.''