TV Overnights: Final election debate draws in 8 million viewers

A high of more than 8 million viewers tuned in to watch last night’s third and final Prime Ministerial Debate ahead of next week’s election.

The 90-minute programme, which saw Gordon Brown, Nick Clegg and David Cameron battle it out over the economy, jobs and the recession, secured 7.2 million average viewers and a 27.9% audience share between 8.30pm and 10pm.

The debate dominated the prime time ratings, while BBC One’s Eastenders banked the early-evening top spot.  The channel’s flagship soap pulled in more than 8.1 million peak viewers and a 38.5% average audience share between 7.30pm and 8pm.

Elsewhere, ITV1’s soap line-up secured its highest ratings all evening.  Emmerdale peaked with 6.5 million viewers, while Coronation Street picked up 6.7 million viewers.

However, the channel’s peak-hour show – Greatest Cities of the World with Griff Rhys Jones – settled on a low 2.8 million viewers and a 11.1% average audience share between 9pm and 10pm.

At the same time, Channel 4’s How the Other Half Live picked up 1.3 million average viewers and a 5.2% share, while BBC Two’s Welcome to Lagos pulled in 974,000 viewers and a 3.8% share.

Meanwhile, Five’s Live UEFA Europa League Football coverage attracted a high of more than 4 million viewers and a 13.2% average audience share between 7.30pm and 10.15pm.

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.