Coronation Street Showdown Secures Record Audience

A special double episode of Coronation Street, which marked the climax of a bloody storyline peaked at almost 20 million viewers last night.

The episodes, which were shown between 7.30 and 8pm and 8.30 and 9.05pm drew an average audience of 17.6 million, providing ITV1 with a 61% audience share.

The storyline has proved extremely successful for ITV and a previous double bill, which involved a bloody murder, also achieved a 60% audience share for the channel (see Coronation Street Bloodbath Delivers Viewers).

Both ITV1 and BBC1 rely on soaps as the lynchpin of their schedules. The BBC caused significant controversy by extending Eastenders to four times a week, and has recently begun screening episodes of the popular soap on its new digital platform, BBC3 (see BBC3 Launch To Be Supported By Main Terrestrial Channels).

The soaps rely on dramatic storylines to create the ‘appointment TV’ that ITV needs to maintain lucrative ad deals.

However, once again the National Grid recorded a power surge, which was the equivalent of over 450,000 kettles being switched on, as viewers switched off just in time to miss the ads.

ITV: 020 7843 8000 www.itv.com

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