TV Overnights: ITV1’s peak run banks the top spot

ITV1’s prime time line-up secured the highest ratings between 7pm and 10pm last night.

Emmerdale started off the channel’s peak-run with 6.5 million viewers, followed by Coronation Street‘s high of 8.3 million viewers and 39.2% audience share.

Midsomer Murders, the popular crime drama starring John Nettles and David Haig, finished off the run with more than 6.4 million peak viewers – nearly double the number of viewers compared with its closest terrestrial rival.

However, BBC One’s new two-part documentary Wounded, which followed the progress of two soldiers that were injured in Afghanistan, did manage to secure a respectable 3.3 million viewers and a 12.9% share during the 9pm to 10pm slot.

Elsewhere, BBC Two just managed to pip Channel 4 in the race for third place in the peak-hour ratings war.  The first two editions of MasterChef: The Professionals, which started at 8pm and finished at 9.30pm, pulled in 2.4 million and 2.8 million average viewers respectively.

The 45-minute-long programmes saw professional chefs demonstrating their culinary expertise in front of judges Michel Roux, Gregg Wallace and Monica Galetti.

However, Dragons’ Den Online attracted a lower 1.1 million average viewers and 5.2% share for BBC Two between 9.30pm and 10pm, which helped boost Channel 4’s Secret Millionaire’s ratings to 3 million peak viewers in the final fifteen minutes of the all-important hour-long slot.

The reality show about rich landlord Kevin Green picked up an average of 2.7 million viewers between 9pm to 10pm.

At the same time, Five’s new Farmer Wants a Wife series with Louise Redknapp struggled to keep up with its terrestrial rivals, pulling in just 630,000 viewers and a 2.7% average audience share.

Overnight data is available each morning in mediatel.co.uk’s TV Database, with all BARB registered subscribers able to view reports for terrestrial networks and key multi-channel stations.