Hustle is getting 6m - once you add in the live simulcast HD viewing.

Oh I hope so, as it's getting ridiculous now, especially considering Attentional have figures to w/e 24 Jan which BARB are yet to release.

It probably did last night yeah, bu Law & Order si disadvantaged by the ads. I know it sounds pathetic but because of them so many viwers PVR Law & Order to watch later so they can skip through the ads, so I expect L&O to be comfortably ahead with timeshift (if we ever find out!).

Disagree. If we are going to start banding words like 'pathetic' around to describe a UK tv channel then ITV1 would be the best place to start, with it's trashy daytime lineup, soap central primetime and a mixture of light on entertainment shows in between.

Not to mention for making the likes of Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden 'faces' of primetime, two of the most loathed celebrities in Britain, only behind Katie Price in the most hated stakes; who, incidentally, clogs up the ITV2 schedule like bog roll down the toilet during a particularly nasty case of diarrhea.

Then there's the pitiful contribution made to British comedy to consider, despite being home to the British Comedy Awards, which is a bit of a joke in itself.

The news output is passable but also a shadow of its former self. Regional output is dire and getting worse. About the only genre they have got absolutely nailed apart from soaps are reality shows and so we get force fed them all year round in a loop so repetitive and relentless it acts as a giant advert for how devoid the channel has become of worthwhile programming.

Drama is an improving genre but to be honest if crime dramas aren't your thing then the BBC is your best bet. As for documentaries, literally anywhere does them better - even BBC Three.

2/10. Must try harder. :yawn:

I think that's harsh on ITV considering that at least they are trying to air homegrown programming across the day, instead of relying on ancient films during daytime, imports and documentaries with no attempt at current drama (Five trying one out then repeating more CSI doesn't count).

I don't deny ITV1 has faults, but at least they have a go at British programming (as do the BBC channels and Channel 4...hell, I think even Sky One have more homegrown programing than Five!)

People mention the lack of homegrown drama on Five but it's not like BBC Two and Channel 4 are brimming with them either, aside from a couple of one-offs Channel 4 only has Shameless and BBC Two also do one-offs but hardly any series. I would say that Five should do one-offs in the hope that one can become a potential series.

Five's not perfect but let's face it none of the channels are but it is not a disaster either. I agree their foray into entertainment has been poor and don't get started from Live from Studio Five. Their strengths are factual and the US shows and it is where they should be concentrating on not shiny floor entertainment which is hard to do on a smaller budget but entertainment in the vein of The Apprentice, Project Runway etc

One thing I think they should try and do is nuture new talent rather than poach other channel's talent. The Hotel Inspector rebounded when they replaced Ruth Watson with Alex Polizzi and aside from one or two changes, The core Gadget Show lineup has remained the same. I'm surprised they have never tried to use Suzi, Jason and Jon for other TV projects in the way that BBC Two uses James May and Richard Hammond.

I spotted something yesterday which suggested the 3 Leaders' Debates in the GE campaign (if they happen at all) are likely to air on either the Thursday or Friday nights in the 3 full weeks of the campaign - ie, 15 or 16 April (ITV1), 22 or 23 April (Sky News), 29 or 30 April (BBC1).

Presumably the football has shifted these from the Wednesdays, as speculated a week or two back.

Has implications for Corrie on either day, Em Fm too on Thursdays. I imagine the BBC would go with a debate at 8pm after EE with filler at 9.30; would ITV air at 8.30-10 and just shift Corrie to another night?

I think you're being harsh, but some of your points do apply. The daytime line-up is fairly terrible, but viewers seem to like it (for some unknown reason) and Loose Women has to be one of the worst things on TV (almost as bad as Live From Studio Five and Heads or Tails).

I don't mind Piers Morgan, and his shows are actually quite good but Holden's output is simply dreadful, and her ratings reflect it. Surely one more episode of Fantasy Lives should be produced where she attempts to have her own hit show! Don't get me started on the dreadful Price but at least she's on ITV2 not the main channel.

Comedy is improving with Benidorm, TV Burp and You've Been Framed but it isn't great. I rarely watch ITV's news output so can't really comment on it but they really don't have that much reality. It used to be a lot worse but they seem to be shifting to more entertainment shows and gameshows. The drama output is decent and improving, and Married Single Other looks a promising step in the right direction. Some of the documentaries are good, such as some of the travel shows such as Billy Connolly and Martin Clunes' series, which were excellent. Other documentaries like Fat Teens In Love are wastes of airspace though.

5/10 from me. Improving, but lots more work to do.

As for Five, I think every point you've made about ITV1 is probably worse:

No drama, no comedy, apart from imported crime dramas and a couple of daytime Aussie soaps that they probably aren't making a great deal on (Neighbours). Sky1 have a far better selection of imports, and aren't just crime-orientated. So, all in all, dreadful. Then there's the bland and dull factual shows, such as Oil Riggers, Fifth Gear, Ice Road Truckers etc which are tedious, not particularly well made and therefore feel like cheap fillers. That's not to mention dross such as Celebrity Quitters () and the infamous Live From Studio Five, the worst programme on television bar none.

The entertainment slate is horrific. Heads or Tails, Britain's Best Brain etc. Who commissions this junk? I can't think of one decent and successful Five entertainment offering, which is appalling. The news output is okay, but nothing special, and the way that films are thrown all over the schedules because they have nothing but repeats to fill the time is shoddy.

Overall: 1/10. For a main UK terrestrial channel to have no original drama or comedy is shockingly poor, and they do not perform well in any other departments to make up for this. Pointless channel.

I don't see what's so bad about ITV's daytime line-up. Okay, we could do without Jeremy Kyle but the rest of it seems fine to me. It could be a lot worse. What are you expecting from daytime television?

If they stick it on Friday, they could start the show at 9pm, then run it to 10.30pm without affecting the soaps. It'd be better to air on Thursday if possible though. I think they'd probably air an hour long Emmerdale with Coronation Street at 8pm if that happened.

People complain about daytime television but you can't expect hard hitting documentaries or many dramas because the audience is usually at work. The BBC Lineup of antiques, property works well as does ITV's lineup. It's the same in every country.

I agree. It's going to be light fluff whatever form it takes.

Huh? The vast majority of films aired in the daytime were Made for TV and are only about 2-5 years old, sometimes less and often premieres.


Five excels in these areas though. Give me Extraordinary People / Ice Road Truckers over Cops with Cameras / Teen Boob Jobs and FlashForward / The Mentalist over Pushing Daisies / Six Degrees any day of the week!


There have been many attempts. Where have you been? Murder Investigation is one of my personal highlights from over the years.


A fair criticism however Five has a significantly more limited budget to work with. There is a fair amount of British programming on offer. They do the best they can with what they've got which is more than can be said for ITV1. Also imports tend to fair better on Five than original programming (although this is slowly changing as viewers mature in their attitudes) and so they opt for these more as they are considered safer commissions and therefore lower risk.

FlashForward wishes it was as half as good or as creative as Pushing Daisies.

I like Anna Friel but this show was awful and audiences around the world agreed.

It was never going to be a mainstream hit. Doesn't make it 'awful'.

And we'll see how FlashForward performs when it comes back from hiatus - if it miraculously makes it to a second season I certainly wouldn't count on a third.

I liked Pushing Daisies but the concept was too quirky for a mainstream audience and the writer's strike definetly had an impact.

I think FlashForward will return on Mondays but I can't see pulling in the viewers it got for the first half of the season.

Something that actually engages the brain wouldn't go a miss, like The Wright Stuff on Five.

Nothing remotely intellectually stimulating can be found on ITV1 daytime apart from the news, but that gets bounced around all over the place to make room for the drivel.

Loose Women bagging a factual TV award was the biggest farce of the year so far. Dare I say it, even the much lambasted Live From Studio Five has more factual merit.

Just browsing through the listings during the breaks on Shameless and noticed 4 Music airing Playing it Straight now (Mon 9pm I think). C4 also had When Women Rule the World, which was another series in the same vein really - just a complete piss take really.

I always felt that the revived Shipwrecked should have premièred on E4 one night at 9pm as it was good enough for primetime, but fits in much better with E4 than C4.


That's a fair point when looking at the situation as it is now, though one-offs are expensive and I really don't get why C4 especially spend so much of their budget on them when they really could do with a couple more recurring drama series.

However on the other hand for Five not to have had a single drama series you could really call a hit in 13 years is poor form really. Problem is as they've no reputation when it comes to original drama and comedy, it's quite difficult to see where they'd find the audience. The only thing I could see working for them is something like CSI:UK.

I don't blame Five for airing films - but nmot every channel can do that. If ITV/Channel 4 went for films as well, Five would be squeezed out. Each daytime is different - my argument is you can't hold up Five as a pedastal of Daytime entertainment; they're just the same as the rest - holding back the budget for primetime.


I agree, they do some great documentaries and imports.


I have to admit, the only primetime British made drama I can remember from the last year or so is Minder, but maybe that's because it was so widely publicised compared to the rest?


But then it can be argued that ITV's approach of a few hit shows and filler for the rest is safer than trying out new dynamic programming every slot. Everyone would like great programming, but it's not feasible. Five can't be praised for a similar thought process which ITV are damned for.

I agree that ITV could be a whole lot better (maybe Sky butting out may be a blessing in disguise) but so could Five IMO. On the budget issue, just to repeat a question I asked earlier - aren't Five owned by RTL who are one of the biggest media corporations in Europe? Surely they could plough more in Five? More risk more reward?

I've addressed these ones several times now. Neighbours was an important acquisition, bringing some much needed stability to the early evening schedule. And the reaction has been very positive. Fans like the extra opportunities to watch via Fiver and respect and admire Five for the commitment they have made to the series. Any ratings slide AFTER the channel swap could be attributed to a decline in the quality of the show, which would mirror what is happening in Australia. That is concerning but I'm sure it is being looked at.


Sky1 have a few good solid imports that would otherwise be on free-to-air television if Sky didn't exist. The channel does not represent value-for-money for pay TV customers as it is focuses on very specific genres and any worthwhile UK formats are ditched as soon as they meet their subs targets.


Disagree. At least 2 of those are very good shows. Fifth Gear started off good but lost its way and was subsequently axed as a result. That was Five responding directly to feedback from viewers. ITV on the other hand prefer to kill off a show more slowly and painfully over the course of months, if not years. (i.e. The Bill)


Second mention tonight for Celebrity Quitters. I'm sure it wasn't designed to be a high profile commission, despite all the attention it is getting from you lot, which is probably why they gave it the 7:30pm timeslot. It can't perform much better than it is with a LFSF lead-in of miniscule proportions. However, I do agree it is not a quality show and not something Five should pursue in the future.


LOL. Did you even watch an episode of Heads or Tails or Britain's Best Brain? Be honest. The latter was a good show, but admittedly not well received.


The Gadget Show. Next.


Lol. ITV1 does this all the time, especially at the weekend. Then they sandwich a big old news bulletin in the middle to minimise viewer enjoyment.


The 8.9 million viewers that Five reaches daily would disagree with you. As viewers' tastes mature, I'm confident Five will find a UK hit drama/comedy in due course.

Phew! That all got a bit heated, didn't it? I need a good old rest after that exchange.

I'll stick ITV1 on as the Loose Women are sure to send me into a deep sleep shortly.

Good night ITV fans.

As long as they don't give you nightmares, Dancc.

I think Five is maybe getting a hard time! Some of their factual stuff does find an audience and they have picked the best imports over recent years. Flash Forward was doing well with UK audiences and it had been very hotly tipped in the US, so even if it is axed by ABC then that's just bad luck for Five.

I think running Five must be the toughest job there is. RTL don't seem to be interested in investing to take it forward. After 6.30pm they have no particular structure in their schedule and where they do it's terribly weak (LFSF). That leaves them programming up to 11pm mainly cheap shows. Their peaktime is 5.30pm-6.30pm! Using E4 as an example again, they have a set schedule through early peak which often leads them in to primetime with a good audience to support new shows. Maybe Five is spread too thin? Maybe take away all the guff and focus on "premium" pieces at 9pm or 10pm?

If they make a big budget drama, will people actually give it a chance? E4 can make Skins/The Inbetweeners because the target audience will try them out. But Five can't be as niche as E4. Yet they aren't particularly mainstream either. It's difficult to see where they stand.

CSI: London is the obvious suggestion. But one problem Five have in trying to ease their existing audiences into any new drama is the notable gulf that can exist between UK and US drama. It would need to be as slick as the US version and that's going to be hard to do. For all the suggestion of L&O: London being shown in the US, it hasn't happened.

I know it was kinda cheap, but I thought Fives Murder Prevention was very good