There was some talk earlier in the year of Danny Cohen wanting to attract the biggest names in British comedy to BBC1. Looks like Cleese is one of them then.
I saw a bit of it and would tend to agree with you. Its trying to be The Voice but this is ITV and not the BBC. Bring back the panto elements and the judges personal disputes and lets have less of this singing contest stuff. Down with all this earnestness.
TXF is still good but missing something. The panel works fine but it's a lacking a little bit of edge.
If people on The X Factor forum hate the twist then ratings will probably be up tonight. Online in general (and particularly DS) is never a good indicator. With X Factor, people love to be outraged.
As far as first live shows go, I thought it was pretty good. But even with Sky+ it's still a marathon with 16 acts and inevitably some of them are dull. No doubt the ratings will have fluctuated as the show progressed with people checking in and out.
Talent-wise, it's decent enough. There are some interesting ones in there as well. If they punt out Jonjo, Nu Vibe, Sophie and James then I think they'll actually have a pretty good, interesting top 12. Although there's a chance they'll want a shock in the girls category.
The new judges didn't quite hit the ground runing for me. Kelly was mildly amusing in parts but over bearing at times. Gary played it a bit too straight - he could do with relaxing just a touch. Tulisa waffled a bit much, couldn't be bothered with all that "representing girls" nonsense and she used the word "energy" too much. She looked great to be fair although she and Kelly don't quite match the Cheryl/Dannii glamour from last year. But when Louis Walsh told a pub singer that she was "the next big diva from Wales", I knew everything would be alright. Dermot seemed to be on good form as well, quite relaxed.
I think ITV should really shift it to 8pm. I can't see it rating lower anyway, it'd most likely give it a decent boost. And Wossy isn't doing much in the 10pm slot. Ratings wise it seems to be what most expected. Now it's all about what kind of hype the finalists and judges can generate compared to last year. A bit off for Harry Hill as well, surprised to see that. Seems OK for Strictly, not sure how that compares to previous years?
The talent seems pretty decent overall. Misha, Janet, Craig, Amelia and Marcus and are potentially really good vocalists. The Risk and Kitty aren't bad either. Frankie will get them some headlines along with Kitty whilst Sami is this year's Mary Byrne (although god knows why they decided to make her look like Hilary Devey from Dragons Den!). Johnny and 2 Shoes are the joke acts but I can't see them lasting too long. Rhythmix weren't actually too bad either. I agree about the ones you've said should go too. Jonjo and Nu Vibe were particularly dreadful whilst the other two are dull. If they get rid of those 4 I think they're in for a good series (although I have a bad feeling that Amelia might go over Sophie).
As for the judges, they got better as it went along. Some of Gary's remarks were funny and his comments to Jonjo were harsher than anything Simon's said for years. Kelly is brash and OTT but fun with it. Tulisa did better than I was expecting her too but she did go on a bit at times. Louis was Louis! His reaction to Johnny's comeback to Gary was hilarious and he displayed his usual tact towards Craig ('I love that you've lost so much weight'). I think there could be some rows on the horizon too.
I think last night's rating was OK, nothing more, nothing less. ITV won't be celebrating about it but equally I doubt they'll be particularly concerned. It should break 12m tonight and peak with around 14m which would be pretty close to last year (13.1m and 14.7m peak). I wonder if it grew throughout or tailed off after a post-Strictly peak last night?
Pretty good for Strictly, down slightly on last year but not by much. Ross did a bit better after TXF but I still don't think he particularly warrants an XF lead in again. Poor start for Harry Hill though. He works best with a YBF lead in but the clever dicks at ITV put Family Fortunes on between them last night, which will have flopped. Still a disappointing rating though and they're probably nowhere near as disappointed about him quitting now as they would have been a year ago. They'd have been better off saving FF for a better slot in the future and just running YBF later before TV Burp last night. They could have put everything 30 mins later too (with Celebrity Chase at 6pm where it will be in a few weeks). Hopefully as XF gets shorter they'll prevent it from clashing with Strictly.
After last night, they might be seriously thinking about a late move of next week's to 8.15pm!
well feel free to watch TXF on ITV1+1 if that suits you better. You know ITV is here to help
As regards TV Burp we'll have to see how the repeat does tonight. Sometimes low Saturday figures mean a high Sunday repeat figure. But if he is retiring soon anyway, I can see ITV going out of their way to support him in the schedules.
I think the second episode of Merlin had 4.99m last year, but I'm not sure this includes HD.
It might very well have done. The final for the ep was 6.06m and I would be very surprised if the final for this one didn't out rate it. So perhaps XFactor is losing out to Merlin a little what with SCD providing a great lead in.
There was some talk earlier in the year of Danny Cohen wanting to attract the biggest names in British comedy to BBC1. Looks like Cleese is one of them then.
Unfortunately, it's not going well...
A lot of BBC1 comedies in the noughties were really very poor. Reggie Perrin anybody? The BBC really suffered after a golden era for comedy in the 1990's with 2point4 Children, Only Fools and Horses, Brittas Empire, One Foot in the Grave, May to December amongst others.
Saturday 8th October 2011 BBC One
21:40 - Casualty: 4.02m (16.8%)
BBC Two
19:30 - 'Allo 'Allo!: 2.30m (8.5%)
20:00 - Are You Being Served?: 2.75m (10.3%)
21:00 - Dad's Army: 2.50m (9.5%)
ITV3
21:00 - Foyle's War: 969k (4.3%)
Source: DS
Just to remind people, especially Samthefootball, that when the first 2 comedies in the David Croft tribute were being shown, BBC2 Scotland was showing Scotland's World Cup qualifying match. When Dad's Army was on Scotland was showing the 10 minute David Croft profile and the first half of Allo Allo.
The stand-out figure for me last night was Foyle's War. Probably paid as much as part in Casualty's dented figure as X Factor did.
Just to remind people, especially Samthefootball, that when the first 2 comedies in the David Croft tribute were being shown, BBC2 Scotland was showing Scotland's World Cup qualifying match. When Dad's Army was on Scotland was showing the 10 minute David Croft profile and the first half of Allo Allo.
The stand-out figure for me last night was Foyle's War. Probably paid as much as part in Casualty's dented figure as X Factor did.
While that Foyles War rating was good i still think BBC 2 Had a fantastic night of rating. It was the standout channel of the night i know my grandad enjoyed the programs.
While that Foyles War rating was good i still think BBC 2 Had a fantastic night of rating. It was the standout channel of the night i know my grandad enjoyed the programs.
Excellent ratings to be in the mid 2 million range against TXF. I really think BBC2 should do themed Comedy Nights, so an 80's Comedy Night or a 90's Comedy Night, on Saturdays.
I can bet you in the papers, they'll be reporting a ratings 'crisis' for X Factor after being 'beaten' by SCD in the clash. Just like they did for Corrie when it was understandably getting 7 million in June.
That really was a poor showing for Burp's return last night, although the content itself wasnt that bad.
It might have suffered from all the opportunities to view: the Sunday ITV1 repeat as already mentioned, plus FOUR showings on ITV2 over the coming week.
The quality of conversation in the ratings thread appears to be going downhill rather quickly. There's been some incredibly banal posts this weekend.
I'd forgotten how much I hated this thread on weekends in autumn. Anyone know where the Ratings Thread Tin Hat got to...?
Anyway, my 2 pennies to be lost in the crossfire...
I think ITV will be slightly underwhelmed by TXF launch. On first impressions, I thought the figure looked great - but on past comparisons it was perhaps less so. I had no idea just how well the 2009 launch did with a 75 minute clash! No matter, it'll rebound significantly tonight - and frankly, it'd be mind-boggling if the show wasn't a little down from last year's ludicrous highs!
Strictly itself seemed pretty strong, though it too might struggle to re-create last year where it pretty much hit the contestant jackpot with Flying Widdy. The show is much more professionally made now, though, compared to just a few years ago (the aforementioned 2009) when it looked like it was really creaking a bit.
In other news, Merlin looks like a good performance. Not sure about last year's equivalent overnight, but it'll surely be ahead of the equivalent 6.06m official. The series does tend to grow as the Strictly lead in inflates too. It's really one of the most under appreciated ratings hits on TV at the moment, I think. Great numbers.
Not so brilliant for Harry Hill - though the Sunday caveat is alway worth making. If the press reports about him bringing things to a close this series are true, then I think thats a very wise decision from a man who knows his own show. It's been great, but everything has it's time.
There was some talk earlier in the year of Danny Cohen wanting to attract the biggest names in British comedy to BBC1. Looks like Cleese is one of them then.
Unfortunately, it's not going well...
Telling, isn't it. We tend to blast commissioners when we don't really consider what sort of scripts they're getting in the inbox. At least Cohen has some ambition, but I can't say I'm filled with hope on the other "national treasure comedy project" - as the Royal Bodyguard just smells like a dud.
It was only last night watching bits of the David Croft tribute on BBC2, that you realise we don't make them like that any more. Proper, serial, mainstream sitcom writers and producers. Who churn out 3, 4 or 5 great comedies in a career. And aren't ashamed to be populist. Roy Clarke is a similar example. Doesn't seem to happen any more, where niche is king.
Saturday 8th October 2011 BBC One
18:05 - Strictly Come Dancing: 8.68m (36.8%)
20:05 - Merlin: 5.54m (20.9%)
20:50 - The National Lottery: Secret Fortune: 3.68m (14.6%)
21:40 - Casualty: 4.02m (16.8%)
A decent rating for Strictly, down just 350k from the same episode last year despite there being an X-Factor clash this year and despite last year being Strictly's highest ever series. Merlin continues to do well in what is an incredibly competitive slot against the X-Factor, the BBC have got a real gem there. Casualty did OK with a half clash against X-Factor, I think 9:40pm is the latest it has ever started as well. Certainly for the best though as Casualty would have been a good few hundred thousand lower in a full on clash with X-Factor.
BBC Two
19:30 - 'Allo 'Allo!: 2.30m (8.5%)
20:00 - Are You Being Served?: 2.75m (10.3%)
21:00 - Dad's Army: 2.50m (9.5%)
A good night for BBC2 but their night will have been boosted since BBC2 Scotland were airing Euro football Liechtenstein v Scotland, which would have peaked just after 8pm. The actual match playing time ran 6:30pm-8:20pm with Scotland winning 1-0.
ITV1
08:00 - Rugby World Cup 2011: 4.19m (41.7%)
* 15-minute peak: 6.20m (52.4%)
19:00 - Harry Hill's TV Burp: 4.38m (18.3%)
* +1: 242k
19:30 - The X Factor: 10.44m (40.3%)
* +1: 506k
22:00 - The Jonathan Ross Show: 4.19m (21.2%)
Early morning Rugby did alright, I'm not too clued up on Rugby ratings but 6 million peak seems good for the time of day - looks like it ends here though with England going out. On to the X-Factor and without seeing what the clash did, it's difficult to assess; we know that Strictly beat it so that would put the 7:30-8pm period below 8.68m. That suggests the 8pm-10pm period averaged around 10.9m-11.3m, which seems decent enough. Taking the average as a whole though it is down significantly compared to the same stage last year and the year before last.
Would be interesting to see the breakdown for Strictly, I felt it went on for far too long- even my mum who is the biggest SCD fan was getting bored and fidgety by the last few dancers.
However they did keep the most talked about celebs till the end so it could have kept the viewers.
In theory though shouldn't big live event shows like The X Factor be relatively free of the timeshift effect? I can understand people perhaps timeshifting the same day (especially last night with the Strictly clash) but to me it doesn't feel like a show you record and watch later in the week.
Don't forget that the commercial channels have a "pseudo-timeshift" because of the way the overnights are compiled compared to the officials. The former includes the internal ad breaks. The latter doesn't. I'm still awaiting some stats from "trickytree" (unless I missed his post?) to illustrate how much the overnights for TXF are dragged down by the ad breaks.
Jonathan Ross only has 3 shows left so it could take over but an in depth interview with Paul Gascoigne about his life is hardly an ideal match with The X Factor.
Hardly an ideal match with anything. I wonder if Gazza will be bringing a fishing rod and a bit of chicken.
Whilst the X Factor was on for the 1st half-an-hour, SCD had Jason Donovan (the favourite, highest score of the night), Nancy Dell'Olio (lowest score of the night), Harry Judd (2nd favourite), and Russell Grant (this year's Ann Widdecombe / John Sargeant? But Russell actually has hope!). Looks like viewers stayed with SCD til the end.
Don't the BBC realise they should be screening an empty dancefloor from 7.30pm onwards, in order to keep the Ratings Thread happy?
I think we need some facts put back in this thread. I'm somewhat bewildered by those that are calling The X Factor's ratings good. If I'm to be quite honest, I think they're alright. Not bad, but nothing to be impressed about. Now, to compare:
2008 - no clash
2009 - 75 minute clash
2010 - no clash
2011 - 35 minute clash
Even if it didn't clash, I think it would have been ~11.4m including +1, without seeing a breakdown it's hard to know who dented what.
However, do I think it will rate lower than 2009 and 2010 in the series' averages? Yes.
Why do you think it will rate lower then 2009. Looking back at the 2009 ratings show 2 and show 4 got 10.8 and 10.3m. I Think this year will easily beat that. I have a feeling it will be inbetween as RZT said
Don't forget that the commercial channels have a "pseudo-timeshift" because of the way the overnights are compiled compared to the officials. The former includes the internal ad breaks. The latter doesn't. I'm still awaiting some stats from "trickytree" (unless I missed his post?) to illustrate how much the overnights for TXF are dragged down by the ad breaks.
K
You can normally tell from the 5-minute breakdowns which are posted on here from time to time how much it is dragged down (normally 1m down for each ad-break).
Why do you think it will rate lower then 2009. Looking back at the 2009 ratings show 2 and show 4 got 10.8 and 10.3m. I Think this year will easily beat that. I have a feeling it will be inbetween as RZT said
Next week also clashes with Strictly though. We shall see.
Comments
There's a massive match on MOTD next - Liverpool v Man Utd, so that'll be interesting to see that battle.
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/media/news/a344598/john-cleese-blasts-bbc-for-terrible-comedy-scripts.html
There was some talk earlier in the year of Danny Cohen wanting to attract the biggest names in British comedy to BBC1. Looks like Cleese is one of them then.
Unfortunately, it's not going well...
TXF is still good but missing something. The panel works fine but it's a lacking a little bit of edge.
The talent seems pretty decent overall. Misha, Janet, Craig, Amelia and Marcus and are potentially really good vocalists. The Risk and Kitty aren't bad either. Frankie will get them some headlines along with Kitty whilst Sami is this year's Mary Byrne (although god knows why they decided to make her look like Hilary Devey from Dragons Den!). Johnny and 2 Shoes are the joke acts but I can't see them lasting too long. Rhythmix weren't actually too bad either. I agree about the ones you've said should go too. Jonjo and Nu Vibe were particularly dreadful whilst the other two are dull. If they get rid of those 4 I think they're in for a good series (although I have a bad feeling that Amelia might go over Sophie).
As for the judges, they got better as it went along. Some of Gary's remarks were funny and his comments to Jonjo were harsher than anything Simon's said for years. Kelly is brash and OTT but fun with it. Tulisa did better than I was expecting her too but she did go on a bit at times. Louis was Louis! His reaction to Johnny's comeback to Gary was hilarious and he displayed his usual tact towards Craig ('I love that you've lost so much weight'). I think there could be some rows on the horizon too.
I think last night's rating was OK, nothing more, nothing less. ITV won't be celebrating about it but equally I doubt they'll be particularly concerned. It should break 12m tonight and peak with around 14m which would be pretty close to last year (13.1m and 14.7m peak). I wonder if it grew throughout or tailed off after a post-Strictly peak last night?
Pretty good for Strictly, down slightly on last year but not by much. Ross did a bit better after TXF but I still don't think he particularly warrants an XF lead in again. Poor start for Harry Hill though. He works best with a YBF lead in but the clever dicks at ITV put Family Fortunes on between them last night, which will have flopped. Still a disappointing rating though and they're probably nowhere near as disappointed about him quitting now as they would have been a year ago. They'd have been better off saving FF for a better slot in the future and just running YBF later before TV Burp last night. They could have put everything 30 mins later too (with Celebrity Chase at 6pm where it will be in a few weeks). Hopefully as XF gets shorter they'll prevent it from clashing with Strictly.
well feel free to watch TXF on ITV1+1 if that suits you better. You know ITV is here to help
As regards TV Burp we'll have to see how the repeat does tonight. Sometimes low Saturday figures mean a high Sunday repeat figure. But if he is retiring soon anyway, I can see ITV going out of their way to support him in the schedules.
It might very well have done. The final for the ep was 6.06m and I would be very surprised if the final for this one didn't out rate it. So perhaps XFactor is losing out to Merlin a little what with SCD providing a great lead in.
edit - iaindb beat me to it in asking.
X Factor is ITV's biggest program it needs to start at 8:00 so what if Jonathan Ross is up against Match of the day.
A lot of BBC1 comedies in the noughties were really very poor. Reggie Perrin anybody? The BBC really suffered after a golden era for comedy in the 1990's with 2point4 Children, Only Fools and Horses, Brittas Empire, One Foot in the Grave, May to December amongst others.
Just to remind people, especially Samthefootball, that when the first 2 comedies in the David Croft tribute were being shown, BBC2 Scotland was showing Scotland's World Cup qualifying match. When Dad's Army was on Scotland was showing the 10 minute David Croft profile and the first half of Allo Allo.
The stand-out figure for me last night was Foyle's War. Probably paid as much as part in Casualty's dented figure as X Factor did.
While that Foyles War rating was good i still think BBC 2 Had a fantastic night of rating. It was the standout channel of the night i know my grandad enjoyed the programs.
Excellent ratings to be in the mid 2 million range against TXF. I really think BBC2 should do themed Comedy Nights, so an 80's Comedy Night or a 90's Comedy Night, on Saturdays.
It might have suffered from all the opportunities to view: the Sunday ITV1 repeat as already mentioned, plus FOUR showings on ITV2 over the coming week.
I'd forgotten how much I hated this thread on weekends in autumn. Anyone know where the Ratings Thread Tin Hat got to...?
Anyway, my 2 pennies to be lost in the crossfire...
I think ITV will be slightly underwhelmed by TXF launch. On first impressions, I thought the figure looked great - but on past comparisons it was perhaps less so. I had no idea just how well the 2009 launch did with a 75 minute clash! No matter, it'll rebound significantly tonight - and frankly, it'd be mind-boggling if the show wasn't a little down from last year's ludicrous highs!
Strictly itself seemed pretty strong, though it too might struggle to re-create last year where it pretty much hit the contestant jackpot with Flying Widdy. The show is much more professionally made now, though, compared to just a few years ago (the aforementioned 2009) when it looked like it was really creaking a bit.
In other news, Merlin looks like a good performance. Not sure about last year's equivalent overnight, but it'll surely be ahead of the equivalent 6.06m official. The series does tend to grow as the Strictly lead in inflates too. It's really one of the most under appreciated ratings hits on TV at the moment, I think. Great numbers.
Not so brilliant for Harry Hill - though the Sunday caveat is alway worth making. If the press reports about him bringing things to a close this series are true, then I think thats a very wise decision from a man who knows his own show. It's been great, but everything has it's time.
Telling, isn't it. We tend to blast commissioners when we don't really consider what sort of scripts they're getting in the inbox. At least Cohen has some ambition, but I can't say I'm filled with hope on the other "national treasure comedy project" - as the Royal Bodyguard just smells like a dud.
It was only last night watching bits of the David Croft tribute on BBC2, that you realise we don't make them like that any more. Proper, serial, mainstream sitcom writers and producers. Who churn out 3, 4 or 5 great comedies in a career. And aren't ashamed to be populist. Roy Clarke is a similar example. Doesn't seem to happen any more, where niche is king.
A decent rating for Strictly, down just 350k from the same episode last year despite there being an X-Factor clash this year and despite last year being Strictly's highest ever series. Merlin continues to do well in what is an incredibly competitive slot against the X-Factor, the BBC have got a real gem there. Casualty did OK with a half clash against X-Factor, I think 9:40pm is the latest it has ever started as well. Certainly for the best though as Casualty would have been a good few hundred thousand lower in a full on clash with X-Factor.
A good night for BBC2 but their night will have been boosted since BBC2 Scotland were airing Euro football Liechtenstein v Scotland, which would have peaked just after 8pm. The actual match playing time ran 6:30pm-8:20pm with Scotland winning 1-0.
Early morning Rugby did alright, I'm not too clued up on Rugby ratings but 6 million peak seems good for the time of day - looks like it ends here though with England going out. On to the X-Factor and without seeing what the clash did, it's difficult to assess; we know that Strictly beat it so that would put the 7:30-8pm period below 8.68m. That suggests the 8pm-10pm period averaged around 10.9m-11.3m, which seems decent enough. Taking the average as a whole though it is down significantly compared to the same stage last year and the year before last.
However they did keep the most talked about celebs till the end so it could have kept the viewers.
K
Why do you think it will rate lower then 2009. Looking back at the 2009 ratings show 2 and show 4 got 10.8 and 10.3m. I Think this year will easily beat that. I have a feeling it will be inbetween as RZT said
You can normally tell from the 5-minute breakdowns which are posted on here from time to time how much it is dragged down (normally 1m down for each ad-break).
Next week also clashes with Strictly though. We shall see.