EastEnders ratings are said to be ‘in crisis’ according to a report, after a recent episode earned its lowest viewings in the soap’s history.
Having been on screens on the BBC for over three decades, it was surprising that the popular soap had just 2.4 million viewers tuning in to Thursday’s episode.
The soap has appeared to clear up the real reason for the drop, but The Sun Online reported the show hit a "ratings crisis" due to a “drop in popularity”.
The publication goes on to claim current storylines are behind the drop.
A source told them: “The BBC has always prided itself on the enduring success of EastEnders but its popularity has slowly drooped over the past year.
“The ratings on Thursday were embarrassing, especially given in its heyday EastEnders would get over eight million.
“The storylines aren’t resonating with fans and it doesn’t seem to have any of those exciting “doof doof” moments it’s famed for.”
However, BBC bosses have denied this and said the channel's coverage of the FIFA Women's World Cup is likely to blame, with a spokesperson telling Metro.co.uk that the particular episode, like others, was moved to allow viewers to watch the match.
There’s also the fact that some viewers didn’t willingly miss it on Thursday, when the lowest viewed episode aired, as there was a slight mishap.
The episode had been moved from its usual time slot of 7:30pm to half an hour earlier, at 7pm.
Unaware the show was on earlier having missed the memo, fans tuned in at the normal time only to find the soap had already aired.
Not only that, but with it airing at the same time as Emmerdale it’s likely fans of the ITV soap would have opted for that instead amid Jessie Dingle’s shooting - while it's also likely Walford fans would have caught up on BBC iPlayer as oppose to watching at 7pm.
One fan commented: “EastEnders Thank you for informing us EastEnders was on early today. I missed it #Gutted.”
Mirror Online have contacted a representative for the soap for comment.
EastEnders airs Mondays and Fridays at 8pm, and Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One .
