One is a television channel that shows non-stop coverage of debates in the House of Commons. The other broadcasts reality TV shows including Teen Mom, Catfish, and Geordie Shore.

But Brexit has helped make BBC Parliament, the often-overlooked public service channel that shows live coverage of select committees, briefly more popular than MTV.

The channel hit an average daily reach in the week of 7-13 January of 293,000 people, according to official Barb ratings, aided by fierce debate over Brexit in the House of Commons – higher than the 251,000 a day who tuned in to the flagship youth channel over the same period.

Although it remains a niche offering, BBC Parliament’s viewing figures have been boosted by the public’s interest in Brexit. Ratings for what was once a backwater channel for political obsessives and journalists have spiked with heightened interest in parliamentary proceedings, as MPs argue over the detail of Britain leaving the EU in debates that are too lengthy or arcane for rolling news channels such as BBC News or Sky News to cover in full.

“As a channel dedicated purely to politics, we’re pleased more people are choosing to watch BBC Parliament at a time when there’s an increasing focus on events in Westminster,” said a spokesperson for the BBC.

BBC Parliament’s ratings are helped by its availability on Freeview, giving it a far larger potential audience than MTV, which is available only on pay-TV services such as Sky and Virgin Media and also runs a range of spin-off channels.

MTV was slightly ahead on its total weekly audience, reaching 1.3 million viewers in the second week of January while BBC Parliament was seen by 1.1 million – partly because the political channel is forced to show select committee highlights and reruns of regional assembly coverage at weekends in the absence of high-octane live Westminster coverage. Both channels’ audience fluctuates on a week-to-week basis.

Despite its recent audience success, BBC Parliament has been under threat from wider budget cuts at the corporation. Last year, it was announced that the channel would lose its limited original programming, which is produced on an annual budget of just £1.6m.

However, in October the BBC director general, Tony Hall, confirmed that some of the changes would be reversed, after complaints from MPs about cuts to the service.