Soap audience dips to unusual low

The overall soap viewing audience dipped to an unusual low yesterday, overnight figures show.

BBC soap EastEnders, which usually averages between 6m and 8m, pulled a mere 4.84m (24.5%) for its latest ep - the show's lowest ratings since last month.

ITV's hour-long edition of Emmerdale, meanwhile, during which Natasha discovered the truth about Mark, was seen by 4.69m (24.8%).

During the head-to-head clash at 7.30pm, Emmerdale's audience dipped to 4.48m (22.7%).

Despite EastEnders' low terrestrial ratings, BBC Three's repeat showing at 10pm was the most-watched multichannel programme of the day, adding 1.18m (6.6%).

Five's showing of Neighbours, which saw Guy take Toadie and Callum hostage, took 1.33m (10.1%) at 5.30pm, while Fiver's repeat at 7pm added a further 206k (1.2%).

Hollyoaks' daily Channel 4 screening at 6.30pm, during which Leila lied to Elliot that she was pregnant, logged 1.25m (7.3%), before E4's first look interested 543k (3.3%).

Five's transmission of Home and Away, which saw Gardy shoot Roman, managed 1.08m (6.9%) at 6pm. Fiver's first look delivered 508k (3.3%) 30 minutes later.

BARB ratings data supplied by Attentional