What about the 400-500k EE gets per episode on iPlayer? I doubt Corrie gets anywhere near that amount on ITV Player, although unfortunately I don't have the actual figures for comparison.
I think people underestimate how well Corrie actually repeats across the week on ITV1, ITV2 and ITV2+1. Take last week's Monday episodes for EE and Corrie for example:
- the BBC3 + BBC1 repeat total for EE was: 2.1m.
- the ITV1, ITV2, ITV2+1 repeat total for Corrie was: 1.6m.
So it was a difference of half a million. I suspect the gap between the two repeat totals is about that much every week. As I posted earlier, Corrie's first run average is about 300k better than EastEnders'. Once all the totals are added together, EastEnders would edge it by 200k but because we don't know if those repeat viewers are all 'new' viewers or not, you can't say 100% for definite that EE's weekly reach is bigger than Corrie's. It might well be ahead, but it wouldn't be by much and it's certainly close between the two soaps in terms of both first-run averages and weekly total averages.
But if you are including repeats, then you need to consider both virgin on-demand and and the various netplayers. I would guess if these were included Eastenders would also see a bigger gain, due to its audience profile, and the greater use of I-player over ITVs Netplayer.
I feel most of BBC1's film premieres this Christmas have been further outside peak than they ought to be - Shrek The Third at 3.10 on Christmas Day, Wall-E at 3pm on New Year's Day.
I think the general consensus amongst the BBC, its commercial rivals and the government is that, to justify the continual licence fee, the BBC must rely less on films and imports (and sport) and give priority to its own homegrown programmes. Otherwise it ends up competing too hard with commercial channels in those areas (films, imports, sport) that commercial TV can supply.
I know. I understand the reasoning, but its still inconsistent. They've seemed relatively averse to movies in primetime throughout the Christmas period - but in the new year they'll be playing 25 year old Indiana Jones repeats on Wednesday primetime.
They had a few underwhelming primetime premieres last year (POTC: At Worlds End and Superman Returns) which might have something to do with it - but I have to say I was surprised that they didn't go for a movie on Boxing Day before EE. On the whole, the likes of Narnia have done well for them - and I'm sure Indiana Jones will do excellently tomorrow.
Happy New Year to everyone on the Ratings Thread. Here's to a great 2011.
I think people underestimate how well Corrie actually repeats across the week on ITV1, ITV2 and ITV2+1. Take last week's Monday episodes for EE and Corrie for example:
- the BBC3 + BBC1 repeat total for EE was: 2.1m.
- the ITV1, ITV2, ITV2+1 repeat total for Corrie was: 2.1m.
LOL unless you add up the same amount of repeat showings/methods for both then it's unfair. Corrie never seems to be off ITV2 so imo we can't use EVERY showing of it. The equivalent of EE's BBC3 showing would be the first ITV2 repeat which normally gets far less than 500k viewers. Xmas week is an abnormal week to be judging imo.
More spinning goes on in here than in the world of politics.
What about the 400-500k EE gets per episode on iPlayer? I doubt Corrie gets anywhere near that amount on ITV Player, although unfortunately I don't have the actual figures for comparison.
But if you are including repeats, then you need to consider both virgin on-demand and and the various netplayers. I would guess if these were included Eastenders would also see a bigger gain, due to its audience profile, and the greater use of I-player over ITVs Netplayer.
I've just updated my previous post. I spotted yet another omnibus for Corrie which I had to take into account which puts last week's repeat totals for EE and Corrie's Monday episodes both at 2.1m.
I completely agree that EE would rate better on iPlayer. The latest BBC iPlayer pack from the BBC indicates that EE gets about 350,000-450,000 on iPlayer. Corrie, I suspect, might get 100k on ITV Player.
So even taking that into account, both EE and Corrie would be rating extremely similar across their total weekly audience.
(WLB - Virgin on Demand is included in the officials, I believe).
LOL unless you add up the same amount of repeat showings/methods for both then it's unfair. Corrie never seems to be off ITV2 so imo we can't use EVERY showing of it. The equivalent of EE's BBC3 showing would be the first ITV2 repeat which normally gets less than 500k viewers. Xmas week is a bit of an abnormal week to be judging imo.
More spinning goes on in here than in the world of politics.
I'm not trying to spin anything. I agree that by ITV2 showing many more repeats, the Corrie repeats are bound to accumulate a greater no. of viewers than if there was just 1 repeat. But Robbie was saying as if it was a definite 100% fact that EastEnders' total is significantly more than Corrie's to say for definite it's No. 1, when really that's not the case. They're both quite close to each other once everything's taken into account.
I'm not trying to spin anything. I agree that by ITV2 showing many more repeats, the Corrie repeats are bound to accumulate a greater no. of viewers than if there was just 1 repeat. But Robbie was saying as if it was a definite 100% fact that EastEnders' total is significantly more than Corrie's to say for definite it's No. 1, when really that's not the case. They're both quite close to each other once everything's taken into account.
Isn't it fair to say that Corrie's repeats have rated better for last week with it being xmas? Normally the ITV2 showings are quite low. While EE's BBC3 repeats are nearly always close to a million at the least which is a huge gap. I think if you were to add up the totals for an average week and not xmas week then you would probably get different results to the ones above.
The thing that annoys me is on the nights the BBC3 repeat of Eastenders get 1.5m, which has done on a number of occasions now, yet these viewers are totally ignored for these "year end soap averages".
First viewing averages for soaps are far too distorted to paint anywhere near a clear picture nowadays.
Yes we must remember that each episode of Coronation Street is shown 12 times including ITV2+1. This will rise to a staggering 14 when ITV1+1 launches next month.
In comparison, each episode of EastEnders is broadcast a mere three times.
So I agree it's not really fair to compare 12 v 3 like that. I would just take the ones they have in common, so the first showing + first digital repeat + terrestrial omnibus.
So I got a bit bored today so I was coming up with my 'ratings awards' for the year just gone...
Hit of the year: The Inbetweeners. Phenomenal numbers, 300% up on its previous series. A game-changer for multi-channel shows, I think. Flop of the year: The Prisoner. Just makes me wince every time I think of it shedding 10m+ viewers in about 10 minutes after BGT. New hit of the year: A toss-up between Sherlock and Downton Abbey. Perhaps the latter given the boost it seems to have offered an entire network. Jaw-dropping rating of the year: Got to be the EE Live (and the Aftermath on BBC Three). I didn’t think those sorts of numbers were possible for scripted programming anymore. Mystifying rating of the year: For me, its I’m a Celebrity. It’s not my cup of tea and I don’t get it, but its showing absolutely remarkable strength in its old age. “So glad that flopped” of the year: Jedward on ITV2. The last thing that channel needs is some more D-List fly-on-the-wall rubbish. “Such a shame that flopped” of the year: Probably Don’t Stop Believing. Not because I’ve any love for the show, but it would just do Five a world of good to get a big breakout hit. Encourage it to invest more heavily in big British shows.
Best Channel: E4. Making a real splash with some well selected imports (Glee) plus occasional home grown offerings (Skins, The Inbetweeners, Misfits) that make it hard to ignore. Honourable mentions:
BBC One – a tad boring, perhaps, but in pure ratings terms its been the most successful of the terrestrials for holding share this year. Hopefully Danny Cohen can inject some more fizz sometime soon, too.
ITV3 – Overlooked in terms of the ratings it brings to the table via a clever mix of popular old shows.
Worst Channel: C4. Not doing everything that E4 is. A few bright spots, but on the whole, their bread-and-butter factual and entertainment offerings are a mess. They’ve still got lots of rebuilding to do in the wake of BB. Dishonourable mentions:
ITV2 – So maybe there’s a bit of personal prejudice here, but this is such a disappointment when you compare it to its main rivals.
More4 – So many opportunities on this channel, and instead all you get is Come Dine With Me repeats on a loop. Pathetic.
So I agree it's not really fair to compare 12 v 3 like that. I would just take the ones they have in common, so the first showing + first digital repeat + terrestrial omnibus.
I generally agree with that, but would you count the +1s for ITV?
Isn't it fair to say that Corrie's repeats have rated better for last week with it being xmas? Normally the ITV2 showings are quite low. While EE's BBC3 repeats are nearly always close to a million at the least which is a huge gap. I think if you were to add up the totals for an average week and not xmas week then you would probably get different results to the ones above.
To be honest, I don't know if last week's repeat total for Corrie was more than normal. I've only got ratings data for the last couple of weeks so I can't check if indeed you're right or not. In a few weeks time, I might post a similar repeat ratings total thing for a non-Xmas week on the Soap Ratings Thread so you can check then if there's much of a difference between a xmas week and a non-xmas week .
The thing that annoys me is on the nights the BBC3 repeat of Eastenders get 1.5m, which has done on a number of occasions now, yet these viewers are totally ignored for these "year end soap averages".
First viewing averages for soaps are far too distorted to paint anywhere near a clear picture nowadays.
I agree that the repeat/omnibus does make a big difference but because these ratings often don't chart in the BARB tables (particularly the BBC1/ITV1 omnibus and first-look ITV2 repeats), it's impossible for me to do an "official 2010 average (including 1st repeat and omnibus)" without missing a lot of ratings or guess-work. Statistically it wouldn't be correct. That's why I just do the first-run figures as all of these ratings usually chart in the BARB Top 30s.
... So I agree it's not really fair to compare 12 v 3 like that. I would just take the ones they have in common, so the first showing + first digital repeat + terrestrial omnibus.
Yeah you're right that 12 repeats to 3 is big difference. But I can see both sides to the argument. The one you've rightly raised and another one being: as there's so many more repeats on ITV2 of Corrie, people don't feel the urge to watch the first repeat or ITV1 omnibus as much as they would've if there were no or just one other repeat available (like EE). For e.g. if there was just the one late-night ITV2 repeat, I suspect the audience for the ITV1 omnibus would be higher than it currently is. So that should be beared in mind.
As I said earlier, that's why I just post the "first-run" averages, though I always mention that the BBC3 repeat does well. Once you get into the repeat ratings, all sorts of different issues pop up, not least what % of those repeat viewers are actually new viewers etc. Sorry for turning this thread into the Soap Ratings Thread .
adding in the first repeat, would also help cancel out any clashes, such as between EE and Emmerdale, as the BBC 3 repeat tends to excel itself on those nights.
That Daily Mail list is flawed. According to BBC figures Mike Yarwood's Christmas Show of 1977 got a record 27 million viewers, that record was broken when Morecambe & Wise finished after it with 28 million. When Mike Yarwood went to Thames they claimed that one of his Christmas Shows for them rated higher than Morecambe & Wise's 1977 show but Guinness wouldn't change the record books. However the BBC's method of measuring audiences was different to ITV's and the BFI say that the JICTAR method used before was the most consistent and accurate and they used this for their list of most watched shows. According to JICTAR Mike Yarwood's 1977Christmas Show did beat Eric & Ernie but the rating was only 21.4 million.
Also 1993 was the year of Victor Meldrew. Even though there was a new edition of Only Fools on Christmas Day, One Foot In The Algarve was the highest rated show over the Christmas period.
I thought the JICTAR figures were the closest thing to industry standard prior to BARB. I have heard tales of BBC figures being produced by asking people in the street. As for Mike Yarwood, I cant believe any figures achieved after his switch to Thames were anywhere near that colossal as he was already in decline by that time. According to Televisions Greatest Hits his Christmas record is thus:
25/12/74 6.1 million homes BBC
27/12/76 7.5 million homes BBC
25/12/77 21.4 million viewers (official number 1 for xmas week) BBC
25/12/79 15.7 million BBC
26/12/81 14.3 million BBC
21/12/82 13.6 million ITV
Highest ever rating though was achieved in a non Christmas week, not surprisingly during the ITV 1979 strike-22.3 million.
There is something misty and romantic though about the Morecambe and Wise 28 million-somehow its fitting that such a figure-right or wrong-should be associated with Britains favourite ever act.
The only Toast I saw yesterday was at breakfast so im rather miffed I did not have it for supper too-I kind of came out of a doze to find myself watching Terry and June.
I thought the JICTAR figures were the closest thing to industry standard prior to BARB. I have heard tales of BBC figures being produced by asking people in the street. As for Mike Yarwood, I cant believe any figures achieved after his switch to Thames were anywhere near that colossal as he was already in decline by that time. According to Televisions Greatest Hits his Christmas record is thus:
25/12/74 6.1 million homes BBC
27/12/76 7.5 million homes BBC
25/12/77 21.4 million viewers (official number 1 for xmas week) BBC
25/12/79 15.7 million BBC
26/12/81 14.3 million BBC
21/12/82 13.6 million ITV
Highest ever rating though was achieved in a non Christmas week, not surprisingly during the ITV 1979 strike-22.3 million.
There is something misty and romantic though about the Morecambe and Wise 28 million-somehow its fitting that such a figure-right or wrong-should be associated with Britains favourite ever act.
The only Toast I saw yesterday was at breakfast so im rather miffed I did not have it for supper too-I kind of came out of a doze to find myself watching Terry and June.
Yes JICTAR figures were a standard but the BBC used a totally different method. Read that Yarwood stat in a book about Morecambe & Wise so I'm not sure anymore.
City Of Death is widely credited as being the highest rated edition of Doctor Who ever, during the ITV strike of 1979, with 16.1 million. But that's a figure based on BBC audience research. Who do we believe?
Even though the BFI use JICTAR the BBC figures are still used as well.
I've just updated my previous post. I spotted yet another omnibus for Corrie which I had to take into account which puts last week's repeat totals for EE and Corrie's Monday episodes both at 2.1m.
I completely agree that EE would rate better on iPlayer. The latest BBC iPlayer pack from the BBC indicates that EE gets about 350,000-450,000 on iPlayer. Corrie, I suspect, might get 100k on ITV Player.
So even taking that into account, both EE and Corrie would be rating extremely similar across their total weekly audience.
(WLB - Virgin on Demand is included in the officials, I believe).
This is exactly the reason why the BBC are planning their new ratings calculation (I forget what it's called) to add up original screening, repeat showings, timeshift and iPlayer.
You would think BARB should be doing that to get a definitive guide to how many people watch every programme but I guess commercial TV channels need to know how many people watch each individual screening so that the advertisers know how many people see their adverts.
For the BBC this is irrelevant. They want to find their programmes' total reach so that they can justify their own existence.
Meanwhile:
it's already been pointed out in this thread that BBC1 is repeating episode 1 of Come Fly With Me on Saturday 8th December (at 9.40pm). This, we all agree, is ridiculous scheduling as everyone saw this on Christmas Day and even those people who liked it (such as me) won't be falling over themselves to see it again.
However ITV1 is doing little better this night. At 9.15pm a repeat of Piers Morgan's Life Stories: Cheryl Cole from October 23rd.
Do you have the ratings for The Goodies on BBC2 dubs?
I'd like to second this. It was on BBC2 at 12am on Thursday night (30th Dec). It was the final repeat by the BBC so it'd be interesting to see how it performed compared to other nights. It'd be great if they were able to end on a high.
Hit of the year: The Inbetweeners. Phenomenal numbers, 300% up on its previous series. A game-changer for multi-channel shows, I think.
Agreed. Not sure I can think of another series which has been 300% up on the previous series.
Flop of the year: The Prisoner. Just makes me wince every time I think of it shedding 10m+ viewers in about 10 minutes after BGT.
Again, I agree. Honourable mentions also go to Your Country Needs You, Modern Masters and, just for Robbie, Michael Winner's Dining Stars.
Oh, and of course The Six O'Clock Show.... sorry, I mean Daybreak.
New hit of the year: A toss-up between Sherlock and Downton Abbey. Perhaps the latter given the boost it seems to have offered an entire network.
Depending on its retention level, we may need to add Come Fly with Me here.
Five Days also did really well earlier in the year, but I don't thnk that has a returnable series potential to it.
Jaw-dropping rating of the year: Got to be the EE Live (and the Aftermath on BBC Three). I didn’t think those sorts of numbers were possible for scripted programming anymore.
For me its the Aftermath rating more simply because it smashed the multichannel record by such a large margin.
Mystifying rating of the year: For me, its I’m a Celebrity. It’s not my cup of tea and I don’t get it, but its showing absolutely remarkable strength in its old age.
Depends. I personally like it for what it is, even if it does eat up 3 weeks in the schedule.
My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding (Channel 4) is another one here, I'm not quite sure still how that Dispatches episode got nearly 6m.
Mystifying? Maybe Married Single Other in that ITV1 were probably hoping for a lot higher.
“So glad that flopped” of the year: Jedward on ITV2. The last thing that channel needs is some more D-List fly-on-the-wall rubbish.
A lot of trash I'm glad has flopped which doesn't even deserve a primetime slot. Daytime shows which have entered primetime (with the exception of Paul O'Grady) say hi.
“Such a shame that flopped” of the year: Probably Don’t Stop Believing. Not because I’ve any love for the show, but it would just do Five a world of good to get a big breakout hit. Encourage it to invest more heavily in big British shows.
Yes JICTAR figures were a standard but the BBC used a totally different method. Read that Yarwood stat in a book about Morecambe & Wise so I'm not sure anymore.
City Of Death is widely credited as being the highest rated edition of Doctor Who ever, during the ITV strike of 1979, with 16.1 million. But that's a figure based on BBC audience research. Who do we believe?
Even though the BFI use JICTAR the BBC figures are still used as well.
Hence the reason the BBC and ITV combined resources to form BARB.
I guess ratings calculations wouldn't matter so much in those days. ITV would just need a figure so they would know how much to charge the advertisers. (A money-spinning monopoly. Kerching! £££!!! "Lighter not working, Mr ITV Executive? No to worry. Light your obscenely long cigar with this £50 note.")
BBC had their licence fee and probably not very many people saying they should be disbanded.
Yes JICTAR figures were a standard but the BBC used a totally different method. Read that Yarwood stat in a book about Morecambe & Wise so I'm not sure anymore.
City Of Death is widely credited as being the highest rated edition of Doctor Who ever, during the ITV strike of 1979, with 16.1 million. But that's a figure based on BBC audience research. Who do we believe?
Even though the BFI use JICTAR the BBC figures are still used as well.
Yes too much muddy water in all of this. That City of Death figure is quoted as 14.5 million here:
Does rather make the Dr Who Christmas episode "Voyage of the Damned" look very impressive for its modern series highest of 13.2 million.
On the edges of memory im sure I can remember a BBC news show claiming 27 million for the premiere of The Towering Inferno Boxing Day 1980(and 22 million for Two Ronnies and Blankety Blank which preceded it) but it was listed as 17.7 million in TGH.
Toast performed brilliantly. Coronation Street is starting to lose audience after the tram crash saw a boost. EastEnders did really well in the build up to a huge storyline. Ad of the Year performed as poor-to-mid range filler.
Does rather make the Dr Who Christmas episode "Voyage of the Damned" look very impressive for its modern series highest of 13.2 million.
On the edges of memory im sure I can remember a BBC news show claiming 27 million for the premiere of The Towering Inferno Boxing Day 1980(and 22 million for Two Ronnies and Blankety Blank which preceded it) but it was listed as 17.7 million in TGH.
And even that City Of Death figure isn't accurate. That was the average for all four episodes I think. But the ratings for the story increased each week and part four got the highest ratings ever for an individual episode of Doctor Who with 16.1 million.
There were some audience figures posted on Gallifrey Base showing BBC ratings in the seventies. They don't tally with the BFI figures, because it had Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em in 1975 with 25 million for the Christmas special and yet it is nowhere to be seen in the highest rated programmes of the 70's.
Comments
But if you are including repeats, then you need to consider both virgin on-demand and and the various netplayers. I would guess if these were included Eastenders would also see a bigger gain, due to its audience profile, and the greater use of I-player over ITVs Netplayer.
I know. I understand the reasoning, but its still inconsistent. They've seemed relatively averse to movies in primetime throughout the Christmas period - but in the new year they'll be playing 25 year old Indiana Jones repeats on Wednesday primetime.
They had a few underwhelming primetime premieres last year (POTC: At Worlds End and Superman Returns) which might have something to do with it - but I have to say I was surprised that they didn't go for a movie on Boxing Day before EE. On the whole, the likes of Narnia have done well for them - and I'm sure Indiana Jones will do excellently tomorrow.
Happy New Year to everyone on the Ratings Thread. Here's to a great 2011.
More spinning goes on in here than in the world of politics.
I completely agree that EE would rate better on iPlayer. The latest BBC iPlayer pack from the BBC indicates that EE gets about 350,000-450,000 on iPlayer. Corrie, I suspect, might get 100k on ITV Player.
So even taking that into account, both EE and Corrie would be rating extremely similar across their total weekly audience.
(WLB - Virgin on Demand is included in the officials, I believe).
I'm not trying to spin anything. I agree that by ITV2 showing many more repeats, the Corrie repeats are bound to accumulate a greater no. of viewers than if there was just 1 repeat. But Robbie was saying as if it was a definite 100% fact that EastEnders' total is significantly more than Corrie's to say for definite it's No. 1, when really that's not the case. They're both quite close to each other once everything's taken into account.
First viewing averages for soaps are far too distorted to paint anywhere near a clear picture nowadays.
In comparison, each episode of EastEnders is broadcast a mere three times.
So I agree it's not really fair to compare 12 v 3 like that. I would just take the ones they have in common, so the first showing + first digital repeat + terrestrial omnibus.
Hit of the year: The Inbetweeners. Phenomenal numbers, 300% up on its previous series. A game-changer for multi-channel shows, I think.
Flop of the year: The Prisoner. Just makes me wince every time I think of it shedding 10m+ viewers in about 10 minutes after BGT.
New hit of the year: A toss-up between Sherlock and Downton Abbey. Perhaps the latter given the boost it seems to have offered an entire network.
Jaw-dropping rating of the year: Got to be the EE Live (and the Aftermath on BBC Three). I didn’t think those sorts of numbers were possible for scripted programming anymore.
Mystifying rating of the year: For me, its I’m a Celebrity. It’s not my cup of tea and I don’t get it, but its showing absolutely remarkable strength in its old age.
“So glad that flopped” of the year: Jedward on ITV2. The last thing that channel needs is some more D-List fly-on-the-wall rubbish.
“Such a shame that flopped” of the year: Probably Don’t Stop Believing. Not because I’ve any love for the show, but it would just do Five a world of good to get a big breakout hit. Encourage it to invest more heavily in big British shows.
Best Channel: E4. Making a real splash with some well selected imports (Glee) plus occasional home grown offerings (Skins, The Inbetweeners, Misfits) that make it hard to ignore.
Honourable mentions:
BBC One – a tad boring, perhaps, but in pure ratings terms its been the most successful of the terrestrials for holding share this year. Hopefully Danny Cohen can inject some more fizz sometime soon, too.
ITV3 – Overlooked in terms of the ratings it brings to the table via a clever mix of popular old shows.
Worst Channel: C4. Not doing everything that E4 is. A few bright spots, but on the whole, their bread-and-butter factual and entertainment offerings are a mess. They’ve still got lots of rebuilding to do in the wake of BB.
Dishonourable mentions:
ITV2 – So maybe there’s a bit of personal prejudice here, but this is such a disappointment when you compare it to its main rivals.
More4 – So many opportunities on this channel, and instead all you get is Come Dine With Me repeats on a loop. Pathetic.
Feel free to add what you think I've missed.
I agree that the repeat/omnibus does make a big difference but because these ratings often don't chart in the BARB tables (particularly the BBC1/ITV1 omnibus and first-look ITV2 repeats), it's impossible for me to do an "official 2010 average (including 1st repeat and omnibus)" without missing a lot of ratings or guess-work. Statistically it wouldn't be correct. That's why I just do the first-run figures as all of these ratings usually chart in the BARB Top 30s.
Yeah you're right that 12 repeats to 3 is big difference. But I can see both sides to the argument. The one you've rightly raised and another one being: as there's so many more repeats on ITV2 of Corrie, people don't feel the urge to watch the first repeat or ITV1 omnibus as much as they would've if there were no or just one other repeat available (like EE). For e.g. if there was just the one late-night ITV2 repeat, I suspect the audience for the ITV1 omnibus would be higher than it currently is. So that should be beared in mind.
As I said earlier, that's why I just post the "first-run" averages, though I always mention that the BBC3 repeat does well. Once you get into the repeat ratings, all sorts of different issues pop up, not least what % of those repeat viewers are actually new viewers etc. Sorry for turning this thread into the Soap Ratings Thread
I thought the JICTAR figures were the closest thing to industry standard prior to BARB. I have heard tales of BBC figures being produced by asking people in the street. As for Mike Yarwood, I cant believe any figures achieved after his switch to Thames were anywhere near that colossal as he was already in decline by that time. According to Televisions Greatest Hits his Christmas record is thus:
25/12/74 6.1 million homes BBC
27/12/76 7.5 million homes BBC
25/12/77 21.4 million viewers (official number 1 for xmas week) BBC
25/12/79 15.7 million BBC
26/12/81 14.3 million BBC
21/12/82 13.6 million ITV
Highest ever rating though was achieved in a non Christmas week, not surprisingly during the ITV 1979 strike-22.3 million.
There is something misty and romantic though about the Morecambe and Wise 28 million-somehow its fitting that such a figure-right or wrong-should be associated with Britains favourite ever act.
The only Toast I saw yesterday was at breakfast so im rather miffed I did not have it for supper too-I kind of came out of a doze to find myself watching Terry and June.
Yes JICTAR figures were a standard but the BBC used a totally different method. Read that Yarwood stat in a book about Morecambe & Wise so I'm not sure anymore.
City Of Death is widely credited as being the highest rated edition of Doctor Who ever, during the ITV strike of 1979, with 16.1 million. But that's a figure based on BBC audience research. Who do we believe?
Even though the BFI use JICTAR the BBC figures are still used as well.
This is exactly the reason why the BBC are planning their new ratings calculation (I forget what it's called) to add up original screening, repeat showings, timeshift and iPlayer.
You would think BARB should be doing that to get a definitive guide to how many people watch every programme but I guess commercial TV channels need to know how many people watch each individual screening so that the advertisers know how many people see their adverts.
For the BBC this is irrelevant. They want to find their programmes' total reach so that they can justify their own existence.
Meanwhile:
it's already been pointed out in this thread that BBC1 is repeating episode 1 of Come Fly With Me on Saturday 8th December (at 9.40pm). This, we all agree, is ridiculous scheduling as everyone saw this on Christmas Day and even those people who liked it (such as me) won't be falling over themselves to see it again.
However ITV1 is doing little better this night. At 9.15pm a repeat of Piers Morgan's Life Stories: Cheryl Cole from October 23rd.
Sigh!:(
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2010/dec/29/sun-coronation-street
K
I'd like to second this. It was on BBC2 at 12am on Thursday night (30th Dec). It was the final repeat by the BBC so it'd be interesting to see how it performed compared to other nights. It'd be great if they were able to end on a high.
Thanks!
Agreed. Not sure I can think of another series which has been 300% up on the previous series.
Again, I agree. Honourable mentions also go to Your Country Needs You, Modern Masters and, just for Robbie, Michael Winner's Dining Stars.
Oh, and of course The Six O'Clock Show.... sorry, I mean Daybreak.
Depending on its retention level, we may need to add Come Fly with Me here.
Five Days also did really well earlier in the year, but I don't thnk that has a returnable series potential to it.
For me its the Aftermath rating more simply because it smashed the multichannel record by such a large margin.
Depends. I personally like it for what it is, even if it does eat up 3 weeks in the schedule.
My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding (Channel 4) is another one here, I'm not quite sure still how that Dispatches episode got nearly 6m.
Mystifying? Maybe Married Single Other in that ITV1 were probably hoping for a lot higher.
A lot of trash I'm glad has flopped which doesn't even deserve a primetime slot. Daytime shows which have entered primetime (with the exception of Paul O'Grady) say hi.
Married Singe Other.
Hence the reason the BBC and ITV combined resources to form BARB.
I guess ratings calculations wouldn't matter so much in those days. ITV would just need a figure so they would know how much to charge the advertisers. (A money-spinning monopoly. Kerching! £££!!! "Lighter not working, Mr ITV Executive? No to worry. Light your obscenely long cigar with this £50 note.")
BBC had their licence fee and probably not very many people saying they should be disbanded.
Yes too much muddy water in all of this. That City of Death figure is quoted as 14.5 million here:
http://thekeytotime.blogspot.com/2009/06/what-is-highest-rated-doctor-who.html
Does rather make the Dr Who Christmas episode "Voyage of the Damned" look very impressive for its modern series highest of 13.2 million.
On the edges of memory im sure I can remember a BBC news show claiming 27 million for the premiere of The Towering Inferno Boxing Day 1980(and 22 million for Two Ronnies and Blankety Blank which preceded it) but it was listed as 17.7 million in TGH.
There were some audience figures posted on Gallifrey Base showing BBC ratings in the seventies. They don't tally with the BFI figures, because it had Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em in 1975 with 25 million for the Christmas special and yet it is nowhere to be seen in the highest rated programmes of the 70's.