TV Overnights: Eastenders beats ITV1’s World Cup coverage

BBC One’s hour-long Eastenders stole the limelight away from the World Cup between 7pm and 8pm last night.

The one-hour soap special attracted more than 7.6 million peak viewers and a 36.3% average audience share during the early evening slot, securing the peak ratings ahead of ITV1’s Brazil v North Korea coverage.

ITV1’s World Cup Live started on just 3.4 million viewers at 7pm, although went up to 8.4 million peak viewers once Eastenders had finished.  The game, which ended 2-1 to Brazil, claimed the peak audience from 8pm onwards and a 30% average audience share between 7pm and 9.30pm.

The channel’s afternoon match – Ivory Coast v Portugal – scored a high of over 3 million viewers and a 29.6% average audience share between 2.30pm and 5pm.

Meanwhile, BBC One’s coverage of the New Zealand v Slovakia game pulled in 1.9 million peak viewers and a 27.5% share between 12.15pm and 2.30pm.

Sports fans were spoilt for choice yesterday, with live coverage of the Royal Ascot opening day on BBC Two as well.  The afternoon programme, presented by Clare Balding and Willie Carson, picked up 680,000 viewers and a 8.7% share between 1.45 and 5.15pm.

Later on in the evening, BBC One’s Crimewatch banked the peak-hour ratings from 9.30pm onwards with 4.5 million peak viewers and a 17% average audience share.  Only 3.6 million viewers stuck with ITV1 for James Cordon’s World Cup Live show after the Brazil match.

Five’s CSI: Crime Scene Investigation also proved to be a popular choice with viewers.  The hour-long crime drama pulled in 2.1 million average viewers and a 9.5% share between 9pm and 10pm.

At the same time, BBC Two’s Tribal Wives picked up 1.8 million average viewers, while Channel 4’s Inside Nature’s Giants: Monster Python settled on 1.5 million average viewers.

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.