'Katie & Peter: Stateside' boosted by split

Katie & Peter: Stateside pulled in its highest ever audience last night, according to early ratings figures.

The latest episode - the first to be screened since the couple announced their split on Monday - attracted 1.33m (6.5%) for ITV2 at 9pm, with a further 282k (1.8%) tuning in on timeshift.

The reality series was the most-watched show on the multichannel stations, beating off competition from Bones, which drew 581k (2.9%) for Sky1, and More4's new ER episode, which had 537k (2.6%).

New US crime drama series Lie To Me, which stars Tim Roth as a 'human lie detector', debuted to 395k (2.5%) for Sky1 at 10pm.

Elsewhere, Traffic Cops put BBC One in the lead during the 9pm hour, delivering 3.44m (15.3%). Its nearest rival, ITV1's Taggart, starring Blythe Duff and John Michie, put in 3.38m (15.1%).

The Mentalist continued its strong run for Five, interesting 2.44m (10.8%), while Channel 4 documentary The Homecoming, a Cutting Edge film exploring the effects of long-term care on children and their families, managed 1.44m (6.4%).

BBC Two was last for the hour, grabbing 1.18m (5.3%) for the second episode of Keep It In The Family.

Earlier, at 8pm, The Bill put in 4.59m (21.1%) for ITV1, while the fifth and final episode of Kirstie's Home-made Home, which saw the property guru put the finishing touches to her rural cottage, was seen by 2m (9.2%).

Property Watch logged 1.38m (6.3%) for BBC Two, while Five's I Own Britain's Best Home averaged 631k (2.9%) during the hour.

The final episode of My Family performed well for BBC One, drawing 5.05m (23.7%) during the first half-hour. The audience then dropped to 4.19m (18.9%) during the 8.30pm screening of the DIY SOS finale.

Overall, BBC One came top during primetime with an average share of 22.7% to ITV1's 17.8%. Channel 4 was third with 7% (+1: 0.8%), followed by BBC Two with 5.5% and Five's 5.4%.

Ratings data supplied by Attentional