ITV1 wins Wednesday 9pm battle

ITV1 emerged victorious in the highly competitive 9pm slot last night (Wednesday), according to early figures.

The channel averaged 5.76m (24.6%) for the hour with its coverage of The Pride Of Britain Awards, beating the return of Silent Witness on BBC One, which had 5.45m (23.2%).

Overall, the awards ceremony, fronted by Carol Vorderman, brought in 5.52m (23.8%) between 8pm and 10pm. The figure is down on the 6.7m (30.1%) who watched last year's ceremony.

The return of Heroes also fared well at 9pm last night, with an average of 3.13m (13.2%) tuning in to BBC Two over 45 minutes. Behind-the-scenes programme Heroes Unmasked managed 1.72m (7.5%) in the 15 minutes that followed, then at 10pm, 1.03m (6.3%) tuned in to BBC Three for episode two.

Channel 4's The Family took the biggest hit in the wake of the increased competition, falling to just 1.49m (6.3%) for the hour. A further 334,000 (2.3%) opted to watch on Channel 4+1 at 10pm, however.

Five managed 1.05m (5.3%) for the Steven Seagal film Half Past Dead between 9pm and 11.05pm.

Coronation Street was the top-rated programme of the day overall, with 8.48m (40.8%) for ITV1 at 7.30pm. Emmerdale was second with 6.42m (33.2%).

A Wednesday helping of Holby City brought in 4.8m (20.9%) to BBC One in the 8pm hour, and on BBC Two, The Restaurant attracted 2.08m (9.1%). Supernanny picked up 1.96m (8.6%) for Channel 4 and Five's Axe Men logged 1.24m (5.4%).

Overall during primetime, ITV1 managed an average share of 24.5%, ahead of BBC One's 21.3%. BBC Two had 8.5% for third, followed by Channel 4 on 7.1% and Five on 4.6%.

Hollyoaks brought in a reliable 616,000 (3.7%) for E4 at 7pm, and Fiver's first-look Home & Away delivered 554,000 (3.4%).

ITV2's primetime peak was 331,000 (1.6%) for Jack Osbourne: Celebrity Adrenaline Junkie at 9pm, but the channel's overall best-rated show of the day was an afternoon visit to Jeremy Kyle, with an impressive 385,000 (7.3%) from 2.35pm.

BBC Three led with a 2.1% primetime share, followed by E4 on 1.5%, ITV3 on 1.2%, ITV2 on 1.1% and Sky3 on 1.1%.

Ratings data supplied by Attentional