Soaps

'EastEnders' narrows gap on Corrie in soap ratings

Published Saturday, May 19 2012, 15:20 BST | By Paul Millar | 14 comments

Phil confronts Ian and insists that he must stay in Walford to keep things normal.

EastEnders picked up an impressive audience on Friday night, capping a stronger week for the BBC soap.

BBC One's first showing of Ian Beale's breakdown was watched by 7.49m (33.6%) at 8pm, then 697k (3.6%) caught up on BBC Three at 10pm.

Meanwhile, the EastEnders Omnibus pulled in 296k (7.3%) from just after midnight.

Coronation Street led the pack with almost identical audiences of 7.65m (34.2%) at 7.30pm (+1: 188k) and 7.64m (32.8%) at 8.30pm (+1: 263k) for its double bill.

Emmerdale logged 6.2m (30.9%) at 7pm (+1: 215k), while Hollyoaks took 837k (4.6%) at 6.30pm and 426k (2.1%) for E4's first look.

Neighbours mustered 646k (9.3%) at lunchtime and 874k (5.7%) at 5.30pm, while Home and Away grabbed 710k (4.1%) at 6pm and 498k (2.7%) for 5*'s first look.

Elsewhere, Doctors nabbed 1.38m (19.9%) at 1.45pm for an episode titled 'Legacy'.

BARB ratings data supplied by Attentional