Last night's (Tue 4) episode, screened at 7.30pm, drew an average of just 6.8 million viewers and a 28% share of the audience. The figures represent the soap's lowest share since November 1999, when ITV's England v Scotland coverage proved a more tempting prospect for viewers.
The one-hour Emmerdale special - which had the advantage of beginning half an hour earlier - drew an impressive 9.8 million average, or a 41% share.
Last year, head-to-head battles between the two soaps pushed EastEnders down to its lowest ever audience. ITV made no secret that it would be repeating the strategy in future as part of long-term to make Emmerdale the UK's number two soap.
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