Originally Posted by Ray Tings:
“Taken from an article in Broadcast magazine (20 September 1985) by William Phillips:
"In Scotland and East Anglia, Emmerdale Farm still leads into News at 5.45; elsewhere it has a 19.00 start. Until this month EastEnders was pitched directly against Emmerdale Farm in most areas. My chart shows how the Square's average audiences for first transmissions have held up since its launch, compared with the Street and the Farm. Taking each show's average audience in EastEnders' debut week as 100, all have fallen seasonally since February. Until late May, EastEnders fell furthest: the expected pattern for a new soap, which many sample and reject in early weeks. But since late July, Albert Square has recovered well. By mid-August it was almost back to premiere week ratings, unlike the Farm. Hence the silly season excitement. Only look a little closer. During most of this period, the average first run half hour of the Square has won only 50 to 60 per cent as many viewers as the Farm, 45 to 55 per cent as many as the Motel (which got a new look this Spring) and up to half as many viewers as the Street. The ratios are consistent: TV audiences are regular in their habits and their loyalties alter only very gradually. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, EastEnders was getting around six million, compared with 15 million for Coronation Street. But EastEnders' Sunday omnibus audience fluctuated between four million and seven million, which BARB added to its tally. Come August, the Square appeared to be closing on the Street. Why the sudden surge of viewers for EastEnders? Look no further than the competition. Emmerdale Farm has been screening "golden moments" in most regions to let others, including London, catch up with the plot: the whole ITV network will see the same storyline from this month. Naturally some viewers switched to EastEnders in August, to try something fresh. In the first fortnight of the Farm retreads, EastEnders jumped from 6.6 million to 7.9 million then 8.7 million. Meanwhile the Square's omnibus repeat faced a weak ITV Sabbath afternoon mixture: old movies, documentaries, educational stuff about Northern Ireland. The EastEnders omnibus audience increased from four to five million to five to six million. Add these together, BARB-fashion, and in the week ended September 1, Tuesday's EastEnders "beat" the Street, 15.4 million to 15.1 million. Hogwash - but let us not denigrate the BBC's first true soap for 16 years. It has done well to establish a bridgehead clientele of maybe 7.5 million on weeknights. Its summer surge bodes well for this month's shift to 19.30 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which for years have been among ITV's weakest primetime spots".”
This bit is the most significant bit. EastEnders moved to 7.30pm where there was minimal competition from ITV. This was in September 1985, more viewers around in Autumn. Then the build to to Den Watts being revealed as the father of Michelle Fowler's baby which happened in October. That's when ratings really started to take off. Savvy scheduling from Michael Grade and a big storyline in Autumn turned EastEnders into a hit.
