Presumably C4 have bought the rights to show the film x times in a certain period of time, and as a rule, there's not normally a great enthuiasm for 3D films, so show it twice in 3D week.

Also I'm guessing it wouldn't have had too many viewers last night against CIN (not to mention the 10 o'clock news). Anyone know what the film got?

Is X Factor Final results going to be just 1 hour or extended? Surely ITV won't miss this opportunity to cash in.

Good move regarding Cheryl Cole's show. It wouldn't have done so well against the Strictly final. I expect ITV to air All Star Mr & Mrs, Who Dares Sings and repeats against the Strictly final.

From 22:00 to 23:15 it had 0.5m (2.5%), so you can assume the full average will be either 0.3m or 0.4m. Again, awful.

I think a shorter show will be better for revenue? Higher audience, less ad slots so more expensive ad slots.

If so, the Beeb really need to extend SPOTY to 9.15 (and move Top Gear on BBC2 to 9.15) to ensure that viewers can see the TXF result and then flick over to see the SPOTY reveal - would be a nice bit of piggy-backing by BBC1 (for once) and exploit this weak spot in ITV1's schedule. And it could be sold on public service grounds by ensuring viewers aren't forced to choose between the TXF reveal and the SPOTY reveal which are currently down to happen simultaneously, thanks to ITV's spoilsport tactics.

That said, I think SPOTY will do sufficiently well enough to ruin a good few ITV 'ratings wet dreams' if both shows do finish at 9pm - more resilient than The Impressions Show if they'd stuck to Saturday for TXF.

Not confirmed but both X-Factor shows over final weekend will be 90 minutes in length. On the Sunday it will go 1930-2100. tbc

And Semi Final Result on the 5th Dec is 1930-2030 as ITV premiere Batman Returns at 2030 - that is confirmed.

A shorter show will get a higher average. But I don't think it would be better for revenue because ITV are reportedly going to get £3m per hour. That's a lot of money and I really would expect the final show to be at least 90 minutes long especially as last year's final was 70 mins long (it overran by 10 mins) and this year's results shows have been longer.


Yeah, that sounds about right because it would be the same start time as the previous week. And it also gives Family Fortunes a headstart on SPOTY.

Out of interest - do you know what ITV is showing on Monday 14th December at 9pm? I think it might be Taggart which was rumoured to air in December, but then again ITV might have decided to delay it till next year! Cheers.

That makes more sense.

If X-Factor Final on the Sunday is 18m+ then ITV2s Xtra Factor will be more than capable of hitting 3m@ 2100.

Sports Personality of The Year 1900-2100 is going to struggle.

Pretty shabby tactics by ITV moving TXF to go up against SPOTY in full knowledge that the date for SPOTY has been fixed for months, but I think it generates sufficient interest to hold its own - but extending it by just 10-15 mins is surely a no-brainer now it looks like TXF is finishing at 9pm not 10.

God knows what has gone wrong with C4 this autumn - I know budgets have been cut, but I think it's more the case of not spending money wisely rather than not having the money to spend. Also this pathetic effort to prove themselves as a PSB channel when what they really need to do is prove themselves as a self-funding PSB channel - meaning a mix of popular programming alongside the documentaries and more serious drama it helps to fund.

A couple of years ago I'd find myself watching something on C4 most nights - at the moment I'm only watching True Blood.


Also, now Autumnwatch has finished how do ratings compare to previous years. Without looking at the facts I'm assuming the weekly format hasn't rated as well as the daily format at all, which at times could get over 4m.

Just looking at the timeshifts for The X Factor for the past few weeks since the start of the live shows:

Performance Show
10/10/2009 - 11.31m > 12.64m (t/s: 1.33m)
17/10/2009 - 10.86m > 12.07m (t/s: 1.21m)
24/10/2009 - 11.58m > 12.80m (t/s: 1.22m)
31/10/2009 - 10.34m > 11.74m (t/s: 1.40m)
07/11/2009 - 11.79m > 13.05m (t/s: 1.26m)
14/11/2009 - 11.93m > n/a

Results Show
11/10/2009 - 13.00m > 13.82m (t/s: 0.82m)
18/10/2009 - 13.17m > 13.89m (t/s: 0.72m)
25/10/2009 - 13.38m > 14.02m (t/s: 0.64m)
01/11/2009 - 13.87m > 14.52m (t/s: 0.65m)
08/11/2009 - 14.36m > 15.00m (t/s: 0.64m)
15/11/2009 - 14.30m > n/a

Interesting to note how consistent the timeshifts have been - for the Performance Show the timeshift has been 1.28m, while for the Results Show it has been 0.69m. I imagine that the timeshifts for the final will be larger for both shows. If the Results Show is to become the most watched show of the year, I think it needs an overnight of at least 17 million if it stands any chance of beating Britain's Got Talent rating.

I can see Sports Personality down to about 3.5/4 million on X Factor Final night. Or, to help ITV, maybe we can have 'Snow Day #2' on 13th December!

It'll also be interesting to see if the Results Show for 15/11 can beat the Results Show from 08/11 despite being slightly down in the overnights.

Don't believe that bull. It's just turned out that way due to The X Factor being extended to Sunday - the final itself is effectively in the same slot it always has been.

Also SPOTY is not the event it once was and I doubt it would be a factor in ITV's decision at all nowadays, whether to avoid it or competitively schedule against it.

Any news on when the Royal Variety will be shown?

Have to agree. I've never seen such a big deal being made about SPOTY until I read this thread!

I don't think it will play that way in the media - particularly as it looks deliberate now they have shifted a 90 min TXF from its usual all-autumn 8pm start time to 7.30 just so the peak audience for TXF occurs right at the moment SPOTY is revealed (which usually gets a 10m peak for BBC1). It looks like a pretty shabby spoiler tactic which is totally unnecessary. ITV's going to get some shit over this, i think, if confirmed.

I don't know one person who watches or cares about it. It's such a non-event that could be done in 30 minutes or less rather than being strung out to 2+ hours like it is.

As for X Factor, 90 minutes seems right, as 2 hours would have led to too much padding and 1 hour would have been an anti-climax. Hopefully it can beat BGT. A very early prediction from me:

X Factor Final Result: 18.1m Peak: 20.2m
Sports Personality: 4.4m Peak: 6.7m

Funny that. I don't know one person who watches or cares about X Factor.

Ner ner ne ner ner...

(10m peak last year for SPOTY. And when Bobby Robson got his lifetime achievement award that was pretty emotional, and heavily talked about...)

Sports Personality of the Year - Overnight Ratings
2000 - 7.2m (28%) - 19:00 to 21:15 *peak: 9.8m
2001 - 7.1m (28%) - 20:00 to 22:10 *peak: 9.4m
2002 - 6.6m (26%) - 20:00 to 22:15
2003 - 6.5m (30%) - 20:00 to 22:15 *peak: 8.3m
2004 - 6.1m (24%) - 20:00 to 22:15 *peak: 7.2m
2005 - 4.9m (18%) - 20:00 to 22:00 *peak: 7.1m
* note: was against Royal Variety: 9.5m (37%)
2006 - 5.8m (22%) - 19:00 to 21:00 *peak: 7.2m
2007 - 6.8m (26%) - 19:00 to 21:15 *peak: 8.6m
2008 - 6.6m (26%) - 19:00 to 21:15 *peak: 8.4m

Ratings have been pretty stable I'd say. 2005's rating proves, however, that SPOTY will dip if against tough competition.

Regarding the ratings for the X Factor final show, there's been a common trend in the last two years: the final results show has rated 52/53% higher than the other live results shows:

2007- Live results show average (excluding final): 7.7m..... final: 11.7m... rise = 52%
2008- Live results show average (excluding final): 8.8m..... final: 13.5m... rise = 53%

This year, the results shows are currently averaging 13.7m. By the semi final, the average will have risen to about 13.9-14m. If there's a similar rise for the final as the previous two years, it could be averaging around 21m. I know, it sounds ridiculously high ! But that's what might happen if it follows the ratings pattern for the last couple of years . And those are just the overnights, by the way.

I don't think it will average 21m due to various factors (it sounds too high to be possible!). But a 18m+ overnight rating is looking likely.

Presumably the weekend after the XF final. Sunday 20th December perhaps ?

The X Factor final will obliterate everything in its path on a Sunday night. I can see the audiences rising to a ridiculous level for the semi finals and final. If rumours are true about Madonna and Paul McCartney ...

Tomorrow's show is likely to signal the end of John & Edward, if not this week definitely next week. I should think 15m (average) will tune in tomorrow for SuBo and Jedward's potential fate.

If Jedward survive (for instance if Lloyd and Danyl are bottom two), they are certain to go next week, at which point I think 15-16m average is achievable.

With 3 shows left after that, I think it would rise slowly to ~16m for the semi-semi final, ~17-18m for the semi-final and 20m for the finale. I should think we will see another 70%+ share as well, SPOTY is going to be caned. Sub 5m IMO.

With this in mind, XF finale prediction: 20.3 million viewers.

I think it'll get a Wednesday night slot. Having 2 and a half hours to fill on Wednesdays between Emmerdale and the news is quite tricky for ITV1, but 2 and a half hours is the perfect running time for the RVP.

I think Wednesday 16th December is looking likely. That Sunday will probably be reserved for a drama.

Well it seems it takes place on Monday 7th, and ITV have football on Wednesday 9th, but a "TBA" on Wed 16th from 19.30-22.00, so I'd place by bets on that slot.

Ridiculous really though it's left so long - I understand not showing it live as for the purpose of TV it probably needs a bit of editing, but considering it's given such importance in ITV's biggest show, you'd think they'd give it a slot as near to live as possible. There is nothing but filler on Tue 8th for example.


And on a not unrelated note, as well as hosting the Royal Variety Peter Kay is hosting the Brits in February too.

Peter Kay is presenting The Brits 2010.

First the Royal Variety, now this. Are ITV courting Mr Kay or something ?

Edit : Brekkie beat me to it.