The current wave of teen vampire culture gains momentum with the arrival of the 22-part series on UK screens.
It got off to a good start with 4.6% of the audience watching the first hour-long show at 9-10pm. The second show at 10-11pm was down to 716,000 viewers but achieved a bigger 5% share.
On the main channels the 9-10pm slot crown went to 'Survivors', which earned a 16.2% share of viewing.
The commercial channels also lost out to BBC Two, which took a 2.9 million audience and a 12% share with history series 'How Earth Made Us'.
Five was close behind with 2.6 million and a 10.6% share for 'CSI'.
Amanda Holden's second outing in 'Fantasy Lives' on ITV1 got just 2.2 million viewers, down from 2.5 million last week.
Channel 4 programme 'Haiti's Killer Quake: Why It Happened' managed 1.8 million viewers and an 8.4% share.
Europe
Vampire Diaries brings 980,000 viewers to ITV2
LONDON - ITV2's new US import 'The Vampire Diaries' debuted last night with 980,000 viewers, while BBC One's 'Survivors' led with 3.9 million, according to unofficial overnight figures.
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