I think it is because the programmes are just getting into their stride now after a slow first few weeks. February will probably be better!

Whitechapel benefited from a snow storm which was in February IIRC.

It's a shame they haven't got enough money to continue thrillers all the way through the schedule - it's a great brand, and would allow them to keep crime drama to Friday.

One issue I think is ITV have less new shows to show this year than they had last year, so they're having to spread them out.


There's Look East, Look North, Look London...they're not all the same.


Maybe we should ask him to publish the top 21 so those who want to ditch the Regional News can?


I think it should be the top match for each channel. Right, there we go, your turn.

The interesting point though is that when people have been giving their summary opinions on the figures they haven't looked at 7-11pm or 6-10.30pm, they've only looked at 7-10pm which is probably the 'real' primetime

Nobody has commented on the performance of either of the news programmes and their effect on the figures which kind of confirms what people class as prime time in reality?

If the news slots are included then the increased ratings for news, particularly BBC News due to the snow has probably had a greater effect that most of the primetime programmes

Wild at Heart would perform as well, if not better, if it followed Coronation Street on a Sunday night. ITV seem to be much better at family dramas anyway, and Corrie's Thursday and Friday lead-ins are wasted on The Bill and Popstar to Opera Star!

Having the soaps this late limits ITV's opportunities for other slots. Popstar could've performed at 8pm on a Sunday for example.

This is my idea for January 2011 and beyond, trying to get a balance between being cost effective and driven:-

Friday
7:00pm Emmerdale
7:30pm Coronation Street
8:00pm You've Been Framed
8:30pm Harry Hill's TV Burp / The Funny Side of The Street/The Farm
9:00pm Benidorm / Stars in their Eyes
10:00pm News at Ten
*No run of HH in autumn.
Then, after BGT week
7:00pm Emmerdale
7:30pm Coronation Street
8:00pm (Repeats) A Touch of Frost / Midsomer Murders / Inspector Morse / Foyle's War
10:00pm News at Ten

Sunday
January-March
7:00pm Emmerdale
7:30pm Coronation Street
8:00pm Dancing on Ice: The Skate-Off
9:00pm Drama Premiere pt 1 / Downton Abbey
10:00pm News at Ten / 10:30pm The Late News

March-BGT week
7:00pm Emmerdale
7:30pm Coronation Street
8:00pm Lewis x4 / Midsomer Murders x4 / Single Handed x3
10:00pm News at Ten

Post BGT week-September
7:00pm Emmerdale
7:30pm Coronation Street
8:00pm The Royal x9 / Heartbeat x9
9:00pm (Repeats) Doc Martin / Cold Feet / At Home with the Braithwaites
10:00pm News at Ten

September-mid October
7:00pm Emmerdale
7:30pm Coronation Street
8:00pm New: Wild at Heart x6
9:00pm New: Doc Martin x6
10:00pm News at Ten

mid October-December
7:00pm Emmerdale
7:30pm Coronation Street
8:00pm The X Factor
9:00pm Married, Single, Other
10:00pm News at Ten

Is that different to the one you posted yesterday or the one posted the day before that?

---
On this occasion I'd tend to agree with Robbie and say that regional news should be included in a top 10 list as a single programme but only if it was a full main 6.30pm programme.

At Christmas there was occasions when you'd get
18:30 BBC News - 6.0m
18:50 Regional News - 7.2m
19:00 EastEnders - 11m

And people would go on about how lots of people were tuning in specifically to the regional news, when in reality the regional news ran from 18:48-18:55 followed by the national weather and trailers and therefore spliting the news into two programmes was pretty pointless.

Excellent for Mo on Channel 4 and I can see it getting awards especially for Julie Walters. I hope the money freed up by Big Brother is used not only for one-offs which Channel 4 are very good at but also series. Maybe they should do what BBC Three did with the drama pilots and do a Drama Showcase to find a potential series as it worked well for comedies.

It will be interesting how Aladdin did because even though the film is 18 years old, it still looks great and was a great film to watch.

No it doesnt most people on the thread know its hard to get access to 6-10.30 figures since broadcastnow stoped giving them.
Barb use 6-10.30, as does broadcast magazine.I think their use of it speaks volumes
.

I think Wild at Heart has lost it's right to a Coronation Street lead in. Dancing on Ice should suffice - it should hold at least 7m from the lead in and can't even manage that.

I agree Popstar to Opera Star and The Bill deserve the leads in even less, but I think The Bill would work better in a slot with less expectations, and Popstar to Opera Star would work better in the skip.


And would've flopped at the same level as it has Friday night, if not worse. It'd join the ranks of For One Night Only, Brittannia High and Beat the Star as Sunday entertainment that failed.

This is my idea for January 2011 and beyond, trying to get a balance between being cost effective and driven:-

Friday
7:00pm Emmerdale
7:30pm Coronation Street
8:00pm You've Been Framed
8:30pm Harry Hill's TV Burp / The Funny Side of The Street/The Farm
9:00pm Benidorm / Stars in their Eyes
10:00pm News at Ten
*No run of HH in autumn.
Then, after BGT week
7:00pm Emmerdale
7:30pm Coronation Street
8:00pm (Repeats) A Touch of Frost / Midsomer Murders / Inspector Morse / Foyle's War
10:00pm News at Ten

Sunday
January-March
7:00pm Emmerdale
7:30pm Coronation Street
8:00pm Dancing on Ice: The Skate-Off
9:00pm Drama Premiere pt 1 / Downton Abbey
10:00pm News at Ten / 10:30pm The Late News

March-BGT week
7:00pm Emmerdale
7:30pm Coronation Street
8:00pm Lewis x4 / Midsomer Murders x4 / Single Handed x3
10:00pm News at Ten

Post BGT week-September
7:00pm Emmerdale
7:30pm Coronation Street
8:00pm The Royal x9 / Heartbeat x9
9:00pm (Repeats) Doc Martin / Cold Feet / At Home with the Braithwaites
10:00pm News at Ten

September-mid October
7:00pm Emmerdale
7:30pm Coronation Street
8:00pm New: Wild at Heart x6
9:00pm New: Doc Martin x6
10:00pm News at Ten

mid October-December
7:00pm Emmerdale
7:30pm Coronation Street
8:00pm The X Factor
9:00pm Married, Single, Other
10:00pm News at Ten[/quote]

What's happened to Saturday with the loss of You've Been Framed and TV Burp? Why is the 9pm slot on Friday's being given a weaker lead in then it currently has? Why are the soaps being used to support a night which for six months of the year is strong instead of a night which is weak for twelve months? Isn't Stars in Their Eyes a bit late for a family show?

I like some of the ideas - the locked News at Ten and the split with Dancing on Ice. Married, Single, Other has a brilliant chance proceeding The X Factor. I hope it does get that slot.

Yeah, perhaps BBC One could move Panorama + something else to Thursday if they think there's no hope.


But remember BBC One doesn't have any breaks, so half an hour is still quite long. I think Waterloo Road is on for too long for a young drama.


Or, perhaps Casualty could move to Friday's at 9pm! Perfect move for it really, moving BBC One's Grandad comedy output to Saturday's?

ITV1:-



That's what I meant, sorry (I didn't make it clear).


I don't see the argument here. Of course you can say experiment one breath, tried and tested another.

The soaps were incredibly important to Sunday's because there's no EastEnders afterwards to take away the lead-in, unlike all other 7:30 slots in the week.

It also maximises the potential of ITV's wealth of two hour dramas, Wild at Heart, even TXF and DOI and allows the channel to spread the Sunday night output a little more. (e.g. with DOI and WIA)

And The Bill, only last year, kept onto 5-6m on Thursday at 8pm despite a poor lead-in. There are so many possibilities for this slot, without resorting to soapfest!

The Cube and Crystal Maze would do well there IMO.


Perhaps Thursday at 9pm then after The Bill. I'm sure it could do well in a weekly format.


Well, it won't be. There are minimal slots to fill because of football and award shows.

And I'd say a mix of premieres and classics surely would suffice.

Seven
17:00 Deal or No Deal 0.48m
18:00 Seven News 1.39m
18:30 Today Tonight 1.33m
19:00 Home and Away 1.05m
19:30 NEW My Kitchen Rules 1.10m
20:30 Desperate Housewives 1.03m
21:30 Brothers & Sisters 0.87m

Nine
17:30 Hot Seat 0.49m
18:00 Nine News 1.21m
18:30 A Current Affair 1.12m
19:00 Two and a Half Men (R) 1.16m
19:30 Two and a Half Men 1.52m
20:00 The Big Bang Theory 1.24m
20:30 The Mentalist 1.26m
21:30 The Mentalist (R) 0.89m

Ten
17:00 Ten News at Five 0.86m
18:00 Malcolm in the Middle (R) 0.55m
18:30 Neighbours 0.60m
*won its timeslot in 16-39 demo.
19:00 The 7pm Project 0.67m
19:30 The Biggest Loser: Couples 0.81m
20:30 Good News Week 0.83m
*won its timeslot in 16-39 demo.
22:00 NEW Ross Noble's Australian Trip 0.63m
*won its timeslot in both total viewers and all key demos.

ABC1
19:00 ABC News 1.02m
19:30 The 7.30 Report 0.74m
20:00 Elders with Andrew Denton (R) 0.74m
20:40 The Great Wall of China 0.70m

SBS One
19:30 Mythbusters 0.44m
20:35 Man Vs. Wild 0.44m

Nine won Monday evening with a 27.5% share of viewing.

---

An excellent night for Nine with Two and a Half Men the top rated show of the night. The whole lineup looks pretty solid with The Mentalist comfortably ahead of Desperate Housewives.

Low for the premiere of My Kitchen Rules. Seven have been plugging this show extensively during the tennis, and it doesn't seem to have paid off.

Neighbours has recovered a little bit, much to the relief of Ten chiefs and the fans. The demo win is particularly encouraging as that hasn't happened in a while.

Ross Noble meanwhile absolutely smashed it. That rating is higher than what it was getting in the UK towards the end of the run.

Is take me out categorised as an hitt.It hasn't even hit 20%.Is popstar to operastar also classed as an hit now??.Last saturday Itv had 18%share in primetime on the same as the the year before so your analysis is wrong.

Peter Fincham would want to start praying that Hill doesn't head to sky.

Before I start, sorry if Isound short at any point here. I don't mean to be, I'm enjoying the discussion.


For BBC1 Thursday's I'd go documentaries in the 8pm hour (preferably hour long so people don't turn over at 8.30).


I think it's holding it's own at the moment at 60 minutes. I don't think it'd become established enough at 30 minutes an episode. Comedies work at 30 minutes, but I can't remember the last 30 minute drama (minus the soaps!)


Whereever it moves to, it needs to be cut. Less is more sometimes.


Maybe I'm biased against having the soaps back at the weekend. I like the fact we have no soaps on at the weekends (minus the omnibus'), I think it allows the schedule to be more diverse, and also give the weekday's more support.


With what as a lead in at 7.30pm? Tonight is holding up well but I think that's because it's given a boost from Emmerdale either end.

If you move The Bill back to 8pm it'd have to change it's stance again, and then convoince the viewers who have abandoned it it's back to the old times. It'd never get 5-6m now there, more like 4m IMO.



Thursday would be slightly better for it, though I'd argue still that Sunday's offer the best opportunity for it.


The classics aren't doing well in any other slot, I can't see Wednesday's being any better to be fair.

It's amazing how Nine manages to more than hold it's own without a soap in the schedule. I can't see that ever happening here!


Maybe BBC1 will offer Nigel Lythgoe to them instead?

Funny they dont mention the fact it was beaten by the THIRD airing of Nigel Slaters cookery show last week despite an emmerdale lead in.






The only reason Material girls is airing on thursdays at 8, is because they delayed the return of watchdog till april and extended its run.
Material Girls was added and removed from the bbc schedules and press packs twice before last autumn.The beeb knew it was an turkey and decided that while they were strong at 9 o clock for the month, they could afford an flop at 8.





I dont think the barb overall ratings for the week 3/1/10 ending have been put on here.So here goes.... last year in brackets

BBC 1 21.1 [20 %]
BBC 2 8.3 [ 8.8%]
ITV1 / GMTV 15.0 [17.2%]
CHANNEL 4/S4C 7.1 [7.2%]
FIVE 3.5 [4.1]

Popstar to Opera Star was aimed at an older/family audience, and would benefit from Coronation Street - in my opinion it would get 6m+ on Sunday at 8pm.

Britannia High was given a god awful slot, and it was completely out of the blue. It had nothing around it. This is similar with Beat the Star. Both should've been on Saturday's. The former should've been ITV2!

Surely you agree that the January schedule of comedy (Harry Hill and Benidorm) would do very well, possibly 7m+. Stars in their Eyes is much more "Granada working class" than Opera Star, and like Benidorm, I think it would do extremely well in this slot...

Also, by removing the second Corrie which has always done worse, ITV could have a consistent 2 hours to air repeats which always tend to outperform on Friday's! Remember Rebus getting over 4m last year.

And the audience, IMO, would not be affected by 'Enders.

Britannia High was god-awful full stop.

A shame really. I wish original programming would win out over repeats - no matter which channel the repeats are on.


I've never seen it (like most of the country ) so I can't really rate it either way. But the ratings were never high, were they? It's not that people tuned in and thought it was awful...they just didn't tune in in the first place.


Are the brackets the equivalent week last year? Celebrity Big Brother's improvement obviously helped out Channel 4. BBC1's continuing the good January run.


It gets a lead in from Coronation Street now and hardly benefits from it.


I agree they needed to be on Saturday nights. But in the same way, BBC1's competition wasn't exactly fantastic at the time IIRC. They shouls've held their own better than they did.


The 8pm slot would lose out to EastEnders (9m v 4.5m?), TV Burp may just win back viewers (but only in the high 5m's). Why give a programme a 5m lead in when it could have a 9m one?


I'd take a risk and remove the first Coronation Street. I think people feel two episodes are overkill, rather than going out for the late episode. Use the 8.30pm to prop up the 9pm hour - I wouldn't axe it as it'd leave the 8pm hour weak.

Ross is huge in Australia whereas he is still a cult comedian here but also Five didn't really promote it that heavily in comparison to their other shows like Paul Merton and Extreme Fishing.

Watching The Gadget Show on record and notice Five have tweaked their look and also the Gadget Show has been given a facelift although still the same show and content.

Very good idea. Probably inherit some of ITV's Tonight audience.


Waterloo Road is much like a soap, and it airs for long periods during the year. I think making it half an hour is just the move personally anyway. You might have a point with story development.


Well, perhaps giving it a spring and autumn run would be best, say, 30 episodes a year. The other 22 weeks to be filled with a variety of drama repeats?


I think you're dead right about Saturday night, but Sunday's have always been better with a more traditional and steady schedule.


What?! It got a much higher lead-in either end of Corrie, and it got much lower.

Thursday at 7:30pm has always traditionally been strong for current affairs on ITV, what with the long heritage of Thames' This Week.

I think World in Action (with more of a political/social/worldwide agenda, airing in the Monday slot) and Tonight (with more of a personal/consumerist/slightly sensational agenda) could compliment each other nicely.


I think the opposite, given:-

1) It will be in a slot currently dominated by ITV, look what happened to Grimefighters already
2) Weak competition from other channels at that time
3) Surely having EastEnders, another drama with a young audience set in London, should help.


Well, real classics, and the lead-in from Emmerdale, timeslot and lack of opposition helps. Bond and Harry Potter films could get 6m minimum

Yes, but families and Grannys tend to go to bed at 9pm, especially posh ones


Had Britannia High been on ITV2, everyone would've called it a big success. And Echo Beach/Moving Wallpaper as well for that matter.




Harry Hill doesn't get a big lead in from You've Been Framed now. With Friday 8:30 being a traditional family sitcom slot, and given the overall mainstream lead-in of 8.5m (EastEnders) + 4.5m (YBF) = 13m

More people watching TV = bigger audience/lower share

I'd say it could consistently get 6-7m (25-30%)



But people prefer 7:30pm episodes and soaps being on earlier on the whole (audience figures suggest)and having Emmerdale on before has always helped.

I agree - I wonder what the BBC would be willing to risk in that slot though. For example, I wonder how Who Do You Think You Are? would do there?


I think it was cut to half hour an episode it'd need to be aired more than once a week. Half hour dramas don't have the tradition to support them through once-a-week scheduling.


That'd be better - maybe in autumn and spring? Then again in autumn it'd be up against The X Factor still, but it shouldn't be wasted in summer.


You have a point that ITV have never found a steady answer to the lack of soaps on Sunday nights - it's like they moved them without thinking. I feel that mocing the soaps back is a backward step, but that's all down to personal feelings on that one!


Slightly earlier time slot, and maybe it appeals to the Emmerdale demographic better than Coronation Street's?


They'd work as holding the channel up through EastEnders, I agree.


1) It's a slot dominated by ITV because people are getting used to the power of the soaps. Before then they were used to The Bill. But The Bill has lost support since then.
2) If ITV1 move The Bill back to 8pm BBC1 will move to beef up their 8pm slot, I'm sure.
3) Good point - but then didn't the Wednesday episodes usually rate higher than the Thursday episodes?


I can't see the old Bond films hitting 6m - 4.5m at best IMO. They're not the attraction they once were, probably because they've been showed so many times!

What kind of ratings would the shows have got on ITV2. They may have been a critical success (certainly Moving Wallpaper/Echo Beach was) but considering Brittania High slipped to below 2m on ITV1 I don't hold much hope for ITV2 bringing it could ratings.


I think BBC1 would hold it lower than that. The filler has a traditional slot, and with people needing to adjust with the slot, I can see it dipping in a Friday evening slot.


People prefer the 7.30pm episode because it's earlier, and they're not then caught by something on another channel. Soap fans just watch the hour. If there was a change to 8.30pm singular I don't think the ratings could suffer unduly. I think the lead in Coronation Street offers in more important, anyway.

I love it when I log into the ratings thread and a scheduling discussion, complete with in-depth analysis and proposed schedule changes, has taken off. Most of the other long-running threads on the site tend to veer off into the regulars discussing what they had for tea

The stats which sparked it all off were interesting. It's been a very good month for BBC One, both in prime and all-hours shares. Unsurprising when you consider the number of bankable shows airing. The Sunday, Monday, Thursday and Friday schedules have all been anchored by very dependable drama, and Tuesdays can at least always rely on a good pre-9pm schedule. Add in very good ratings for the staples like EastEnders and The One Show, and the numbers were always going to look pretty.

Friday nights are a really good example of strong scheduling at the minute. A night that they struggled with a lot last year has enjoyed the solidity of the 9pm drama and very clever complementary scheduling of TOS, QOS and QI - to provide a really good night despite ITV's 90 minutes of soap.

Saturdays is their biggest problem. The entertainment problems have been discussed at length and even staple quiz shows and Casualty are underwhelming at the minute. Fudd pointed out earlier that adult-skewing drama was an option, but it would only rob stuff from other nights and I think they've been put off it ever since the massively-hyped Jekyll faded away there a couple of years ago.

And that's what I can't stand. My mum's a big soap fan, and when I want to spend time with her (e.g. tonight), I end up having to sit through 2 hours of soap! It'd be nice if soaps were on for 90 minute maximum.

I think ITV should cut down, because I think the sheer number means viewers can't cope.

Yes they should highlight the BBCs outrageous level of repeats more. I suggst you write to the Daily Mail.


Its clearly gone viral amongst certain sections of the population on the internet. It has all the hallmarks of being a hit for ITV if managed right in the 2nd season.