The Great British Bake Off: Viewing rises by half a million

Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry have not yet confirmed if they are moving to Channel 4

The number of viewers watching The Great British Bake Off went up by more than half a million on Wednesday compared with the previous week.

An average of 10.3 million viewers saw the fourth episode of the series, up from 9.7 million last Wednesday.

The show - which focused on batter - peaked in the last five minutes, with 11.3 million viewers.

The increase follows the news earlier this week that the show was moving to Channel 4.

On Monday, Love Productions, which makes the programme for the BBC, announced it had signed a new deal with Channel 4.

The BBC's Bake Off team have worked together on seven series

The following day, presenters Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins stated they would leave the programme after the current series, which airs on BBC One.

Judges Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry have not yet said if they are moving to Channel 4 with the show, fuelling much press speculation about its future and who might present it.

During negotiations about the show, the BBC fell £10m short of the amount of money required to keep it, BBC News understands. The corporation is thought to have offered £15m per year to keep Bake Off on the BBC.

That would have been double the amount the BBC currently pays for the show and its sister programmes such as An Extra Slice and the Sport Relief specials.

But it is understood Love Productions refused to entertain any offers below £25m per year.