New 'Skins' pulls in 833,000

Over 800,000 viewers tuned in for the new series of Skins on Thursday night, according to early figures.

The third series of the teen drama, which introduced an almost entirely new cast, averaged 665k (4.1%) for E4 in the 10pm hour, picking up an additional 169k (1.9%) on E4+1.

The figures are down around a third on the premiere of series two, which managed 1.06m (6.7%) and 237k (2.9%) on February 11, 2008.

The first series premiered to 1.48m (9.7%) and 301k (3.7%) on January 25, 2007.

Other popular multichannel programmes on Thursday night included More4's ER, with 558k (2.6%) in the 9pm hour, and ITV2's American Idol, which drew 507k (2.4%) from 8pm.

Hollyoaks picked up 1.9m (9.3%) for Channel 4 and on Five, Neighbours had 1.62m (10.1%) and Home & Away had 1.11m (5.8%).

Fiver's first-look Home & Away managed 663k (3.7%) at 6.30pm, outrating the 585k (3.1%) for E4's Hollyoaks.

A Dispatches investigation into the manufacture of cheap food products brought in Channel 4's top numbers of the day, with 3.05m (12.8%) watching in the 8pm hour. The programme outrated Celebrity Big Brother, which followed at 9pm with 2.67m (11.1%).

Source: DigitalSpy