Robin Hood had an average 5.83 for series 2, only slightly down on the 6.19 for series 1, yet managed to plummet to a final episode audience of 2.43 million in just one series. People get bored of these things very quickly; Doctor Who survives because they can change the premise and plot every episode and change the entire cast and creative team every few years, if they want.
Robin Hood NEVER had the fanbase that Merlin does. It's an extremely popular show.
Tricky one this. As has been mentioned, moving it to the autumn will misplace Merlin, but as it would probably be followed by SCD, it would also mean a likely clash with The X-Factor if ITV decided to turn it into a full blown ratings battle. It'd also mean shifting the SJA as it's been on during the autumn months I believe. Can't see the BBC wanting those two running at the same time.
Putting it at the beginning of the year would be okay but then you wouldn't have the Xmas special to split the time between series.
I think it's probably okay where it is, it just needs a more regular timeslot. Merlin does get shifted from time to time but it does have a more regular time slot as it has SCD straight after it. Maybe the BBC should try putting something decent after Doctor Who to draw the audience in like The Generation Game did in the 70's rather than the drivel we have at the moment.
Robin Hood NEVER had the fanbase that Merlin does. It's an extremely popular show.
RH was poorly executed imo and although it was beautifully shot and my favourite series was the last one, I reckon the Beeb were embarrassed about it in the end.
Pity as it was a once in a generation chance gone begging.
As for Merlin, it does as well as anyone could expect against XF though I think it pulls a generally older audience than people might expect. The Jan-Mar period is fairly vacant though i guess that might not necessarily be the case if the show was moved.
I agree about the show starting Jan and at 7 to 7:30 on a Saturday. I normally watch with my family, but because of the weather and other summer activities we have only managed to watch it together twice this season. Not many families time shift a show and watch together, so that may be a reason why overnights are down. i would guess that individuals time shift or watch iplayer to catch up but few families do this. Also, when Merlin was on we watched nearly every episode. Still haven't been able to watch the finale because it was on at that time.
Robin Hood had an average 5.83 for series 2, only slightly down on the 6.19 for series 1, yet managed to plummet to a final episode audience of 2.43 million in just one series. People get bored of these things very quickly; Doctor Who survives because they can change the premise and plot every episode and change the entire cast and creative team every few years, if they want.
Except of course Robin Hood was moved from its normal Autumn spot into the Doctor Who spot, as it was on its gap year. Its final episode was moved over to BBC2 because of the tennis.
Doctor Who's held up very well this year. It would have held up better if all episodes had been scheduled nearer to 7pm though.
Comments
Robin Hood NEVER had the fanbase that Merlin does. It's an extremely popular show.
Putting it at the beginning of the year would be okay but then you wouldn't have the Xmas special to split the time between series.
I think it's probably okay where it is, it just needs a more regular timeslot. Merlin does get shifted from time to time but it does have a more regular time slot as it has SCD straight after it. Maybe the BBC should try putting something decent after Doctor Who to draw the audience in like The Generation Game did in the 70's rather than the drivel we have at the moment.
RH was poorly executed imo and although it was beautifully shot and my favourite series was the last one, I reckon the Beeb were embarrassed about it in the end.
Pity as it was a once in a generation chance gone begging.
As for Merlin, it does as well as anyone could expect against XF though I think it pulls a generally older audience than people might expect. The Jan-Mar period is fairly vacant though i guess that might not necessarily be the case if the show was moved.
Except of course Robin Hood was moved from its normal Autumn spot into the Doctor Who spot, as it was on its gap year. Its final episode was moved over to BBC2 because of the tennis.
Doctor Who's held up very well this year. It would have held up better if all episodes had been scheduled nearer to 7pm though.