'Emmerdale' tops 'Enders in Ratings Again

Emmerdale secured another victory over EastEnders in the ratings on Thursday night.

The latest hour-long edition of the Yorkshire-set soap drew an average of 5.49m (28.5%) to ITV1 in the 7pm hour. EastEnders managed an average of 5.11m (25.2%) over half an hour from 7.30pm, growing from 4.56m (23.2%) at 7.30pm to a peak of 5.53m (26.7%) 20 minutes later. Although Emmerdale finished first, the BBC soap had a higher reach overall when figures for its BBC Three repeat - 1.15m (7.3%) at 10pm - are included. The two soaps will next go head-to-head this Tuesday (September 23).

ITV1 kept hold of the lead in the 8pm hour, with an audience of 4.76m (22.4%) tuning in for The Bill. BBC One's documentary Motorway Cops interested 4.14m (19.5%) and on BBC Two, 2.22m (10.5%) visited The Restaurant. Channel 4 had 1.02m (4.9%) for The Great Italian Escape at 8pm, then 1.03m (4.7%) for Chateau Monty at 8.30pm.

Audiences were generally low at 9pm, with BBC Two initially taking the lead. The channel had a strong 2.94m (13.8%) for Mock The Week in the first half of the hour, but then the audience dived to 1.17m (5.7%) for football-themed comedy The Cup at 9.30pm. Channel 4 was in second place with 2.54m (12.2%) for its Cutting Edge special The Ambulance: Eight Minutes To Disaster. ITV1 interested 2.48m (11.9%) with the prospect of Ann Widdecombe versus Girl Gangs, leaving BBC One with 2.34m (11.2%) for The Undercover Soldier.

Five had a strong primetime performance thanks to coverage of two Uefa Cup games. The first, Portsmouth's face-off against Portugal's Vitoria Guimaraes, averaged 1.3m (7.3%) between 5.55pm and 8pm, then coverage of Everton vs. Standard Liege had an impressive 2.07m (9.9%) until 10.10pm. The audience peaked with 2.55m (12.4%) at 9.30pm.

ITV2 and BBC Three ran a close race in primetime, with the former's "XXL Thursday" lineup delivering mixed results. The evening started slowly for the channel with The Fashion Show, which had 164,000 (0.9%) in the 8pm hour. Katie & Peter: The Next Chapter followed at 9pm with a massive 864,000 (4.7%) and a further 173,000 (1.2%) on ITV2+1. Secret Diary Of A Call Girl dropped slightly to 651,000 (4.1%) and 172,000 (1.9%) at 10pm, then the launch of original sitcom No Heroics was seen by a squib 228,000 (1.8%). Entourage mustered 52,000 (0.6%) at 11pm, then a screening of Terminator 2: Judgment Day put in 118,000 (3.3%).

BBC Three began strongly, with 460,000 (2.5%) tuning in for Don't Tell The Bride in the 8pm hour. A new six-part series, The World's Strictest Parents, launched at 9pm with 720,000 (4%), before EastEnders lifted the audience over the 1 million mark. Continuing CGI sketch show The Wrong Door followed with a decent 325,000 (2.6%), then a Family Guy double bill entertained 291,000 (3.1%) and 377,000 (5.3%).

Elsewhere, E4's first-look Hollyoaks had 532,000 (3.3%) at 7pm and 203,000 (1.1%) on E4+1, while ITV3 peaked at 453,000 (3%) for a repeat of Inspector Wexford at 9pm.

Source: Digital Spy