'Enders trumps 'Emmerdale' in ratings battle

Emmerdale's attempt to split the soap audience backfired last night when EastEnders trumped them in the head-to-head ratings war.

The ITV soap, which began at 7pm, achieved an average of 6.3 million viewers, while EastEnders drew 7 million. During the head-to-head period (7.30pm – 8pm), Emmerdale dipped to a low of 5.2 million. EastEnders finished on 7.7 million viewers at 8.30pm.

Last night's BBC Three episode of EastEnders, meanwhile, attracted an average audience of 838,000. The channel set a new record two weeks ago for its 10pm repeat when it saw 1.3 million viewers tune in.

A spokeswoman for the BBC soap told DS: "Once again ITV have tried to split the soap audience by scheduling another hour-long episode of Emmerdale.

"Despite having a half-hour lead, Emmerdale failed to stop viewers turning over to EastEnders at 7.30pm."

She added: "This aggressive scheduling by ITV to knock the EastEnders audience is only spoiling it for the viewers. However, once again, it hasn't had the effect they desired."