'Hell's Kitchen' fails to turn up the heat

The second series of Hell's Kitchen is failing to pick up in the ratings as it edges towards its finale.

According to early figures, Friday night's show averaged just 3.92 million viewers - a 19.1% share of the available audience - in the 9pm hour, ranking as the eleventh most-watched show of the day overall.

It was beaten by host Angus Deayton's former show, Have I Got News For You, which pulled in 5.28 million (25.5%) to BBC One.

Coronation Street ranked as the day's top draw with 9.63 million (52.5%), followed by EastEnders on 8.47 million (44%) and Emmerdale on 7.6 million (45.5%).

Over on multichannel, ITV3 performed exceptionally well to average an impressive 644,000 (4.8%) for a Midsomer Murders repeat between 8.30pm and 10.30pm.

A Little Britian repeat drew 488,000 (4.4%) to BBC Three at 10.30pm, while on Sky Sports 1, live coverage of the game between West Ham United and Sunderland averaged 439,000 (3.3%).

ITV2's American Idol ranked as the most-watched original show of the day, with audiences of 279,000 (2.1%) and 292,000 (2.1%) at 8.30pm and 9.20pm respectively.

Click here for a roundup of Friday's news ratings.

Ratings data supplied by ViewingFigures.com