'Soapstar' ends on 6.8 million

The finale show of celebrity singing contest Soapstar Superstar attracted an average 6.8 million viewers and a 28.1% audience share on Saturday night.

Coronation Street actor Antony Cotton won the series, which peaked with 8.5 million viewers and a 40% share at 6.40pm, during its first outing at 5.45pm. The earlier instalment averaged 6.6 million and a 32.8% share overall.

Though it didn't do as well as the last two shows of last January's contest, which managed 7 million and a 34.8% share, and 8.6 million with a 34.7% share. The series has also averaged fewer viewers than last year, down 1.1 million on 2006 to 5.4 million.

ITV1's premiere of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban also did well for the channel, pulling in 8.1 million in its peak time slot. BBC One's Casualty attracted 7.2 million and a 28.5% share at 8.20pm, with Your Country Needs You at 6.35pm managing 4.9 million and a 22.3% share. The general knowledge quiz show returned at 9.10pm with 4 million and a 16.7% share.

Channel 4 reality show Celebrity Big Brother got the lowest audience of its current run at 9.10pm with 2.8 million, just beating BBC Two film The Shipping News, which managed 2.6 million.

Friday's two CBB eviction shows got equally disappointing audiences of 3.3 million and 3.2 million. Saturday's viewing figures are the lowest since an epsiode towards the end of the second series in November 2002, when it managed 2.7 million.