I remember the days not so long ago,
Where this thread was simply the best!
Posters would comment and words would flow
They were filled with so much zest!
The enthusiasm, the joy, the tears
They would passionately say how they felt,
But sadly over the last couple of years,
The final hand of cards has been dealt.
It is all about which one is better
Which soap rules the roost.
It is incited as an insult by the tone of the letter
If a rival gets a ratings boost!
All the old posters have disappeared,
This thread is a Ghost town now.
It's like it came true for the old hands that feared
The death of the thread somehow.
What happened to the joyous posts?
Where ratings would top the bill?
The echoes of the old posters ghosts
Are buzzing around us still.
For they want to make this thread great again,
They want its health restored!
It will surely be only a matter of "when"
Until then, I'm off 'cos I'm bored!
I remember the days not so long ago,
Where this thread was simply the best!
Posters would comment and words would flow
They were filled with so much zest!
The enthusiasm, the joy, the tears
They would passionately say how they felt,
But sadly over the last couple of years,
The final hand of cards has been dealt.
It is all about which one is better
Which soap rules the roost.
It is incited as an insult by the tone of the letter
If a rival gets a ratings boost!
All the old posters have disappeared,
This thread is a Ghost town now.
It's like it came true for the old hands that feared
The death of the thread somehow.
What happened to the joyous posts?
Where ratings would top the bill?
The echoes of the old posters ghosts
Are buzzing around us still.
For they want to make this thread great again,
They want its health restored!
It will surely be only a matter of "when"
Until then, I'm off 'cos I'm bored!
Very clever indeed!
I think though part of the reason is the set of ratings provided by NeilVW. Bland, hardly inspiring. Very mid summer in a period where we haven't a major football championship to drive conversation. Ratings in general get smaller and its far less exciting talking about small ratings than bigger ones imo. Though the people who like particular soaps against other ones may disagree Having grew up in a world where 10 million was a possible failure I sometimes find it difficult to believe that 3 to 4 million primetime is now considered perfectly acceptable and that so many primetime shows fall below 2 million.
There have been times when this thread has been pure theatre-probably most vibrant and emotional (and a troll attraction) during those few years when X Factor was posting those huge 12 to 14 million figures-but that wasn't necessarily to everyones taste.
I must admit though its about as dead as it ever has been at the moment.
Will John Whittingdale put the final nail in the coffin of the Ratings Thread, with reports that BBC popular programmes such as Strictly, The Voice, Bake Off will come under scrutiny as not being PSB?
There is a part of me that finds all of this rather laughable. The thread was just as nasty and petty when the likes of Samuel were here pushing their constant agendas. The difference is there were more posters around then to balance out the discussion onto other subjects and more ratings were provided. Also it's somehow more acceptable if you're part of the thread clique. Ultimately it's the regular members leaving who have "killed" the thread. The "nonsense" posts are no longer drowned out. The idea that they weren't there before is simply not the truth.
Lottery: 3.57m (21.3%)
Casualty: 3.88m (22.2%)
The John Bishop Show: 2.72m (16.9%)
Oh wow, look at Casualtys rating. Well done to them, great rating, and look at Lottery, simply amazing! and not forgetting the John Bishop Show, no one can moan at that rating.
Will John Whittingdale put the final nail in the coffin of the Ratings Thread, with reports that BBC popular programmes such as Strictly, The Voice, Bake Off will come under scrutiny as not being PSB?
I read The Sunday Times article and two things stick out with it. The first being that only last week George Osborne said that he wanted the BBC to stick with Strictly and other similar shows.
Mr Osborne was asked if he wanted to see the BBC focus on producing programming not touched by other broadcasters and move away from mass appeal shows such as Strictly Come Dancing.
He said: "I would absolutely want the BBC to go on making fantastic programmes like Strictly.
"You want the BBC to be producing popular programmes people want to watch. If you decide the BBC is only going to do niche things then it loses its argument."
The second of course is that it's a Murdoch paper and they love to stick the boot in as much as possible.
Will John Whittingdale put the final nail in the coffin of the Ratings Thread, with reports that BBC popular programmes such as Strictly, The Voice, Bake Off will come under scrutiny as not being PSB?
The Voice was purchased in and was very expensive, so perhaps there is a point to Whittingdale singling that out. But, Strictly and Bake Off are British creations and are popular across the world in each country's relevant version - which is exactly what the BBC should be doing - promoting British creativity.
I would have no issue with Charter Renewal forbidding the BBC from buying in expensive formats such as The Voice but if British Creativity is undermined - which the BBC should be doing, and when it gets it right it gets it VERY right - then that will have long standing effects on British broadcasting in general.
I do however, believe Strictly and Bake Off are going nowhere. The BBC does still need to fill up its channels with programming and the fine line will inevitably be just how do they continue with populist shows whilst providing an increase of PSB programming to sit alongside it?
Would you like this for a Saturday Night Schedule?
5.20pm Britains Most Corrupt Councils: A Panorama Special
6.00 Strictly Come Dancing
7.30 The History of the Magna Carter: A 26 part study.
8.00 Doctor Who
8.45 We Love The Government! A 10 part game show where contestants answer questions about Government Policy and the winning team gets to meet Boris Johnson's hairdresser.
9.15 A Government Broadcast: A weekly 5 minute broadcast for the Government, inwhich they tell us how brilliant they are.
9.20 Casualty
10.10 BBC News
10.30 Match of the Day
11.45 Film: (Anything that isn't overly popular).
No olympics, Murray out of Wimbledon( which means I won't be paying much attention, being a casual fan), no international fitba tournaments of any note, the ratings this summer are bound to be stale as old ale. It only seems to be a sense of schadenfreude at shows like BB, which is on its last legs, and the soaps failure in the ratings that keep some people going. I reckon until TXF, it's going to be posts on the lines of BB down 50,000 last night, EE and Emmerdale below 5 million again.
There is a part of me that finds all of this rather laughable. The thread was just as nasty and petty when the likes of Samuel were here pushing their constant agendas. The difference is there were more posters around then to balance out the discussion onto other subjects and more ratings were provided. Also it's somehow more acceptable if you're part of the thread clique. Ultimately it's the regular members leaving who have "killed" the thread. The "nonsense" posts are no longer drowned out. The idea that they weren't there before is simply not the truth.
I do agree with a lot of that. Certainly when Samuel was flooding the thread every day and being shouted down by various posters it was a lot worse than now IMO.
While some regular members have left and some have flounced off the truth is we get new posters and the thread just changes and carries on so I dont believe its been 'killed' either.
The reason its quieter is I think twofold, firstly the ratings are not as available as they are expensive and their access has been tightened up and because viewing habits are changing in a major way the general level of ratings has dropped which leaves less to discuss especially in the quiet summer months.
As for regular members I have been here a long time and there are many others who have been here longer than me so we have not exactly lost all the regulars anyway.
The reason its quieter is I think twofold, firstly the ratings are not as available as they are expensive and their access has been tightened up and because viewing habits are changing in a major way the general level of ratings has dropped which leaves less to discuss especially in the quiet summer months.
Yeah I agree with all that. The ratings lately have been pretty uninspiring, with many shows pulling in very average ratings or ratings that we expect - there haven't been any big surprises.
I'm looking forward to the return of Bake Off though and how that will rate this year. Will it grow again? Equally I await the X Factor figures with interest.. Will the big changes cause an uplift.
More generally, I want to see how the soaps do in the autumn especially in the aftermath of Emmerdale's big stunt, and if Hollyoaks in particular manages to gain any lost ground.
I'm looking forward to Cuffs on BBC One as well - it's a pre watershed drama, and i think it'll be interesting to see whether there is still an appetite for a continuing drama, in the vein of Holby and Casualty, or if that genre is dying out and a new continuing drama struggles to catch on.
As the final of Wimbledon is about to start here's how previous Wimbledon finals have rated since 2007 in the overnights. I forgot about the huge peak figure the 2008 final achieved. Think today's final will rate around the same as last year.
06 July 2014 - 5.89m (38.6%) - peak of 10.03m (55.4%)
* Roger Federer v Novak Djokovic (Djokovic won)
07 July 2013 - 12.09m (72.8%) - peak of 17.29m (79.6%)
* Andy Murray v Novak Djokovic (Murray won)
08 July 2012 - 11.44m (58.2%) - peak of 16.92m (67.9%)
* Andy Murray v Roger Federer (Federer won)
03 July 2011 - 5.63m (45.4%) - peak of 8.71m (58.8%)
* Rafael Nadal v Novak Djokovic (Djokovic won)
04 July 2010 - 4.35m (31.2%) - peak of 6.87m (44.2%)
* Rafael Nadal v Tomáš Berdych (Nadal won)
05 July 2009 - 7.10m (49.0%) - peak of 11.10m (55.9%)
* Roger Federer v Andy Roddick (Federer won)
06 July 2008 - 7.40m (38.8%) - peak of 13.30m (47.1%)
* Rafael Nadal v Roger Federer (Nadal won)
08 July 2007 - 4.60m (35.0%) - peak of 7.30m (46.0%)
* Roger Federer v Rafael Nadal (Federer won)
09 July 2006 - 5.30m (40.0%) - peak of 7.10m (44.1%)
* Roger Federer v Rafael Nadal (Federer won)
As the final of Wimbledon is about to start here's how previous Wimbledon finals have rated since 2007 in the overnights. I forgot about the huge peak figure the 2008 final achieved. Think today's final will rate around the same as last year.
06 July 2014 - 5.89m (38.6%) - peak of 10.03m (55.4%)
* Roger Federer v Novak Djokovic (Djokovic won)
07 July 2013 - 12.09m (72.8%) - peak of 17.29m (79.6%)
* Andy Murray v Novak Djokovic (Murray won)
08 July 2012 - 11.44m (58.2%) - peak of 16.92m (67.9%)
* Andy Murray v Roger Federer (Federer won)
03 July 2011 - 5.63m (45.4%) - peak of 8.71m (58.8%)
* Rafael Nadal v Novak Djokovic (Djokovic won)
04 July 2010 - 4.35m (31.2%) - peak of 6.87m (44.2%)
* Rafael Nadal v Tomáš Berdych (Nadal won)
05 July 2009 - 7.10m (49.0%) - peak of 11.10m (55.9%)
* Roger Federer v Andy Roddick (Federer won)
06 July 2008 - 7.40m (38.8%) - peak of 13.30m (47.1%)
* Rafael Nadal v Roger Federer (Nadal won)
08 July 2007 - 4.60m (35.0%) - peak of 7.30m (46.0%)
* Roger Federer v Rafael Nadal (Federer won)
09 July 2006 - 5.30m (40.0%) - peak of 7.10m (44.1%)
* Roger Federer v Rafael Nadal (Federer won)
Thankyou, I think with a re run of last year's final, ratings will be similar. Also uninspiring weather could bump it up by a million, although when Murray won two years ago it was 25-28 across most of the country.
Thankyou, I think with a re run of last year's final, ratings will be similar. Also uninspiring weather could bump it up by a million, although when Murray won two years ago it was 25-28 across most of the country.
The actual match and coverage have been split though so the figure is likely to be a bit higher for the match.
As the final of Wimbledon is about to start here's how previous Wimbledon finals have rated since 2007 in the overnights. I forgot about the huge peak figure the 2008 final achieved. Think today's final will rate around the same as last year.
Yes, 2008 was a real epic. Rain delayed, between the two titans of the game at their very best. As I recall, Nadal won the 5th just as darkness was setting in.
In a way, the roof removed the possibility of these games ever invading prime time now - but as seen last year, there's still the chance for great figures. It hasn't been a vintage Wimbledon in ratings terms, thanks to the way things have played out on court. But hopefully a five setter would cheer up some of the ratings miseries on this thread today!
As an overall network, Channel 5 (+3.5%) is the only broadcaster up year-on-year for H1. Even if we didn't include newly launched channel Spike in their averages, they would've been slightly up y-o-y, so it's a very good performance from them for the first six months of this year. The other broadcasters are down: Channel 4 (-1.3%), BBC (-2.6%), ITV (-4.2%). It's a second year in a row that ITV has been down the most for H1, having slipped -5% this time last year from 2013.
In terms of terrestrial channels, BBC1 (+1.1%) and C5 (+0.9%) both grew their shares. It was BBC1's best first six months of a year since 2007 (22.2%). C4 was flat vs. 2014, while ITV1 (-6.6%) and BBC2 (-9.2%) both dropped y-o-y.
Here is how the channels compare between H1 2005 and H1 2015:
So over the last decade, BBC1 (-6%) has by far held up the best out of the terrestrial channels. The other main channels have fallen: ITV1 (-31%), C5 (-34%), BBC2 (-40%), C4 (-41%). However, even though C4 main channel lost the biggest share of viewing out of those channels, due to how well their digital channels have grown, Channel 4 as an overall network has dropped the smallest amount of share (-2%) in those ten years. Channel 5 Network has dropped -8%, BBC Network fallen -10%, ITV Network has slipped -15%.
The C4 main channel made up 53% of C4's overall network share in H1 2015 compared to 98% in 2005. ITV1 main channel made up 70% of ITV's network share in 2015 compared to 86% in 2005. C5 main channel made up 72% of C5's network share in 2015 compared to 100% in 2005. Interestingly, BBC1 made up 67% of BBC's overall network share in 2015, which is more than the 64% it made up in 2005. It's the only channel to have increased its proportion of the overall network share since 2005. So whereas the commercial networks have kind of focussed more on growing share of their digital channels, which has been partly at the expense of their main channels, the BBC's strategy has been more about keeping BBC1's share as stable as possible but at the expense of BBC2 and there's been slow share growth of their digital channels (BBC digital channels up 1.5share points since 2005 vs. 3.7pts for C4, 3.0pts for ITV, 1.7pts for C5). With the upcoming close-down of BBC3, some of that money which will be reinvested into BBC1, I wouldn't be surprised if BBC1's share proportion of BBC Network overall increases to over 70% in 2016/17.
I'm not surprised BBC Two has suffered such a big drop in the last ten years. The more intellectual offerings have been moved to BBC Four and youth programming moved to BBC Three( although I wonder if this will move back to Two when Three closes). Also the end of Sunday Grandstand in 2008 and a reduction in sport on the BBC in the last 10 years must have impacted on BBC Two. It seems to me the channel is stuck in some kind of no man's land at the moment, although some of what they show such as the weekday afternoon comedy repeats, antiques shows, Coast and some of their documentaries are still good.
the big story for me there is definitely the decline of ITV as a network.
Before Crozier came along, these figures would have sparked countless ITV in Crisis stories. But because they seem to have given up as a broadcaster and are now focussed on making short term profits, no one seems to bat an eyelid...
I'm not surprised BBC Two has suffered such a big drop in the last ten years. The more intellectual offerings have been moved to BBC Four and youth programming moved to BBC Three( although I wonder if this will move back to Two when Three closes). .
Well quite. Already, BBC Two seems to be regaining some of its original identity, albeit one with a broader appeal than just the Gardeners World brigade.
I hate myself for saying it, but maybe BBC3 and BBC4's closing wouldn't be so awful, if it means BBC Two returns to its role as the network for "underserved" audiences (the young and the intelligent)
Predictions for Family Guy tonight then? Not a special episode, just a regular half hour, but it's got a better time slot.
Just to remind everyone, the crossover special got 1.06m (5.4%) and I think this regular episode will get more in the better slot. I'll go for 1.20m tonight.
Did anyone see the ratings question on Who Dares Wins tonight? It asked contestants to name 15 of the 106 TV programmes to rate 5m or over in 2014, to win £50K.
Nick Knowles face when nobody thought to mention Who Dares Wins as a show rating over 5 million was amusing....though he would be less smug if last nights figures were the deciding factor.
I imagine the top 106 programmes year on year are going to keep adjusting to a lower and lower ceiling as 4 million is probably the new 5 million already or will be quite soon.
Of course, once the ratings industry fully adjusts to the major changes in viewing habits and increasingly diverse ways of watching then the actual live figure will matter far less in terms of overall success of a programme.
Though more so when advertising budgets are involved.
This thread also has to just adjust its expectations over lower ratings as what matters more than the raw figures dropping for pretty much everything in an ongoing spiral is the comparative battles between shows within genres and between similar shows on different channels.
Maybe the way forward is to pay more attention to the share as that really tells the story more than actual live millions do in these days when totals are falling.
Though shares will also drop if there are more and more channels to watch and increasing ways to watch those things during any time period.
Eventually the actual millions that a show gets will be regarded as an old fashioned measure as this will keep dropping but the relative levels of show v show is where the real battles always were and will remain. More focus on that will distract from the seeming disappointment of gradually diminishing live viewing figures.
Well quite. Already, BBC Two seems to be regaining some of its original identity, albeit one with a broader appeal than just the Gardeners World brigade.
I hate myself for saying it, but maybe BBC3 and BBC4's closing wouldn't be so awful, if it means BBC Two returns to its role as the network for "underserved" audiences (the young and the intelligent)
BBC Two can still make excellent programmes, it's just in recent years it's lost its focus and audiences have drifted to BBC Three and Four. Also do they need Eggheads on constantly and repeats thereof from the noughties? I'm sure this show would do better in an afternoon slot and when BBC Three closes, create a younger slew of shows in the 5.30-7.00 slots.
Think about it, Neighbours and Home and Away barely figure among young audiences now, a lot of younger viewers don't watch news, The Chase and Pointless skew older, and Channel 4's offerings in this slot, though youthful, are declining. I'm sure a million younger viewers could be BBC Two's for the taking if they take the place of BBC Three.
the big story for me there is definitely the decline of ITV as a network.
Before Crozier came along, these figures would have sparked countless ITV in Crisis stories. But because they seem to have given up as a broadcaster and are now focussed on making short term profits, no one seems to bat an eyelid...
The real rot set in when the regions were merged. ITV lost its local identity, which had been such a big success since 1955, and people like Michael Green decided to junk whole genres of programmes in favour of more soaps, crummy reality shows with celebs involved, the infamous premium rate game shows late at night, as they were cheap. Around 2006 ITV hit a new low by repeating Paul O Grady shows to annoy Channel 4, who had signed him, Love Island stank out an entire summer and the premium rate competition scandal was breaking, while ratings slumped. As a result millions of viewers jumped ship and never came back.
Comments
Where this thread was simply the best!
Posters would comment and words would flow
They were filled with so much zest!
The enthusiasm, the joy, the tears
They would passionately say how they felt,
But sadly over the last couple of years,
The final hand of cards has been dealt.
It is all about which one is better
Which soap rules the roost.
It is incited as an insult by the tone of the letter
If a rival gets a ratings boost!
All the old posters have disappeared,
This thread is a Ghost town now.
It's like it came true for the old hands that feared
The death of the thread somehow.
What happened to the joyous posts?
Where ratings would top the bill?
The echoes of the old posters ghosts
Are buzzing around us still.
For they want to make this thread great again,
They want its health restored!
It will surely be only a matter of "when"
Until then, I'm off 'cos I'm bored!
Very clever indeed!
I think though part of the reason is the set of ratings provided by NeilVW. Bland, hardly inspiring. Very mid summer in a period where we haven't a major football championship to drive conversation. Ratings in general get smaller and its far less exciting talking about small ratings than bigger ones imo. Though the people who like particular soaps against other ones may disagree
There have been times when this thread has been pure theatre-probably most vibrant and emotional (and a troll attraction) during those few years when X Factor was posting those huge 12 to 14 million figures-but that wasn't necessarily to everyones taste.
I must admit though its about as dead as it ever has been at the moment.
Oh wow, look at Casualtys rating. Well done to them, great rating, and look at Lottery, simply amazing! and not forgetting the John Bishop Show, no one can moan at that rating.
Great night all round.
I read The Sunday Times article and two things stick out with it. The first being that only last week George Osborne said that he wanted the BBC to stick with Strictly and other similar shows.
Mr Osborne was asked if he wanted to see the BBC focus on producing programming not touched by other broadcasters and move away from mass appeal shows such as Strictly Come Dancing.
He said: "I would absolutely want the BBC to go on making fantastic programmes like Strictly.
"You want the BBC to be producing popular programmes people want to watch. If you decide the BBC is only going to do niche things then it loses its argument."
The second of course is that it's a Murdoch paper and they love to stick the boot in as much as possible.
Or - politicians lie
The Voice was purchased in and was very expensive, so perhaps there is a point to Whittingdale singling that out. But, Strictly and Bake Off are British creations and are popular across the world in each country's relevant version - which is exactly what the BBC should be doing - promoting British creativity.
I would have no issue with Charter Renewal forbidding the BBC from buying in expensive formats such as The Voice but if British Creativity is undermined - which the BBC should be doing, and when it gets it right it gets it VERY right - then that will have long standing effects on British broadcasting in general.
I do however, believe Strictly and Bake Off are going nowhere. The BBC does still need to fill up its channels with programming and the fine line will inevitably be just how do they continue with populist shows whilst providing an increase of PSB programming to sit alongside it?
Would you like this for a Saturday Night Schedule?
5.20pm Britains Most Corrupt Councils: A Panorama Special
6.00 Strictly Come Dancing
7.30 The History of the Magna Carter: A 26 part study.
8.00 Doctor Who
8.45 We Love The Government! A 10 part game show where contestants answer questions about Government Policy and the winning team gets to meet Boris Johnson's hairdresser.
9.15 A Government Broadcast: A weekly 5 minute broadcast for the Government, inwhich they tell us how brilliant they are.
9.20 Casualty
10.10 BBC News
10.30 Match of the Day
11.45 Film: (Anything that isn't overly popular).
Thanks Neil. I'm assuming that the awesomely awful Prized Apart failed to rate more than 2.72m then?
I do agree with a lot of that. Certainly when Samuel was flooding the thread every day and being shouted down by various posters it was a lot worse than now IMO.
While some regular members have left and some have flounced off the truth is we get new posters and the thread just changes and carries on so I dont believe its been 'killed' either.
The reason its quieter is I think twofold, firstly the ratings are not as available as they are expensive and their access has been tightened up and because viewing habits are changing in a major way the general level of ratings has dropped which leaves less to discuss especially in the quiet summer months.
As for regular members I have been here a long time and there are many others who have been here longer than me so we have not exactly lost all the regulars anyway.
Yeah I agree with all that. The ratings lately have been pretty uninspiring, with many shows pulling in very average ratings or ratings that we expect - there haven't been any big surprises.
I'm looking forward to the return of Bake Off though and how that will rate this year. Will it grow again? Equally I await the X Factor figures with interest.. Will the big changes cause an uplift.
More generally, I want to see how the soaps do in the autumn especially in the aftermath of Emmerdale's big stunt, and if Hollyoaks in particular manages to gain any lost ground.
I'm looking forward to Cuffs on BBC One as well - it's a pre watershed drama, and i think it'll be interesting to see whether there is still an appetite for a continuing drama, in the vein of Holby and Casualty, or if that genre is dying out and a new continuing drama struggles to catch on.
06 July 2014 - 5.89m (38.6%) - peak of 10.03m (55.4%)
* Roger Federer v Novak Djokovic (Djokovic won)
07 July 2013 - 12.09m (72.8%) - peak of 17.29m (79.6%)
* Andy Murray v Novak Djokovic (Murray won)
08 July 2012 - 11.44m (58.2%) - peak of 16.92m (67.9%)
* Andy Murray v Roger Federer (Federer won)
03 July 2011 - 5.63m (45.4%) - peak of 8.71m (58.8%)
* Rafael Nadal v Novak Djokovic (Djokovic won)
04 July 2010 - 4.35m (31.2%) - peak of 6.87m (44.2%)
* Rafael Nadal v Tomáš Berdych (Nadal won)
05 July 2009 - 7.10m (49.0%) - peak of 11.10m (55.9%)
* Roger Federer v Andy Roddick (Federer won)
06 July 2008 - 7.40m (38.8%) - peak of 13.30m (47.1%)
* Rafael Nadal v Roger Federer (Nadal won)
08 July 2007 - 4.60m (35.0%) - peak of 7.30m (46.0%)
* Roger Federer v Rafael Nadal (Federer won)
09 July 2006 - 5.30m (40.0%) - peak of 7.10m (44.1%)
* Roger Federer v Rafael Nadal (Federer won)
The actual match and coverage have been split though so the figure is likely to be a bit higher for the match.
Yes, 2008 was a real epic. Rain delayed, between the two titans of the game at their very best. As I recall, Nadal won the 5th just as darkness was setting in.
In a way, the roof removed the possibility of these games ever invading prime time now - but as seen last year, there's still the chance for great figures. It hasn't been a vintage Wimbledon in ratings terms, thanks to the way things have played out on court. But hopefully a five setter would cheer up some of the ratings miseries on this thread today!
BBC
BBC1: 22.1% (Jan-June 2014: 21.9%), BBC2: 5.7% (6.3%), BBC3: 1.2% (1.4%), BBC4: 0.9% (1.0%), BBC News: 1.1% (1.1%), BBC RB: 0.1% (0.3%), CBBC: 0.4% (0.6%), CBeebies: 1.4% (1.3%)
--> Total: 32.8% (H1 2014: 33.7%)
ITV
ITV(1): 14.8% (15.8%), ITV2: 2.2% (2.4%), ITV3: 2.3% (2.4%), ITV4: 1.0% (1.2%), CITV: 0.3% (0.3%), ITVBe: 0.5% (n/a), ITV Encore: 0.1% (0%)
--> Total: 21.2% (H1 2014: 22.1%)
Channel 4
C4: 5.7% (5.7%), E4: 1.9% (2.0%), Film4: 1.4% (1.5%), More4: 1.2% (1.2%), 4Music: 0.3% (0.3%), 4Seven: 0.3% (0.3%)
--> Total: 10.8% (H1 2014: 10.9%)
Channel 5
C5: 4.3% (4.2%), 5*: 0.5% (0.5%), 5USA: 1.0% (0.9%), C5+24: 0.1% (0.1%), Spike: 0.1% (n/a)
--> Total: 6.0% (H1 2014: 5.8%)
As an overall network, Channel 5 (+3.5%) is the only broadcaster up year-on-year for H1. Even if we didn't include newly launched channel Spike in their averages, they would've been slightly up y-o-y, so it's a very good performance from them for the first six months of this year. The other broadcasters are down: Channel 4 (-1.3%), BBC (-2.6%), ITV (-4.2%). It's a second year in a row that ITV has been down the most for H1, having slipped -5% this time last year from 2013.
In terms of terrestrial channels, BBC1 (+1.1%) and C5 (+0.9%) both grew their shares. It was BBC1's best first six months of a year since 2007 (22.2%). C4 was flat vs. 2014, while ITV1 (-6.6%) and BBC2 (-9.2%) both dropped y-o-y.
Here is how the channels compare between H1 2005 and H1 2015:
BBC1: 22.1% (H1 2005: 23.5%)... BBC2: 5.7% (9.5%)... BBC Overall: 32.8% (36.5%)
ITV1: 14.8% (21.5%)... ITV Overall: 21.2% (24.9%)
C4: 5.7% (9.6%)... C4 Overall: 10.8% (11.0%)
C5: 4.3% (6.5%)... C5 Overall: 6.0% (6.5%)
So over the last decade, BBC1 (-6%) has by far held up the best out of the terrestrial channels. The other main channels have fallen: ITV1 (-31%), C5 (-34%), BBC2 (-40%), C4 (-41%). However, even though C4 main channel lost the biggest share of viewing out of those channels, due to how well their digital channels have grown, Channel 4 as an overall network has dropped the smallest amount of share (-2%) in those ten years. Channel 5 Network has dropped -8%, BBC Network fallen -10%, ITV Network has slipped -15%.
The C4 main channel made up 53% of C4's overall network share in H1 2015 compared to 98% in 2005. ITV1 main channel made up 70% of ITV's network share in 2015 compared to 86% in 2005. C5 main channel made up 72% of C5's network share in 2015 compared to 100% in 2005. Interestingly, BBC1 made up 67% of BBC's overall network share in 2015, which is more than the 64% it made up in 2005. It's the only channel to have increased its proportion of the overall network share since 2005. So whereas the commercial networks have kind of focussed more on growing share of their digital channels, which has been partly at the expense of their main channels, the BBC's strategy has been more about keeping BBC1's share as stable as possible but at the expense of BBC2 and there's been slow share growth of their digital channels (BBC digital channels up 1.5share points since 2005 vs. 3.7pts for C4, 3.0pts for ITV, 1.7pts for C5). With the upcoming close-down of BBC3, some of that money which will be reinvested into BBC1, I wouldn't be surprised if BBC1's share proportion of BBC Network overall increases to over 70% in 2016/17.
Before Crozier came along, these figures would have sparked countless ITV in Crisis stories. But because they seem to have given up as a broadcaster and are now focussed on making short term profits, no one seems to bat an eyelid...
Well quite. Already, BBC Two seems to be regaining some of its original identity, albeit one with a broader appeal than just the Gardeners World brigade.
I hate myself for saying it, but maybe BBC3 and BBC4's closing wouldn't be so awful, if it means BBC Two returns to its role as the network for "underserved" audiences (the young and the intelligent)
Just to remind everyone, the crossover special got 1.06m (5.4%) and I think this regular episode will get more in the better slot. I'll go for 1.20m tonight.
Nick Knowles face when nobody thought to mention Who Dares Wins as a show rating over 5 million was amusing....though he would be less smug if last nights figures were the deciding factor.
I imagine the top 106 programmes year on year are going to keep adjusting to a lower and lower ceiling as 4 million is probably the new 5 million already or will be quite soon.
Of course, once the ratings industry fully adjusts to the major changes in viewing habits and increasingly diverse ways of watching then the actual live figure will matter far less in terms of overall success of a programme.
Though more so when advertising budgets are involved.
This thread also has to just adjust its expectations over lower ratings as what matters more than the raw figures dropping for pretty much everything in an ongoing spiral is the comparative battles between shows within genres and between similar shows on different channels.
Maybe the way forward is to pay more attention to the share as that really tells the story more than actual live millions do in these days when totals are falling.
Though shares will also drop if there are more and more channels to watch and increasing ways to watch those things during any time period.
Eventually the actual millions that a show gets will be regarded as an old fashioned measure as this will keep dropping but the relative levels of show v show is where the real battles always were and will remain. More focus on that will distract from the seeming disappointment of gradually diminishing live viewing figures.
Think about it, Neighbours and Home and Away barely figure among young audiences now, a lot of younger viewers don't watch news, The Chase and Pointless skew older, and Channel 4's offerings in this slot, though youthful, are declining. I'm sure a million younger viewers could be BBC Two's for the taking if they take the place of BBC Three.