The number of people watching Britain's two main government-owned television channels has reached an all-time low.

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If audience figures recorded for the BBC's two main channels keep dropping for the rest of the year at the rate recorded for the calendar year through Dec. 9, it will mark the first time less than 10 percent of the television audience is viewing BBC2, while less than a quarter of viewers are watching BBC1, the Independent reported Tuesday.

The figures of 2004 viewership through Dec. 9, provided by the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board, show the combined audience share for BBC1 and BBC2 has fallen by almost 9 percent since 2000.

BBC1's share of all television viewing is set to fall through the 25 percent barrier for the first time. And BBC2 has also seen its audience share plummet by almost 9 percent.