UK Edition
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ITV's aggressive scheduling of I'm A Celebrity amongst three episodes of Coronation Street paid off in spades last night as the broadcaster recorded its best Monday share of the year so far.
The jungle-based reality show built on Sunday's impressive opener, rising by 600,000 to an average of 9.94 million viewers and a 40.4% audience share in the 9pm hour.
Ratings for Coronation Street successively dwindled throughout the evening, but still recorded impressive averages of 12.36 million (52.9%), 11.27 million (44.5%) and 9.24 million (43.2%) at 7.30pm, 8.30pm and 10pm respectively. Emmerdale also put in a solid performance with 10.13 million (46.1%) at 7pm.
BBC One hit a predictable high with EastEnders, which drew 12 million (49.9%) at 8pm over ITV1's 3.69 million (15.3%) for Tonight with Trevor McDonald. Although the channel was unequivocally thrashed by its commercial rival, it actually managed to build the audience for its Shakespeare adaptations, which have struggled in recent weeks. The Taming of The Shrew averaged a respectable 4.19 million (16.8%) between 8.30pm and 10pm, up by almost a million on last week's Macbeth.
BBC Two led the smaller terrestrials in the 8pm hour, beginning with 1.87 million (7.8%) for Dubai Dreams then rising to 2.46 million (9.7%) for University Challenge. Five's Fifth Gear improved to 1.24 million (5%), edging Channel 4's Priest Idol, which had a disappointing 0.98 million (4%).
C4's audience tripled an hour later, however, with 3 million (12.2%) tuning in to learn about Prince Eddy: The King We Never Had. Five's continuing Extraordinary People strand held 1.27 million (5.1%) with Joined at the Head, while BBC Two began strongly with 1.54 million (6.2%) for Never Mind the Buzzcocks before dipping to 0.94 million (3.8%) for Broken News.
Four episodes of The Simpsons helped Sky One to success amongst the multichannels, averaging 639,000 (3.9%) between 7pm and 9pm. Docu-drama Coked Up Britain hooked 224,000 (1.3%) in the 9pm hour and a Nip/Tuck repeat gained 160,000 (1.2%) an hour later.
E4 had a reasonably strong night, led by first-run Hollyoaks at 7pm, which managed 388,000 (2.6%) and ranked as the most-watched original show of the day. Spinoff show Let Loose had a lacklustre 119,000 (0.7%) in the 9pm hour [+1: 74,000, 0.6%] but ratings picked up at 10pm with an average audience of 267,000 (3.1%) [+1: 91,000, 2.2%] for Bruce Willis thriller The Fifth Element.
ITV2 put in a lacklustre performance despite an abundance of I'm A Celebrity spinoff shows. Fanzine show Jungle Drums began with 180,000 (1.3%) in the 6pm hour, down from the 263,000 (1.9%) who watched repeats of Judge Judy in the slot a week earlier. I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here - NOW! dropped from Sunday's opener to 364,000 (3.8%) at 10.30pm but subsequent live coverage averaged a respectable 176,000 (3.9%) through 12.30am.
