It was a ratings rollercoaster of an evening last night, Wednesday 23 April, as The Apprentice hit yet another high and News at Ten equalled its record low.

BBC1's business boot camp hit a peak of 8 million viewers in its last 15 minutes and averaged 7.4 million between 9pm and 10pm.

The fifth episode of Sir Alan Sugar's search for his next apprentice was 400,000 viewers up on last week and cleared up with a 30% share.

This was the second highest rated show of the evening, behind Coronation Street's 8.4 million viewers on ITV1 at 7.30pm

The Apprentice was up against ITV1's Rock Rivals, which bowed out last night with an ending voted for by audiences.

For Rock Rivals the good news was the final episode won more viewers than last week. But the bad news was it was only 200,000 more, leaving Rock Rivals averaging 2.4 million and a 10% share, according to unofficial overnights.

However, this week Rock Rivals did score more than Channel 4's Child Genius, which had 1.7 million viewers; and BBC2's Dan Cruickshank's Adventures in Architecture, which drew 1.8 million.

After Rock Rivals finished at 10pm, ITV1's audience dropped to an average of 1.7 million viewers, an 8% share, for News at Ten. That equalled the bulletin's lowest rating, which it achieved on March 4.

News at Ten was beaten by both Channel 4's Desperate Housewives, with 2.1 million viewers; and BBC2's The Apprentice – You're Fired!, which averaged 2.9 million and a 13% share.

More details soon ...

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