ratings emmerdale thrash enders last night

[chance]

Ratings for EastEnders fell to the third lowest ever last night in the face of a strong ITV1 lineup.

The BBC soap pulled in just 6.58 million viewers, a 30.9% share of the TV audience, at 7.30pm. The lowest, 6.2 million, was recorded last October.

EastEnders was up against yet another hour-long Emmerdale, which finished a clear first with 8.34 million (41.9%) in the 7pm hour.

[RealityGap]

I always think that it is unfair to judge it like this I wonder how many people taped EE or watched it at 10pm

[gazzer]

well even if people taped Eastenders or watched it on BBC3 i am sure there are also people who taped Emmerdale or will watch it on ITV2... at the end of the day the better soap got the better ratings... last nights Emmerdale was one of the best hours of soap this year.

[alan45]

I think the main reason is that people are starting to get fed up with EE's inconsistency. One or two good episodes a month is not enough to retain peoples interest in it. The changes of producers over the years havent helped. All we seem to get are promises that its going to improve. Instead its like the 'Parsons Egg' promises a lot but delivers little.

It was on a hiding to nothing last night. No-one knew what the outcome was going to be in Emmerdale unlike EE where everyone knew the outcome because the bosses at Elstree had leaked so much in the hope of gaining much needed viewers. Yet another slanging match was not the way to do it, nor the overacting of most of the characters.

EE needs to go for the long term fix and not just one off sensationalism. They need to sack half the writers and develop their existing characters instead of spending huge amounts of our money on bringing back so called stars

[Jessie Wallace]

I don't watch Emmerdale, but if i did i would have watched the hour long one and then recorded Eastenders, so it's totally not fair. If they want to judge it properly they should both have a 30 mintue episode on at the same time and then see who watches which episode, oh and take off the 10.00 BBC3 repeat, so that a choice has to be properly made. Then we can see who would record which, that would be a slightly fairer fight for the raitings.

[xCharliex]

8.34 million thats really good, i always said Emmerdale was the better soap lol

[Keating's babe]

I don't get BBC3 or ITV2 and had to make a choice because I couldn't tape it either. Emmerdale won on both occasions. I did start watching Emmerdale and was going to switch over at 7.30pm but got too engrossed in it and the storylines were top notch. A fantastic episode last night and great to see Zoe getting her revenge on the Kings. :p

I think Callum has been a great addition to the show and it's a shame he is being written out and couldn't stay on at Home Farm.

[i_luv_dennis]

whats happening to eastenders

[Jessie Wallace]

I still think that it's ok. Do see a problem with it.

[alan45]

whats happening to eastenders

It needs a good shake up. They appear to have dumbed it down over the last few years. It used to be unmissable hard hitting drama but now they just seem to recycle old storylines and have slanging matches with each other. When the audiences fall they bribe old one dimensional actors to come back for a few weeks at huge expense. Short term boost to figures and then its back to the same old nonsense. They have some fantastic actors on EE who are being grossly underused and given inane storylines. The writers should concentrate on writing decent stories for them instead of the nonsense of Kalfie/Molfie and Shannis. And on the subject what other soap would let one of their leading actors swan off every six months to take part in a pantomime. She should stay with EE or leave for good.

[_lil_hunni]

I think its pretty obvious that emmerdale wud beat eastenders, emerdale starts at 7pm, its not likely people are going to change over to watch eastenders when they can watch the end of emmerdale and tape ee or watch it later. Eastenders was a great episode last night so its not about quality. If eastenders had been an hour long special starting at 7 with emmedale beining at 7.30 id like to see how well it wud do.

[alan45]

I think its pretty obvious that emmerdale wud beat eastenders, emerdale starts at 7pm, its not likely people are going to change over to watch eastenders when they can watch the end of emmerdale and tape ee or watch it later. Eastenders was a great episode last night so its not about quality. If eastenders had been an hour long special starting at 7 with emmedale beining at 7.30 id like to see how well it wud do.

Considering that no-one knew the outcome of the storyline in Emmerdale and that everyone and his dog knew what the punchline :D was going to be in EE then I think no matter what time Emmerdal had been on it WOULD always have beaten tired old EE

[squillyfer]

You cant really compare them. Theyre different soaps, about different people in different places and aimed at different audiences. They started at different times and were on for different lengths of time on different channels. So how can you compare them when theyre so different

[Jessie Wallace]

Bingo, you got it!

[squillyfer]

Although i for one was watching ee

[Jessie Wallace]

Me to, but then i hardely watch Emmerdale, but i did watch the first 30 mins then turned over for Eastenders

[xCharliex]

Emmerdale has been my fav for a while now, i know a lot of people think its boring etc, but i think it has some great characters on there, its definately stepped up over the years! And they have won quite a few awards for best storyline over the years!
EE is getting exciting, well only due to the whole Den murder, but once thats over and done with its gonna be pants again, the Mitchells returning should be good.

[alan45]

You cant really compare them. Theyre different soaps, about different people in different places and aimed at different audiences. They started at different times and were on for different lengths of time on different channels. So how can you compare them when theyre so different

There are lots of similarities between Britains 3 major soaps. The main interaction between characters is in the local pub. They are all based around families, and normally they are based on 30 minute episodes. The only difference with EE and the rest is that EE is the only one who like Dallas brought a dead man back to life. :)

[sarah21]

I think the main reason is that people are starting to get fed up with EE's inconsistency. One or two good episodes a month is not enough to retain peoples interest in it. The changes of producers over the years havent helped. All we seem to get are promises that its going to improve. Instead its like the 'Parsons Egg' promises a lot but delivers little.

It was on a hiding to nothing last night. No-one knew what the outcome was going to be in Emmerdale unlike EE where everyone knew the outcome because the bosses at Elstree had leaked so much in the hope of gaining much needed viewers. Yet another slanging match was not the way to do it, nor the overacting of most of the characters.

EE needs to go for the long term fix and not just one off sensationalism. They need to sack half the writers and develop their existing characters instead of spending huge amounts of our money on bringing back so called stars

Absolutely. At last someone I agree with totally!! :cheer:

EE does far too much leaking of storylines now. Just a snippet would do to wet the appetite. What is the point in watching when we know what is going to happen? Less is definitely more in this case.

One off sensationalism is not the way to go. It needs stronger storylines with existing characters and not just the characters that they think are the so called 'stars' of EE. They go into overkill with certain characters who then believe their own hype and move on and we're left with, IMHO, better characters and actors who have been wasted on stupid, boring storylines for ages who we've lost interest in. What is going to happen when Kat, Alfie, Dennis, Sharon, Sam, Chrissie etc have gone? What is the point in bringing Grant back for 2 weeks? Short term gain for long term pain.


It needs a good shake up. They appear to have dumbed it down over the last few years. It used to be unmissable hard hitting drama but now they just seem to recycle old storylines and have slanging matches with each other. When the audiences fall they bribe old one dimensional actors to come back for a few weeks at huge expense. Short term boost to figures and then its back to the same old nonsense. They have some fantastic actors on EE who are being grossly underused and given inane storylines. The writers should concentrate on writing decent stories for them instead of the nonsense of Kalfie/Molfie and Shannis. And on the subject what other soap would let one of their leading actors swan off every six months to take part in a pantomime. She should stay with EE or leave for good.

Another great post Alan45! EE does have some fantastic actors who are being grossly underused and given inane storylines. We are in total agreement over this one!!

[Richie_lecturer]

Great actors like Perry Fenwick, who has been wrecked by all this Molfie nonsense et al.

I'm glad all the above mentioned characters are leaving EE, as I can't stand them. However I accept they are popular and are going to leave a big void in EE's cast list. I mean they may have to feature non-stop Millers in 2006, and I would definately turn off. Stuff coming up like newcomer Dawn Miller's boob job sounds (imo) like total garbage.

As you say, too many people who have bigger egos than an egomaniac, have helped wreck EE, such as Tit Dean et al. EE should come down hard on this people and bin them.

I think EE have returned to n.o 2 for now, but I reckon Emmerdale will come back hard at them in 2006, and rightly so.


P.S. Grant is possibly coming back for a few months next year ( :thumbsdow ), but that's not confirmed AFAIK.