C4's 'Space Cadets' hits turbulence

Channel 4's Space Cadets lost viewers for the second successive night yesterday, according to early figures.

The much-publicised hoax reality show premiered on Wednesday with a slightly damp 2.62 million (11%) before dropping off to 2.47 million (10.5%) on Thursday. Last night's episode pulled in 2.16 million (11%), ranking fourth place for the hour and ahead of only Five's Bruce Willis movie Striking Distance (1.64 million, 8.2% through 11pm).

Coronation Street (10.48 million, 50.3%) edged EastEnders (9.6 million, 44.3%) to rank first for the day overall. Emmerdale had third with 8.52 million (42.9%).

A new episode of Bleak House (5.61 million, 25%) gave BBC One a victory over ITV1's Airline (5.08 million, 22.6%) but the fortunes flipped half an hour later with a 90-minute Taggart (5.28 million, 24.9%) topping BBC One's lineup of Have I Got News for You (4.93 million, 21.9%), Blessed (3.18 million, 15%) and the news (3.6 million, 17.9%).

BBC Two's coverage of the World Cup Draw was attended by 3.82 million (17.1%) from 8.15pm, ahead of Five's Shark Bites: The Anatomy of A Man Eater (0.77 million, 3.5%) and C4's Everybody Loves Raymond (0.68 million, 3.2%) and The Simpsons (1.47 million, 6.6%). BBC Two managed to hold onto its lead at 9 with documentary The Man-Eating Lions of Njombe (2.41 million, 11%).

As usual, ITV2's Xtra Factor: Xcess All Areas (374,000, 2.4%) and BBC Four's QI: Quite Interesting (338,000, 2.9%) delivered the usual strong numbers in multichannel homes.

Living TV enjoyed a particularly strong night thanks to a three-hour Most Haunted Live, which averaged 326,000 (2.7%) from 9pm. The timeshifted feed added 60,000 (0.7%).

Other notable performers included UKTV Gold's The Two Ronnies Sketchbook (290,000, 1.1%), ITV3's Hammer House of Horror (285,000, 2.7%) and ITV2's Unlikely Lovers (204,000, 1.4%).