Great day for BBC1, sustaining more than a fifth of the audience virtually all day is pretty good going.
Despite all of the brickbats thrown at BBC entertainment, it does seem that they more than hold their own when the Cowell shows are absent. Cowell did pitch the X Factor to the BBC (not overly sure here-may have been the original Pop Idol format), but I wonder if it had ended up on the BBC how ITV would have stood now. Having said that I bet they would have lured Cowell over the fence anyway.

Ant and Dec may well bounce next week because of the opposition, however that is a dreadful figure really-over a million less than Countryfile and two million less than Antiques Roadshow which has a very strong opponent.
Not sure about Takeaway as it was very tired in its last series-I think they need a new format.

I think ITV should do what C4 have been doing, and save big movie premieres for the evening.

It didn't help though that ITV just suddenly stopped promoting the Saturday family films, especially when they were showing a premiere.

I understand Mr Bean isn't really an evening type film though, but other films could work well.

put Piers Morgan on Sundays after DOI like it was originally to give it a strong lead in, and put a film on Saturday nights.

It was Pop Idol. Simon Fuller and Simon Cowell met with the BBC first but they didn't go for it immediately and wanted to make it in house (which would probably have been a disaster!). They had already been working with what was then Pearson Television to develop the format and Fuller had his own company (19 TV). The BBC took their time and wanted to make it in-house but when they took it to ITV they ordered it straight away. Still there were worse calls than the BBC. ABC were offered the show twice, once after Pop Idol became a hit in the UK and they passed on both occasions.

Also worth noting that Lets Dance... is actually an independent production.

Poor for Ant & Dec last night, it doesn't look like this format is going to catch on. I've only seen a bit of it and it didn't excite me too much. They've certainly had better (Pokerface, early series of Takeaway and even Gameshow Marathon). I think ITV have another 4 or 5 weeks until BGT returns. Life Stories did OK in the end, obviously losing 1.6m of your audience in a week isn't great but with a slightly lesser guest and far lower lead-in it at least avoided the kind of figures it had for the Boris Becker interview!

Thanks for the info.

The Rugby and F1 did the business for BBC One during the day. Lets Dance has capped off another successful run - I honestly thought the format was a bit limited and had expected to see a big drop this series. It's proven me wrong and appears to have lasting appeal - the short runs probably help it avoid becoming stale.

Pretty weak stuff for Push the Button. It was clearly dented at the start but didn't grow enough to suggest it would have done all that much better without the overlap. HH managed to top 5m with a full 20 minutes against LD after all. Big test next week to see whether the PTB format is going to have legs for ITV.

I really hope that 6.25pm start time for DW changes - otherwise the BSI have struck big time. Why on earth the BBC would be so intent on pushing OTR rather than their flagship drama just defeats me. And why oh why is Total Wipeout going to be airing new episodes in the 5pm hour when its been repeated much later over the last few months?!

If XFactor had been on the BBC, BBC might be in a better position to defend itself against ITV and SKY.

All things considering I think 4m is quite good for an hour long interview with Kym Marsh. It's Bruce Forsyth next week so it should go up a bit. I don't think it particularly suits an earlier slot though - it's at 8.30pm next week, which is too early for a non-comedy chatshow on a Saturday night really, so if anything it's a testament to it that it does well. It's also somewhat apparent that it doesn't really need the lead in from X Factor/DOI which didn't really seem to boost it.

I'm not sure whether BGT is back on the 10th or the 17th April, but Push The Button ends on the 3rd. If it fits in with the pattern of the last two years it'll be the 17th, so they'll have a blank night on the 10th, which I have a feeling will just be given over to a Harry Potter film or something (Order of The Phoenix could premier). ITV will probably want Takeaway to return next year though as Push The Button doesn't really seem to be working.

I'm not surprised the ratings for Piers dropped with Kim Marsh on. Awful woman - wicked beyond reproach.

I agree re the start time. The show has been propelled by David Tennants charismatic performance, but the new guy will need all the help he can get once the initial curiosity has been and gone. Battling against increasing light nights has always been a peculiarity for a show which you would have thought would have thrived in the depths of winter.

Takeaway was also losing viewers at an alarming rate too IIRC. PTB just seems like a mishmash of several past Ant & Dec shows. Several of the "games" wouldn't be out of place in Takeaway. Takeaway itself being a rip off of Noel's House Party lest we forget. Shouldn't they be too old for this sort of stuff now.

The addition of X Factor could hardly have been a negative thing, but it must be remembered that BBC1 has been the nations most popular channel for the last 5 or 6 years, despite the huge ratings attracted by XF and BGT. If they had been on the BBC, ITV's position would have been even more precarious over the last two years

4.9m is far from a disaster though - if it stays above 4m I'd expect it to return next year. It's only in reaction to their ridiculously high opening figures they seem so low - Push the Button never was a 7m+ kind of programme.

Another advantage is unlike Takeaway Push the Button can be repeated quite easily too.


Of course it was too early - should have been 5.50-7.30pm really, or even in a midweek slot when there's no football, or sometime over Easter. Not the biggest movie in the world, but Mr Bean will always appeal - and I imagine the Mr Bean movies have quite a bit of TV appeal as many "Mr Bean" fans probably wouldn't have paid to see the movie when it was released, but are intrigued enough to watch it on TV.


Should do OK though against the rugby next week as it complements it quite nicely. I agree though 8.30pm is too early - as is 9pm IMO. But the Saturday night schedule has now shrunk - not so long ago it would have began with TV Burp at 6pm and ended with something like Life Stories from 10-11pm (or even later), with 3 and a half hours of entertainment in between. At the moment though Saturday night entertainment on ITV1 is from 7.30-10pm.


Takeaway wasn't really working either though, and if Push the Button is deemed a failure I'd much rather ITV work with Ant and Dec on new projects rather than just go back to Takeaway.

Deadline

More speculation on the future of BBC drama under Ben Stephenson.

PTB Breakdown

20:00 - 4.23m (18.0%)
20:15 - 5.06m (21.8%)
20:30 - 5.09m (21.6%)
20:45 - 5.18m (21.8%)

conclusion: the show needs to be longer!

Anyratings for Itv1 9.25 to 5pm for yesterday?

Hustle and Spooks both perform well, I don't think it will do them any good axing anything from their returning drama slate that still performs successfully. Look at the mess ITV got themselves into without many hit returning series and also there's a danger they might not be able to create successful drama series to replace them. Their recent efforts leaving a lot to be desired.

Spooks & Hustle, the two worst moves the BBC could make, still at least we get one more series of both, even if Spooks kinda had a good ending this series.

Obvious answer I guess, but all under 1.74m...

If the BBC were to axe Spooks and Hustle, would another Broadcaster be allowed to take them on?
Seeing as they both draw a young audience in compared to most dramas.

To be honest i can see where they are coming from with Spooks, it does seem to be growing a bit stale. Its also supposed to be quite an expensive series, and the last series at points was struggling to get 4 million viewers, for there key autumn drama you can see where they are coming from.

As for Hustle, I would say that that it would be a weird decision to axe it considering the demos it gets, and that it was getting around 6 million viewers last series.

One thing though, arent they both from the same production company? Could this be the opening shot from the BBC over a contract renewal? The article does seem to suggest that there is quite a fight going on between the BBC and independent producers over how much of a budget the BBC will cover. However, the independents have to be careful, as in most tv markets its very unusual for the broadcaster to cover most of the cost of a programme, they are expected to cover it by international sales and DVDs.

Again all these calls for the 8pm drama soaps to go, they rate well and are usually alot cheaper than 9pm dramas, so who in their right mind would axe them? (and this from someone who hates them!).

Calm down, dear, it's just a TV schedule.

Ooh, I can feel the gritted teeth of your anger reading these comments.

Pretty obvious this was going to be the order of play. It's the art of scheduling, running the new programme after the established hit. It's something American TV does all the time.

Besides the BBC's not as obsessed with the overnights as we are. Expect Dr Who, under BARB's new system, to add over 1m in the officials. Plus it'll score big on the iPlayer, giving it a very healthy overall reach.

well they are both produced by Kudos, so I see no reason why that cant happen.

I dont think Spooks has much of a future TBH, and im sure the BBC would like to use Richard Armitage in something else. Lucas is maybe the only character that makes it worth doing another series. Harry & Ruth are good but neither are the star field agents the show needs. One more series tie up all the loose ends, and there will be no need for another one.

As for Hustle this does seem more likely, provided ITV can sign Robert Vaughn & Adrian Lester they should do ok. If those two sign on & sign on early, the rest will sign on as well.

When I say sign on early, ITV would have to sign the contracts soonish after its officially axed by the BBC, or actors will go & get other jobs.

Spooks seriously lost its way last series so it's probably better to put it out of its misery.

Considering Kudos is owned by James's Sister Elizabeth Murdoch, maybe James could persuade Betty to save the shows and put them on Sky1. I think the shows have life, but for a minority audience.