New 'Shameless' brings in 3m

More than 3 million tuned in for the premiere of a new series of Shameless last night (Tuesday), according to early figures.

The long-running drama - now in its sixth series - brought in 2.94m (17%) for Channel 4 in the 10pm hour last night, with an additional 173k (2.1%) via Channel 4+1.

The figure is roughly level with the 3.09m (14.1%) who watched the premiere of series five on January 1, 2008.

E4's premiere of the next episode was seen by 616k (7.1%) in the 11pm hour, plus 178k (4.5%) more on E4+1 from midnight.

Shameless capped off a strong night all round for Channel 4. Supersize vs Superskinny managed 2.16m (9.3%) in the 8pm hour, then documentary Gok Wan: Too Fat Too Young interested 2.88m (12.5%) and 231k (1.4%) on Channel 4+1.

A double-length Emmerdale pulled in 7.04m (32.2%) for ITV1 in the 7pm hour, trumping BBC One's EastEnders, which was down to 6.07m (27%) at 7.30pm. The later BBC Three repeat picked up 948k (5.2%).

Hollyoaks drew 1.72m (8.2%) for Channel 4 at 6.30pm and on Five, Neighbours had 1.45m (8.9%) and Home & Away had 1.09m (5.7%).

Once again, Fiver's first-look Home & Away outrated its E4 counterpart, taking 637k (3.5%) to 625k (3.3%) respectively.

Holby City managed 5.92m (25.5%) for BBC One in the 8pm hour, while on ITV1, the final episode of Trinny & Susannah Meet Their Match lifted slightly to 2.34m (10.1%). BBC Two had 3m (13.2%) for Oz and James Drink To Britain, then the latest instalment of MasterChef drew 3.28m (13.9%). Five was last for the hour with 1.41m (6.1%) for Secrets of Egypt: Alexander's Tomb.

Five was second in the 9pm hour, however, pulling in 3.2m (13.8%) for a new episode of CSI. BBC One's Crimewatch intrigued 4.47m (19.4%), while ITV1's Total Emergency mustered 2.72m (11.8%). BBC Two was last in the slot, taking 1.14m (4.9%) for the final episode of Million Dollar Traders.

BBC One was first place in primetime with an average share of 22.8%, a clear seven points ahead of ITV1. Channel 4 was third with 10.6% (+1: 0.7%), followed by Five on 7.8% and BBC Two on 7.2%.

ITV4's rerun of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet did surprisingly well in multichannel homes, taking 671k (3.2%) from 9pm to rank as the third most popular multichannel programme of the day.

ITV2's screening of The Bourne Supremacy also performed well, averaging 517k (2.8%) from 9pm, with a timeshifted audience of 121k (1%).

Ratings data supplied by Attentional