EastEnders loses soap battle to Emmerdale
EastEnders has slumped to its lowest audience share in more than five years.
Only 6.8 million viewers tuned in to last night’s episode of the troubled soap - three million less than ITV rival Emmerdale. That was just 28% of the available audience, the lowest share since November 1999.
In contrast, the Emmerdale double bill featuring the wedding of Charity Dingle and Tom King pulled in 9.8 million viewers and a 41% audience share.
The fortunes of EastEnders picked up over the festive season with 12.3 million viewers tuning in on Christmas Day.
But last night’s episode, which featured the new members of the Moon family and yet another gangster in the form of ex-Bill star Billy Murray, proved a turn-off.
It is the third time Emmerdale has beaten EastEnders in a head-to-head battle.
Charity’s wedding day was ruined by scheming Sadie King, played by Patsy Kensit, who convinced the groom that his bride-to-be was having an affair with her ex, Cain Dingle. The wedding day ended in a punch-up between the two warring families.
EastEnders blamed the head-to-head scheduling for its poor performance.
“It’s a shame that competitive scheduling means that soap fans lost out last night,” a spokesman said.
