The commissioning part of the Broadcast website seems to be a great source for up-coming commissions that we don't see in the normal places.

http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/section2.aspx?navCode=470

Along with the usual tat from C4, Five and some of the digital channels, there are a few interesting commissions from BBC One.

Two dramas developed by Criminal Justice writer Peter Moffat:

http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/c...006854.article

And a business show fronted by Jo Malone

http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/c...007190.article

That adaption of Heimat would be a super-ambitious project. The German original is a real epic - though I guess is added more weight by the tribulations of German 20th Century history.

I'm not too sure how it would play with viewers as its a strange format - moving forward through history so quickly - but it could be a critical darling. In any case, I hope they don't just do the first installments (1913-1926) and abandon it if it doesn't get the numbers. Those sorts of projects should be committed too.

Fantastic ratings for James May. And it shows how far Millionaire has fallen. In the old days it didn't need a lead in as it was event TV. But too many editions a year killed it, the same thing that has caused the soaps to lose their shine. Millionaire used to beat everything BBC1 put against it, now it can't even beat a show on BBC2!!

Heimat sounds like the Decades project which was planned for BBC Two but eventually scrapped, it could work on BBC One but I imagine they'll be changes to suit British Audiences and History.

Toy Stories did really well but not a surprise as James May's other toy series have rated well, only Millionaire was hit as everything else either was up or on par with last week.

CSI: Miami seems to have regained the audience it lost from the heavy competition, I do think it will take a hit from The F Word which does 2m+ normally.

See I think the BBC have missed a big opportunity with the opening up of wednesday.

Holby City has proved itself on Wednesdays without a EE lead in, and with no Cory it could anchor there night at 8pm. It has also shown that it can rate well against footy. When not showing footy ITV have also been able to beat the BBC by starting a two hour drama at 8pm, where the BBC is usually weak on wednesday, which then has a knock on effect to the 9pm programme.

This would free up tuesdays (and offer an EE lead in) at 8pm for an hour of family comedy/ panel shows etc. This would give the BBC a slot for pre watershed comedy, while they would still have friday at 9pm for post watershed comedy. This would also give the BBC a place to put 30 minute programmes, which the BBC have seemed to get thereselves that 30 minute programmes have no slots other than against Cory.

The only problem would then be Waterloo road. My solution would be to turn each episode in to a two parter (40 x 30 minutes instead of 20 x 1hour) and run them weekly at 7:30pm on wednesday. People are used to soaps at 7.30, so I think this would really boost its profile. This would also give the BBC a half hour drama slot that they could use. Look at The Diary of Anne Frank, and dramas like Land Girls that both seemed to lack a slot that people are used to seeing drama in)

This would lead to

Tuesday:
7:00 One Show
7:30 EE
8:00 Sitcom/Light Ent eg My Family/Outnumbered etc
8:30 Sitcom/Light Ent eg Big Top/Question of Sport
9:00 Drama

Wednesday
7:00 One Show
7:30 Waterloo Road
8:00 Holby City
9:00 Apprentice/Travel Journals/One Offs

Most watched programmes of the week
1 – 13.89m – The X Factor (Sun, ITV1)
2 – 10.08m – Coronation Street (Mon 19:31, ITV1)
3 – 9.49m – Doc Martin (Sun, ITV1)
4 – 9.49m – EastEnders (Mon, BBC1)
5 – 8.44m – Strictly Come Dancing (Sat, BBC1)
6 – 7.48m – Emmerdale (Mon, ITV1)
7 – 7.35m – Harry Hill’s TV Burp (Sat, ITV1)
8 – 7.05m – Football World Cup Qualifier (Wed, ITV1)
9 – 6.84m – Life (Mon, BBC1)
10- 6.64m – All Star Family Fortunes (Sun, ITV1)

X Factor, Doc Martin and Harry Hill getting new series highs. Good week for ITV1 in terms of top 10.

Alternative channels (BBC2, C4, Five)
1 – 4.13m – FlashForward (Mon, Five)
2 – 3.69m – MasterChef: The Professionals (Thu, BBC2)
3 – 3.37m – University Challenge (Mon, BBC2)
4 – 3.11m – Last Chance To See (Sun, BBC2)
5 – 3.09m – The Secret Millionaire (Wed, C4)
6 – 3.07m – CSI Miami (Tue, Five)
7 – 2.77m – Autumnwatch (Fri, BBC2)
8 – 2.54m – Never Mind the Buzzcocks (Thu, BBC2)
9 – 2.44m – Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two (Fri, BBC2)
10- 2.30m – Have I Got A Little Bit More News For You (Sun, BBC2)
= - 2.30m – The Force (Tue, C4)

Third week in a row that FF tops the list. University Challenge continues to impress in a difficult slot.

Channel 4 had a weekly share of just 6.1%, the channel's 3rd worst week since BARB records began in 1992!

Top 30 drama series of 2009
The top 30 drama series of 2009 based on official averages. Series must have a minimum of 3 episodes to be included in the list:

So, it's Doc Martin leading the list at the moment. It'll probably fall to second place come the end of the year, giving way to another Doctor .

Just five of the top 30 series are brand new programmes: Whitechapel, Unforgiven, Law & Order: UK, Demons and All The Small Things. Of which, only 2 have been confirmed for another series.

In terms of good rating drama series (5.5m+), BBC1 has 8 and ITV1 has 9 programmes. That accumulates to 55 hours for BBC1 and 53 hours for ITV1, so about the same really.

I'd say both have done as well as each other in the drama department so far this year, though ITV has probably improved more compared to 2008.

And as thus, the most watched list for 2009 changes slightly

Most watched programmes of 2009 so far
01 - 18.29m - BRITAIN’S GOT TALENT (30/05/09) - ITV1
02 - 13.89m - THE X FACTOR (18/10/09) - ITV1
03 - 11.46m - CORONATION STREET (02/02/09) - ITV1
04 - 11.31m - DANCING ON ICE (22/03/09) - ITV1
05 - 11.05m - EASTENDERS (02/02/09) - BBC1

06 - 9.91m - JONATHAN CREEK (01/01/09) - BBC1
07 - 9.84m - COMIC RELIEF (13/03/09) - BBC1
08 - 9.76m - THE APPRENTICE (03/06/09) - BBC1
09 - 9.54m - DOCTOR WHO (11/04/09) - BBC1
10 - 9.49m - DOC MARTIN (18/10/09) - ITV1

11 - 9.26m - WHITECHAPEL (02/02/09) - ITV1
12 - 9.20m - KILIMANJARO: THE BIG RED NOSE CLIMB (12/03/09) - BBC1
13 - 9.06m - STRICTLY COME DANCING (03/10/09) - BBC1
14 - 8.78m - NEW TRICKS (16/07/09) - BBC1
15 - 8.54m - WIMBLEDON 2009: Murray v Wawrinka (29/06/09) - BBC1

16 - 8.54m - EMMERDALE (02/02/09) - ITV1
17 - 8.53m - COMIC RELIEF DOES THE APPRENTICE (12/03/09) - BBC1
18 - 8.52m - WILD AT HEART (08/03/09) - ITV1
19 - 8.44m - LET’S DANCE FOR COMIC RELIEF (07/03/09) - BBC1
20 - 8.31m - UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Barcelona v Man Utd (27/05/09) - ITV1

Notes: Duplicates removed. Accurate EastEnders rating used for its highest episode.

So, its BBC1- 11; ITV1- 9.

Celebrity Wipeout coming this Winter apparantly...

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/...-revealed.html

And the Radio Times reports that Outnumber's Festive special is about the Brockman's Boxing Day, so expect to see the programme on Boxing Day. Nice.

ITV Press Office appears to have partially updated down to Thursday 19th November.

It appears that once 'Countrywise' finishes, 'River Monsters' is taking over its Thursday, 7.30pm slot until 17th December.

The X Factor is currently down from 20:00 to 21:30 on Saturday 14th November, although I think that may change depending on how BBC One's schedule for that night goes. The Sunday 15th November currently is:

19:15 - All Star Family Fortunes
20:00 - The X Factor
21:00 - TBA
22:15 - The South Bank Show

I'm just thinking... how long is this part of Piers Morgan's Life Stories? What are the chances of Life Stories ending on 7th November, with I'm a Celebrity launching on Saturday 14th November? Would that work?

That'd be one hell of a Saturday for ITV:

16:30 - International Football: England vs Brazil
19:15 - Harry Hill's TV Burp
19:45 - The X Factor
21:30 - I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!
23:00 - ITV News
23:15 - International Football Highlights

Last of the Summer Wine - Series 31.

BBC2 has a brand new sitcom starting on the 09th November - At 20:30! Really strange if you ask me, oppisite Corrie, but it may work! - It's called Miranda and stars Miranda Hart (Not Going Out).

On 5th October Masterchef: The Professionals had 3.21m in the officials in that slot. As most BBC2 sitcoms tend to get about 1m* and Miranda will inherit a 3m+ audience from University Challenge, this slot might actually be better than the 10pm slot BBC2 sitcoms normally get.

*Even the critically acclaimed Lead Balloon in its third series was failing to make BBC2's top 30. Only the Christmas special acheived the feat with 1.73m.

Can't see that working TBH. How many channels try launching something new successfully against Coronation Street? Directly I mean - I'm sure a lot of programmes are launched at 8, overlapping at 8.30pm.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Normal story for 9pm on a Tuesday. I'm intrigued regarding where the extra 0.6m appeared from for Around the World in 80 Days. Last week it only achieved 3.6m, so I decided to compare it with the other terrestrial channels.

Tuesday 20th October 2009
BBC1: Around the World in 80 Days - 3.6m
BBC2: Horizon - 1.4m
ITV1: Seven Days on the Breadline - 3.7m
Channel 4: The Force - 1.3m
Five: CSI: Miami - 2.6m
BBC3: Don't Tell the Bride - 0.7m
BBC4: The Real Cabaret - 0.3m
E4: Ugly Betty - 0.4m


Tuesday 27th October 2009
BBC1: Around the World in 80 Days - 4.2m (+0.6m)
BBC2: Horizon - 1.6m (+0.2m)
ITV1: Seven Days on the Breadline - 3.5m (-0.2m)
Channel 4: The Force - 1.3m (n/c)
Five: CSI: Miami - 2.7m (+0.1m)

No digital ratings as of yet. I guess most of the audience came from there. Just to compare how many people were watching TV last night, Around the World received a viewing percentage of 15.9% on 20th October. In comparison, Seven Days recieved a viewing percentage this week of 15%.

Life Stories is 6 weeks and will finish on 14th November.

We've just had a lengthy debate on these pages on the merits of ITV running the X Factor final on Sunday rather than Saturday and turns out thats what they've opted for (according to Dannii Minoque on twitter). So why they would choose to run the launch of IAC at some strange time on a Saturday rather than Sunday at 9pm , the plumiest slot of the week, I don't know.

Episode 3 had the same audience as episode 1.

If they haven't they're rather stupid, but you'd think as part of the original deal they'd be some sort of clause where ITV are the exclusive "terrestrial" broadcaster.


Sundays could work - when Dancing on Ice and The X Factor aren't around - though with Dancing on Ice they'd likely be up against Wild at Heart, where they'd probably fair better.

Alternatively Saturday wouldn't be a bad option during the winter. Just like the slot rejuvenated family drama, it could do wonders for sitcom too.


It seems the logical option. Even if it wasn't set in stone when the live shows started, certainly by now it's obviously the best option.


What a waste of cash when the telethon itself is just one long sequence of musical plugs.


I know when initially announced some affiliates were not keen and stated they'd do their own thing, but I think were won over in the end. Surely though any affiliate seriously concerned could stop showing it themselves.


She's a Mitchell - she'll be back within the year for a big comeback, then of course get another departure a few months later. Only killing her off will bring in notable figures.

It's weird that BBC Two has three comedies but they're airing in different slots, surely having a comedy block of Buzzcocks, Miranda and The Thick of It would work well rather than have Defying Gravity, I'm starting to think the controller of BBC Two doesn't like comedy although I'm guessing that the pairing of QI and Gavin and Stacey on Thursdays could be another reason.

From the top link I see lots of backward looking remakes from the BBC and some tat.

While Ch4 group has lots of forward looking relevant programmes and some tat.

Fair enough, but I am intrigued as to why 0.6m switched off between week one and week two, and then returned. Could it simply be a better celebrity pairing in week 1/3 to week 2?

I was looking back at the figures for start-of-year dramas Unforgiven, Whitechapel and Law & Order UK earlier this week. Alll 3 saw their ratings drop for week 2 only to rally again in week 3. Who's to understand the strange viewing habits of the GBP?

From the comments I read, a lot of people didn't warm to ATW's first week pairing of Frank Skinner and Lee Mack so it wasn't a surprise to me when ratings dropped for week 2.

The week 2 pairing of Nick Hewer and Saira Khan from The Apprentice had a more favourable reaction. Maybe the departed viewers heard this and decided to give the programme a second chance. Or maybe week 3 presenters Matt Baker and Julia Bradbury brought some of their very many CountryFile viewers to the programme.

Although weeks 1 and 3 had exactly the same overnights (4.18m) week 3 had a lower audiece share than week 1. By my rough calculations 23.35m were watching TV at 9pm last night against 22.12m a fortnight ago, so maybe it's just down to more people watching TV.

Maybe with dramas, people just like the start and the finish and can't be bothered with the middle. Perhaps Murderland'll bounce back next week as well.

Seriously, maybe it was the couple. At first, I thought Seven Days had suffered big time but that had held up pretty well.

One afiliate did threaten not to show Leno earlier this year. NBC said they would take the franchise away and convert their Univision channel in the same market to an NBC station in order to get round the affiliates threat

Wednesday 18th November : Celebrating The Carpenters will air, if anyone is wondering.

I didn't realise it had got so bad, yesterdays primetime numbers:

FOX - 2,819,000
MSNBC - 1,026,000
Headline - 677,000
CNN - 621,000

Even the famous Larry King is 3rd in his slot with less than a third of the viewers Hannity gets (the 3rd biggest show on FOX News) and Rachel Maddow is comfortably ahead (second on MSNBC). And he's the top show on CNN.

O'Reilly is still hovering 3.5m-4m and Glenn Beck (who is on at 5pm) is getting more than 3m.


They also have problems with The Tonight Show. Scandal has helped Letterman who is now ahead in the 18-49 demo for the first time. And miles ahead overall. That's feeding into the next slot where Craig Ferguson is now neck and neck with Jimmy Fallon in the demo. A year ago, NBC were comfortable in both slots.

NBC really are in a terrible, terrible mess. Just now, they're just being propped up by Sunday Night Football. When that goes in January, they're in even bigger trouble.

They don't have a single hit drama series. Shows like Heroes could well get recommissioned because of the even poorer performance of new shows.

They have been rumoured to be in the running for The X Factor. While it can't be worse than the current situation, it would effectively turn NBC into a completely non scripted station with their schedule along the lines of:

Sunday - NFL/ The Apprentice
Monday - 2 hours open, Leno
Tuesday - The Biggest Loser, Leno
Wednesday - The X Factor, Leno
Thursday - The X Factor, The Office/30 Rock, Leno

Currently, Leno is doing not too bad versus expectations and in comparison to ABC's scripted offerings at 10pm. Tbh, I don't really know what NBC can do at this stage. Where do they even start?!

EDIT: It is perhaps worth mentioning that ABC are down just as much as NBC from last year. Their main problems being declines for Dancing With The Stars and their 10pm shows even though some new programmes have started reasonably. I think NBC are being aided by increases for the NFL, though I can't say for certain.

Not that I'm aware of, unless you know differently?


No doubt that will be partly behind ITV1's decision to spin TXF out to two nights. Hope they do - although Sports Personality is no ratings juggernaut (normally), they might find it has a fairly resilient core audience and their move bites them on the bum.


Humiliation. That must be Millionaire's lowest ever audience? And third place behind BBC1 and BBC2.

How the once-mighty have fallen - 9 years ago it played to audiences up to 19m. Now it gets thrashed every week by Holby, and loses to BBC2 now too.

A lesson in how making a programme so over-exposed and watered-down can kill it off. Simon Cowell take note...


'Simon Cowell Farts'? 12m guaranteed...


It would make a nice change to see BBC1 give over 2 hours of its prime time Thursday night schedule to a pop concert with some big names (Cheryl Cole - whoever she is, etc) doing their bit for charity. It may provide a distinctive and alternative offering to ITV1's diet of soaps, celebrity tits and worm-eating.