'EastEnders' beats 'Emmerdale' in Thursday ratings clash

EastEnders took the soap ratings crown on Thursday night (March 7) as it beat an hour-long edition of Emmerdale.



Phil and Sharon's surprise kiss was watched by 6.39 million, a 28.3% share, in BBC One's usual 7.30pm to 8pm slot.

Emmerdale, which clashed with EastEnders for 15 minutes, drew 6.17m (28.8%) between 6.45pm and 7.45pm - scheduled slightly earlier due to ITV's commitments to Europa League football.

Brenda's brain tumour news was caught by a further 276,000 on ITV +1, while BBC Three managed 233k (9.4%) for a much-later-than-usual 1am repeat of EastEnders.

Without Emmerdale in its usual 8pm slot, Waterloo Road soared to 4.02m (17.3%) for a story focused on Scout and her unstable mum Tina.

Earlier in the evening, Hollyoaks managed a decent 1.08m (5.3%) in Channel 4's 6.30pm junction, after which E4's first look commanded 653k (3.1%) half-an-hour later as well as 117k on +1.

Neighbours drew 771k (10.7%) from 1.45pm and 981k (5.9%) at 5.30pm for its latest instalment, while Home and Away nabbed 778k (4.2%) at 6pm and 467k (2.3%) for 5*'s subsequent first look.

Meanwhile, Doctors averaged 1.71m (23.6%) for an episode titled 'Swings and Roundabouts'.