Emmerdale and EastEnders ratings revealed as soaps clash in new schedule shake-up

EMMERDALE has come out on top after its first clash with rival soap EastEnders.

The two soaps went head to head at 7.30pm last night in the first of nightly clashes.

ITVEmmerdale triumphed with the latest saga of serial killer Meena Jutla[/caption]

bbcGray Atkins will be caught this week in EastEnders – but will it be enough to beat Meena in the ratings?[/caption]

Emmerdale pulled in 4.2m viewers, while over on BBC One EastEnders was watched by 2.6m in the overnight figures.

However it was Coronation Street that emerged triumphant in its 8pm hour-long slot with 4.4m tuning in.

It does not include people who catch-up on iPlayer or ITVPlayer.

Soap schedules were all changed earlier this year when ITV announced its news offering would be extended by 30 minutes each night.

It meant Emmerdale was bumped to a 7.30pm start time away from its historic 7pm beginning.

In a further change Coronation Street’s two episodes would be merged into one to create an hour-long episode every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

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The BBC in response moved EastEnders from its haphazard schedule to a firmer footing.

It used to air on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday evenings at varying times but that has all changed.

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Now the soap will air Monday to Thursdays at 7.30pm.

It is the first time the soap has aired on consecutive nights since it begin 37 years ago.

BBC bosses are banking on viewers being willing to watch the soap on iPlayer instead of live.