Naturally. We're already having debates about racial tolerance in this country over the show and this series is only a month old.

Well, hang on there a moment. The Radio Times, after all the BBC's inhouse magazine and well-known for pushing hard for quality dramas, stressed in their summary review of part 1 of CJ that it was really, really slow. That was not therefore just the view of people with mush for minds - but of at least one professional TV reviewer. RT did and do recommend that people watch CJ, incidentally, but they still said that the start would require a lot of patience.

As for the general surprise here at the relatively low ratings for CJ, I'm surprised that others are surprised. As I posted last week, it was always wildly unlikely to expect Torchwood style ratings for a pretty grim drama about important, but deeply unpleasant, issues (one read of the RT plot summary was enough to give me and others a very clear idea of where this is going, and yuck).

On a Monday evening, at the end of the first day of a working week, lots of people want to be entertained not repelled, however good the cause. Put a drama like CJ up against very strong drama alternatives on ITV1 and Five, and dented ratings were always likely.

That does not mean the BBC should not be commended for making challenging drama. But nor does it mean that people are idiots if they choose not to watch it.

That is really bizarre. I thought one of the main points in the Sunday ITV2 repeat (which tended to get up to 1m viewers every week) was for people who missed it on Saturday, who could then follow on watching the results show or next Sunday show on ITV1. Surely this means the Sunday show will actually LOSE viewers?

Also I can't see it benefiting the Saturday show much, because people aren't going to stay in just to watch the XF, just because there's no other times they can watch it.

Stupid decision there, unless it's to do with issues about it being live, because I can't see ITV being that stupid in dropping the high rated repeats for ITV2?

The Bigger Picture, yes, that was on Monday nights. It was a slightly different show in that it was more comedy-based, and it was really awful, not least for the fact they gave the guests scripted gags to do. If award-winning comedian Graham Norton can't get a laugh from the gags, what chance Derek off Big Brother?

Whereas this, of course, is simply So Graham Norton again with nothing but celebrity interviews, audience participation and silly internet things. He even sits in front of a monitor like he did on that show.

Ratings are in:

Tuesday 6th October 2009

Double post.

Great to see CJ building an audience night-on-night, I missed it Monday but caught it last night, and am so glad I did. Really looking forward to seeing how it pans out over the week.

Pride of Britain awards got 5.5m overnight last year but was up against Holby City & Silent Witness. It should achieve close to 6m tonight in all likelihood.

Cat Deeley is going to host the UK version of So You Think You Can Dance. Looks like the Beeb are putting there all in to making it a big success.

Pleased to hear but not a surprise as it's not only the BBC who want SYTYCD to be a success but Nigel Lythgoe who has had success with the show in America and Australia, I'm hoping that the judges from the US version make an appearance.

There's not going to be a competition element according to Nigel on Twitter which makes sense as the live shows start on January 9th so I imagine that there will be an audition show the week before.

Scrabble on ITV? I know, I know, you can hardly wait for this one, right?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009...how-tv-formats

Terrible night for ITV last night; should imagine the Fixer will be axed and its looking ropey for Millionaire...

Pleased to see CJ improve its audience for a slow but worthy drama

The deal sounds similar to the deals that Hasbro and Mattel are doing with the film studios turning their properties into films with the success of Transformers and GI Joe and it was only a matter of time before TV got into the action. It seems like a deal with ITV Studios but I wouldn't be surprised if one or two ideas turn up on ITV1.

Wonder if Fremantlemedia or Shine will make a deal with Hasbro.

Multi-channel: 6th October 2009

Sky1
8pm Stargate Universe 890,800 (4.1%)
*slot average: 322,000 (1.6%)
9pm Stargate Universe 839,700 (3.8%)
*slot average: 179,300 (0.9%)

E4(+1)
9pm Ugly Betty 556,700

Film4(+1)
9pm The Departed 334,500

BBC Four
10pm It’s Only a Theory 229,200 (1.3%)
*slot average: 167,400 (0.9%).

Not sure if it has been mentioned but Ugly Betty is continuing on Channel 4 on Monday Nights so terrestrial viewers won't lose out after all but I think with its poor ratings, I think it would be better to have its fourth and likely final season on E4.

Stargate Universe did very well although it dipped slightly in the second hour.

Tuesday 6th October Overnights
BBC One
13:45- Doctors: 1.82m (23.8%)
19:30- EastEnders: 8.55m (40%)
20:00- Holby City: 5.69m (24.9%)
21:00- Criminal Justice: 4.67m (19.9%)
22:35- The Autistic Me: 1.3m (12%)

BBC Two
20:00- MasterChef: The Professionals: 3.05m (13.3%)
21:00- Blitz: The Bombing Of Coventry: 2.35m (10%)

ITV1
19:00- Emmerdale: 6.67m (33%)
20:00- Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?: 3.42m (15%)
21:00- The Fixer: 2.82m (12%)
22:35- Black Market Britain: 1.4m

Channel 4
18:00- The Simpsons: 2.11m [inc. +1]
18:30- Hollyoaks: 1.5m (7.7%) , +1: 118k (0.6%)
20:00- Gok Wan's How To Look Good Naked: 1.87m (8.2%)
21:00- Jamie's American Roadtrip: 2.46m (10.5%) , +1: 367,000 (2.3%)
22:00- The Big Food Fight: 1.2m (6.2%)
22:30- Derren Brown: Trick of the Mind: 960,000 [inc. +1]

Five
17:30- Neighbours: 1.46m (9.9%)
18:00- Home and Away: 1.12m (6.2%)
20:00- Warship: 1.03m (4.5%)
21:00- CSI: Miami: 2.07m (8.8%)

BBC Three
22:00- EastEnders: 735k (4.1%)

BBC Four
21:00- Electric Dreams: 435,000 (2%)
22:00- It’s Only a Theory: 229,000 (1.3%)
* slot average: 167,400 (0.9%)

E4 [inc. +1]
21:00- Ugly Betty: 560,000
22:00- Running in Heels: 150,000

Film4 [inc. +1]
18:45- Silver Streak: 160,000
21:00- The Departed: 330,000

More4 [inc. +1]
22:00- True Stories: 130,000

Fiver
18:30- Home and Away: 620k (3.4%)
19:00- Neighbours: 252k (1.3%)

Sky1
20:00- Stargate Universe: 890,800 (4.1%)
* slot average: 322,000 (1.6%)
21:00- Stargate Universe: 839,700 (3.8%)
* slot average: 179,300 (0.9%)
22:00- Stargate Universe: Access All Areas: 265k (1.5%)

Primetime Shares
BBC One: 24.2%
ITV1: 15.4%
BBC Two: 8.8
Channel 4: 7.3% (+1: 1%)
Five: 5.7%

All Day Shares
BBC One: 21.6%
ITV1: 16.4%
BBC Two: 8.0%
Channel 4 [inc. +1]: 7.9%
Five: 5.4%
---------------------------------------------------
Good night for BBC One, with Holby and EastEnders hitting their highest Tuesday ratings for months. Nice to see Criminal Justice go up.

Once again, a poor Tuesday for ITV1. Going by the ratings, last night's The Fixer will probably be the last ever. Millionaire's also not doing that well, with BBC2 very close to beating it.

Strong ratings for Stargate on Sky. Also, I think BBC4's lineup is doing well compared to usual.

Ugly Betty is doing fine in the states. Even if it gets half its audience in its new slot (and why wouldn't it, given that its got very little competition in that demo) it would be doing well enough to stay around for another few seasons.

ABC wanted a returning Friday night hit and Ugly Betty was just slipping below what they needed on Thursdays.

It'll be a around for a while yet - they wouldn't have renewed it at all if they didn't have confidence in it.

Criminal Justice is really underperforming compared to expectations. Episode 1 was down 19.5% on the DSRPG forecast, while episode 2 was down by 8.3%.

Most watched programmes of the week
1 - 11.86m - The X Factor (Sun, ITV1)
2 - 9.83m - Coronation Street (Mon 20:29, ITV1)
3 - 9.56m - EastEnders (Mon, BBC1)
4 - 8.68m - Strictly Come Dancing (Sat, BBC1)
5 - 8.03m - Doc Martin (Sun, ITV1)
6 - 7.32m - Waking the Dead (Mon, BBC1)
7 - 7.05m - Emmerdale (Mon, ITV1)
8 - 6.34m - Midsomer Murders (Wed, ITV1)
9 - 6.23m - The National Lottery Draws (Sat, BBC1)
10- 6.06m - Casualty (Sat, BBC1)

An even split between BBC1 and ITV1.

Alternative Chart (BBC2, C4, Five)
1 - 3.28m - The Secret Millionaire (Wed, C4)
2 - 3.28m - University Challenge (Mon, BBC2)
3 - 3.19m - Mock the Week (Thu, BBC2)
4 - 3.03m - MasterChef: The Professionals (Tue, BBC2)
5 - 2.79m - The Choir: Unsung Town (Tue, BBC2)
6 - 2.65m - Jamie's American Roadtrip (Tue, C4)
7 - 2.64m - Location, Location, Location (Wed, C4)
8 - 2.30m - CSI Miami (Tue, Five)
9 - 2.25m - Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two (Mon, BBC2)
= - 2.25m - Film: Dirty Dancing (Sun, Five)

Strictly, X Factor 2009 official averages so far
Strictly Come Dancing - 8.53m (8.64m)
The X Factor - 11.27m (9.70m)
* () - official average at the same point last year

The first two weeks of Strictly is barely down in the officials compared to last year. It seems to be timeshifting well this year. If you take into account that HD channel viewing of the show is up, it's basically the same. The X Factor's seen a big 1.57m rise, though.

Source: www.barb.co.uk

Thats a telling comment. If Nigel has seen the multitude of dire Norton fronted attempts (the Lloyd Webber shows aside) at reality shows on the BBC in the last few years he will have wanted many assurances this one will take a different path.

Cat's hosted the US show for 4 or 5 season so she is more than capable and as much as I like Graham Norton, he's not suitable for this show.

It's a fantastic show and the prize is actually worthwhile as they get £250,000 plus the opportunity to dance on the US version of SYTYCD.

Nice to see Criminal Justice improve - but it never improved a huge amount. The Fixer has to be axed now IMO.

I wonder if things like this will get more people tuning in on Sunday to The X Factor...

I am almost certain, but maybe wrong - but didn't Challenge have a TV version of Scrabble in the late 90's/early 00s?

To add to the above:


Shows how competitive cable TV is over in America.

EDIT: http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/10/06...ing-ever/29769

Strong timeshift for DM considering the Scottish opt out. Also very interesting just looking at the official ratings for late 2007 when Doc Martin was last on...Doc Martin was leading XF by 1-2m viewers every week! Just shows how times have changed!