Yeah, it's never been right. Regis Philbin was terrible on it, Springer was better but still not great, and Nick Cannon was the type of person they need, but a dreadful presenter. It was always like he struggled to read the autocue. I'd have thought they'll keep him this year though, as he's a fairly big name, and they won't want a mass exodus from the show in one year.

The judges are OK. Brandy was awful but Sharon is good on it, and her and Piers work well, together. David was OK, but they had a panel full of jokers and little credibiltiy and relevance. They need a big name (David was the show's star name when the show launched, now they need another) who is credible and relevant. Piers plays up the Mr Nasty role on there, but being less serious like on BGT suits him better, so they need a Mr Nasty. Cowell would be perfect of course, him Piers and Sharon would be great, but he won't do it, and with the show being America's Got Talent they need at least one American on there! They need to be fairly young too as the show has always felt too old (less so last year with Nick Cannon hosting), but unfortunately, I can't think of anyone suitable at the moment!

So do we think its possible The Bill could get its highest rating since the revamp tonight or is it going to be stuck around 4m?

Silent Witness is on tonight so there is a possibility it could get dented, I imagine Silent Witness will get 6m+ tonight and 5.5m+ tomorrow even against Dancing on Ice.

Why do people think The Bill is going to increase? It's been out of the Thursday slot for about a month and has the toughest competition since New Tricks. BBC1 is likely to bring in 6m+ and CH4 with around 3m. The Bill will be hovering around the 3.5m mark I reckon.

US networks don't seem as afraid to go for an unknown with some credibility in the role, rather than going for a celeb signing - but I think AGT probably needs one. Ellen would be better on this than Idol I'd have thought.

As for host, not seen Nick Cannon, but even though a cousin of George W, I thought Billy Bush would be a good choice for the role. Kind of in the Ryan Seacreast mould (though a tad more conservative), and very capable of holding the show together when he co-hosted NBC's Grease search with Denise Van Outen.

well personally I hope it does, as I wish the show to continue.

Considering the generally high ratings of this week, it would be a shame if theBill could not take advantage of this, and maybe those new viewers (or former viewers) will return next week.

I too, was once a fan of The Bill, but at the minute I can't see at all how ITV can justify the show getting under 4m for almost every single episode with a Corrie lead in when a LOT of other drama with much better figures has been axed. Because it has to be quite expensive, surely? Also I never thought it brought in thatmuch of a young audience, but could be wrong on that one.

It's completely ITV's fault-and I can see quite easily why the viewers haven't transferred from the 8pm slot it was in. Though it's not really possible for it to move back to any of the Mon-Fri 8pm slots. The only option and really last chance saloon is trying the Sunday 8pm slot, but even then it could only have that slot for half the year tops.

agreed I dont know it has survived the axe this long, however whilst it isnt axed I am happy for any week where the Bill gets a chance to be seen by new viewers, such as this one.

As for cost, well it has cut costs, some long running characters have left, and they created an episode which could have been Jack Meadows last, so I assume he has come back for less money.

Jonathan Ross quits the BBC with reports his got a US deal.
David Hasselhoff quits America's Got Talent .... mmm - i wonder ??

ABC:
8pm – The Middle – 7.5m (2.2)
* Special episode
8.30pm – The Middle – 8.2m (2.7)
* Series high
9pm – Modern Family – 10.2m (4.1)
* Looks to be ABC’s biggest new show of the season
9.30pm – Cougar Town – 7.9m (3.3)
* Recently had its run extended by 2 episodes, will be renewed
10pm - Ugly Betty – 5.1m (1.6)
* Lower than Eastwick’s average in the slot (1.7)
* Loses 52% of lead-in with adults 18-49

CBS:
8pm – I Get That A Lot – 8.5m (2.9)
* Down 15% on the April 1st 2009 premiere
9pm – People’s Choice Awards – 10.7m (3.4)
* Best result since 2007
* Up 13% from a 3.0 last season

FOX:
2 Glee Repeats (1.3 rating over 2 hours)

NBC:
8pm – Mercy – 7.3m (1.7)
* Series low
9pm – Law and Order: SVU – 10.8m (3.2)
* Season high
* Rose through the hour from 2.9 to 3.4
10pm – The Jay Leno Show – 5.2m (1.5)
* Just 0.1 behind ABC’s scripted programming in the slot

http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/01/07...-cbs-win/37927

The show returns next Tuesday and it's getting lots of attention. CNN asks "is this make or break time for American Idol?" while several outlets are covering the aging audience.

American Idol Ratings Facts:
* The 2009 season averaged a 9.1 rating among adults 18-49. That’s still several points ahead of all the competition.
* However, the 18-49 ratings were down 12% in 2008 and the lowest for the show since its first season. Ratings peaked in 2006 with a 12.4 average.
* The show was strongest among adults 35-64, down 6% year on year. Ratings with adults 18-34 were down 12% and with teens were down 13%. Total viewers declined 7% to 24.9m.
* The median age has grown from 31.9 years old in the first season to 44.2 for series 8 from 43.2 in series 7. That’s still below the median age for a broadcast TV viewer.

http://www.mediapost.com/publication...art_aid=120146

Premiere/Finale Ratings:
S1 – 09.9m - 22.8m
S2 – 26.5m - 38.0m
S3 – 28.6m - 28.8m
S4 – 33.4m - 30.3m
S5 – 35.5m - 36.4m
S6 – 37.7m - 30.7m
S7 – 33.4m - 31.7m
S8 – 30.4m - 28.8m

Many reports seem to think that losing Paula could hit the show. That might be the case if Ellen doesn't work out in the long run but I'd have thought the hype can only work well for the premiere. Sharon leaving X Factor certainly didn't hit it too badly. Plus, there has been plenty of hype surrounding Cowell's future and the ridiculous rumour that Piers Morgan will take over from him!

It has also been said that FOX have aimed the promotion at attracting the younger audience and that some of the guest judges such as Avril Lavigne and Katy Perry were chosen with younger viewers in mind.

http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2010/01/...-later-on.html

Aussie figures for timeshifted viewing. I don't suppose BARB (or anyone here) do a similar list - it's basically officials minus overnights, but of course needs someone to do the work.

American Idol although down is still a monster hit and I expect it will remain on air for a good few year. Idol has experienced growth over the last few years and many of the rival networks have been too scared to take it on until now, with DWTS/Lost, The Biggest Loser and NCIS/NCIS:LA on Tuesdays, the competition is much tougher for Idol than in previous years, the results night isn't too bad as it's only against comedies on ABC, Criminal Minds and SVU.

I can't see HIGNFY being moved to 10.35 when it can attract 5m viewers to prime time. NGO and WILTY is moving/was moved because their peak-viewing ratings weren't up to much. QI does not too bad in prime-time as well. It'll be interesting to see its ratings when it goes up against Corrie tomorrow night.


Those of us who over-predicted the ratings for the BBC News Special last night were forgetting 2 things:
1) By 8pm last night the snow chaos was old news.
2) The reason the regional news does so brilliantly is because... it's regional. People tune in to see how the weather has affected the own area.

The BBC News Special was just to provide something "new" for last night, as all the other replacements for the football were repeats.

Ch 4 news just interupted by an unscheduled promo - what the hell happened just now?

Paula Abdul would be a huge publicity coup. And even though she's not young, she might bring some of the younger Idol audience. She and Sharon also got on well when she was guest judge on X Factor series 3. The 2 female panel might be unusual, but SYTYCD has gone with it and Sharon is quite capable of playing the "mean one" if she has to! One alternative is to try and get a "Cheryl Cole", a sort of All American girl next door character and there are probably a few candidates out there. I would have said get a comedian but American Idol has already played that card.

They really need to pick wisely because this is a good chance to capitalise on Susan Boyle's success.

The whole show just seems so poorly made compared to BGT. I caught some of the final and it wasn't good. The judges weren't a great mix, I didn't like the host, the talent was awful and the production was shabby. The set looked so dull compared to BGT.

So true - it's kind of like the cheap British version of an American hit, rather than the other way round.

They put one out at 11am as well so I'm not sure that was the only reason.

Essentially though they were just 2 extra news bulletins, complete with BBC News ticker!

A 2 female panel could work, but I agree that they need to be careful as this could be an opportunity to send the show into the stratosphere like it is over here. like you say, Sharon is perfectly capable of playing the 'mean' role, and Piers has been doing that since it launched. Paula Abdul would be a coup but I don't think her, Sharon and Piers would be a particularly good panel on their own. Really, they need another male, or a new male and female, and have four judges. Paula Abdul and a young, male performer could work. Dunno who, though, Justin Timberlake's pretty big over there, and would draw in a lot of young viewers, so he'd be quite a coup. Him, Paula, Piers and Sharon would be worth giving a go at least.

I agree with you about the show in general, it is very poor. Nick Cannon is a poor host, the talent in this year's final was, surprisingly, nowhere near as good as in the last series of BGT, and the set is so old fashioned and dull. BGT and X Factor both have fantastic sets now, whereas both AGT and Idol have dull sets. Even the sound the buzzers make on AGT is dull compared to BGT! The production isn't great either, and it looks like it has a lower budget than the UK show, which again is odd. I've heard that NBC have been a complete pain in the arse to Syco and have blocked things, and not allowed them to do certain things. They need to look at themselves, they are a struggling network who are pissing around with their biggest show, and ultimately, stopping it from growing, and they need to pull their finger out before the show fades.

It was interesting that FOX have now moved Idol from an easier 8pm slot to 9pm apparently so as it can hit those ABC dramas. But Tuesday is definitely going to be the tougher slot.

Nothing will come close in the demo (where it counts) but there is the possibility that NCIS could edge Idol in total viewers maybe one week. Idol dipped to 21.5m on one Tuesday last year so it could happen.

Apparently "4 judges doesn't work" as we saw with Kelly Brook! But the idea of a young male is interesting. None of these shows have male eye candy despite a very female audience.

Justin Timberlake is probably well out of reach, though.


Originally they didn't even have audience auditions. That didn't come in until BGT became such a huge success. One of the producers said that it wasn't until they did BGT that they really knew the show that they wanted to make and were allowed to make it.

Nick Cannon was a Ben Silverman (ex NBC boss) hiring though to be fair to Silverman, Cowell hasn't picked the best line-up for the judges!

It also doesn't help that the show is far too long. They do 10 hours of auditions, then a Las Vegas round, 4 quarter finals, 2 semi finals and a final. So much for the people who say that ITV always drag their formats out as long as they can!

I think some kind of proper show after the auditions can be good. BGT rushed the final cut stage this year. But quarter finals is one stage too many. NBC should strip the semi-finals over a week:

Sunday - Semi Final 1
Monday - Semi Final 2
Tuesday - Semi Final 3
Wednesday - Semi Final 4
Thursday - Semi Final Results & Wildcard

Tuesday - Final Performances
Wednesday - Final Results

But they won't do that because they desperately need it to prop them up in the summer and that plan means fewer hours.

The show is apparently produced on the same budget as the UK show ($1.2m-$1.4m an hour).

4 judges would work fine, that was just the bollocks spouted to cover up Kelly Brook's departure. In reality, everyone saw how poor she was and thought 'get rid'. Timberlake is probably out of reach, yeah, but he was just an example of the type of person they should go for. Like you say, none of these shows have a young male judge, and it would definately be worth a try, as these shows skew female (as does most TV), so it would boost the demos.


NBC's incompetance shows no bounds. The show would fall completely flat without audience auditions. Like I said before, Nick Cannon will probably stay this year because they don't want everyone leaving, but he isn't great.

I completely agree that it's far too long, is ten hours of auditions really necessary? Eight would suffice perfectly (I think it's seven on BGT, so seven shows with the lauch being two hours would work for NBC), and I agree that some sort of round between the auditions and the live shows is good, and it's BGT's only big flaw really that it's so rushed.

The Las Vegas round this year on AGT was a joke though, it was just the acts being called in individually or in small groups to be told their fate - no extra performances or anything like that (except for one dance off), and it ran for two hours. They should have some sort of performance at bootcamp before the decisions are made, or otherwise it's completely pointless. One week of that would do though.

As for the live shows, I definately agree that the stripped method is the way to go, as AGT is dragged out for so long. Like you say, though, NBC won't do it as it means a reduction in hours. It would work brilliantly in November sweeps but NBC refuses to move it to the Autumn for whatever reason, so the ratings are always going to be limited. If they keep it as it is they should at least shift it to Monday/Tuesday rather than Tuesday/Wednesday as the Wednesday show was hit by So You Think You Can Dance this year, and it did well on a Monday when it was moved there for one week. NBC have a show capable of pulling in massive ratings here but they're ruining it. It would slot perfectly into the Wednesday 8pm slot in the Autumn instead of crap like Mercy, but they're blinded by ignorance, and Cowell would be better off taking it to another network.

The ratings were high but the actual audience share was lower than many episodes. It's just more people were at home than usual and BBC 1 is just the "default " channel - it certainly wasn't for the quality of the programme!

Re: America's Got Talent. Probably out of reach but Ashton Kutcher is not averse to TV work and quite heavily involved on a production side at least - and of course it's down to him and his Mrs that Susan Boyle took off in America.

He'd probably be good for the show, certainly in terms of trying to skew it younger. And I think there is a chance that if they pay well enough he would do it.