I don't think there would be any problem getting Charlotte Church, BGT is far bigger and could pay her more as well.

I do think that Piers plays his part well (the embarrassing uncle) but J.R is a tabloid magnet.


I think they should get 2 extended runs out of Paul O'Grady (12-14 weeks in spring and the same in the autumn). Something like Comedy Rocks would fill the gaps and they could just have some drama repeats over the summer.


They did devise Pokerface. The problem with this one was that it was always setting out to be a show like Takeaway but that wasn't Takeaway. Not sure where they go next. Because they need a 3rd show (I'm A Celebrity is only 3 weeks, BGT is just 8).


I think there would be a chance of them all doing it as well. As I said, fewer episodes with stronger guests across the series.

Yeah, I'm sure it's started at 9pm more often than 8pm. As ZoeM points out, it's actually better off starting after Corrie and going into that 10pm hour. I'm sure it'll be ITV1's most watched drama this year.

Is ITV ditching the 8.30 Friday Coronation St episode as it is the lowest rating of the five? I still think ITV would be better emploiyed showing films between 8 and 10 on Fridays as a good film will attract a wider demographic.

Masterchef will get crushed tomorrow and I think it will only win Tuesday at 9pm as it faces stiff competition from football and I would say it will get high 5m-low 6m for the finale which is good but in comparison to what it got on BBC Two, it isn't fantastic.

No, they're moving it just for this week. What films do you think could rate well in that slot apart from Harry Potter or James Bond? Some movies would rate appallingly in that slot.

Corrie's demographic isn't that bad, it has around the same number of ABC1s as EastEnders and more than most other programmes.

On the face of it a thumping win for BBC1 in primetime and ITV's line up really found wanting.
Probably echoing a few others:
Dr Who good start with 8 million, though the episode a bit too long and I dont think the earlier than 7.00 starts help it. The crunch will come when the weather teases people outdoors and depending on how the new guy shapes up, there could be the chance of some of Dr Who's lowest ratings I reckon. Im with Robbie Sykes on this -the show should run from January in the dark nights-it was never meant for 30 degrees in midsummer-though Tennant pulled some spectacular ratings even so.
Over the Rainbow-the BBC's flagship public based reality show, 5.5 million is less than spectacular and I get the feeling its not going to increase much. Its watchable but more than any other Lloyd Webber effort, the contestants are too similar in age looks and sound and I dont think that will resonate with the public.
As for all the rest-Who Dares Wins is very watchable and its a good gameshow, but falls down its only hole when the two contestants so obviously know all of the answers. I would have flatlined on that Simpsons question as I have never seen an episode. Good shares for that and the rest of the BBC schedule.
As for ITV, counting the minutes until BGT for definite. Failure for Ant and Dec in Saturday night terms, it will be interesting to see the effect that BGT has on the surrounding ITV shows and whether there is a lift. And BGT itself -no Susan Boyle clone seemingly so again interesting to see if it claims the mass imagination of the public like it so clearly did last year.

Possibly, yes. The last ever Prime Suspect two parter went up a lot for part two (about 7m to 8.5m) and that didn't air against Joanthan Creek for part one. A lot of people will record Frost tonight and watch it tomorrow to catch up in time to watch part two live tomorrow night.


I think it's a cert to be ITV1's number one drama this year as nothing else seems to be coming this year that could challenge it, what with there not being any Doc Martin this year. Only the one off Joe Maddison's War (and maybe Downton Abbey if it really takes off behind X Factor) has the potential to get anything close to what Frost will get and that's unlikely and only if it is scheduled brilliantly.

It's hard to predict BGT launch ratings this year. I remember the launch episode of X Factor last year actually fell from the year before despite coming in off of BGT but overall the auditions did well and obviously the rest of the series really took off.

BGT definitely needs to be better this year. Susan Boyle carried it last year. They need fewer street dancers and singers. The final last year was excellent but the semi-finals had been really poor and some of the audition episodes really lacked anyone particularly good.

In ratings terms though Masterchef has done a good job, never spectacular but taking the edge off ITV's soaps when in opposition and arguably the most compulsive filler show there is.

Cool, I didn't know that, seems more than reasonable so that Frost will rise with less competition on the Monday.

Yeah, I guess it could work if they can get Paul to do two extended runs like that. Hopefully he'll bring in some decent ratings in the Autumn.


They definately need a third show and realy ITV could do with giving them a fourth show too. Perhaps they could do a new format for next Spring and bring Takeaway back to run in the Summer, billing it as a big comeback? That'd mean they've got something decent running on Saturdays all year round.


One eight episode run per year behind The X Factor in the Autumn would be ideal, as they'd be able to get good guests each week. Perhaps they could extend the length of his travel series a bit to sweeten the cut for him and to get their money's worth.


It all depends on the scheduling - if it clashes with Dorothy there will be a bit of a dent. I think it'll probably get a similar launch to last year's 10.3m, if not a little lower. Amanda has been in the press saying there is a lot more variety this year, which is good as like you say it got samey last year. They also need more talent so they don't have to have so many joke acts and filler in the semi finals. Perhaps even cutting the number of semi finalists to 32 (so there would be 4 not 5 shows) and introducing a wildcard show for the third and fourth placed acts in each show would be an idea to limit this problem, as with no SuBo, they need more talent than last year to keep the ratings up.


Yeah, I was very skeptical at first and dismissed it immediately, but it's done very well and the move has been worthwhile.

I apologise for daring to criticise BGT and for having my own 'peculiar' opinion that differs from most people.

Because you obviously like the show, you probably don't realise the hype but there's nothing wrong that at all, I think it's great for TV shows to have this as it makes them more exciting. What I was saying was that it gets rather tiresome hearing about it in the press all the time during it's two month run, as someone who doesn't really follow it. Each to their own.

A show that can get 19m viewers for a final in this day in age deserves kudos and a round of applause either way.

I think Frost will comfortably win tonight tbh. I'd say 8m or so for him tonight and possibly more tomorrow night. Hope I'm not being overly ambitious with that though! Creek will get 6-6.5m I reckon...can definitely see Frost winning, particularly with it being his final two episodes too.

It wasn't just specific to BGT. It's the same for all TV shows. As I said, I'm no fan of Doctor Who and I keep hearing about the new guy but it hasn't been ruining radio and television for me. Same for something like I'm A Celebrity which gets loads of attention when it's on.

It doesn't really ruin TV/radio for me, it just irritates me . I agree that it happens to other shows but I suppose it's the way TV has been rejuvinated these past couple of years with big event TV.

The difference is with BGT that the hype and press gets more and more after each show. You get people saying did you see him/her and then the contestants are interviewed on GMTV, This Morning and there are all the tabloid stories about the contestants family life/history. With Doctor Who the promotion will die right down now the series has started with only the odd trailer in the week.

Neither do I, especially at 9pm. They seem to think Britain's Got Talent's live shows were some kind of barometer for how well other entertainment shows would do on Friday nights.

In an ideal world, Five wouldn't be showing Neighbours on Bank holidays, but they've been bounced into it by some bright spark in Australia who decided to lever "Monday on Neighbours" segments into all the Friday episodes and "This week on Neighbours" segments into all the Monday episodes, forcing other broadcaters to mirror Ten's Mon-Fri broadcast pattern.

yes Five cant have been happy with that move.

Its not like those promos are even helping, as we have discussed previous ratings have been doing nothing but dropping for months now.

I really dont get TENs attitude they are doing everything but what they need to, which is axing Susan Bower, as we are seeing with Hollyoaks it takes a while for any new producer to get a soap turned around, the longer TEN leaves it, the worse it will get.

TEN cant even take 2 months off, so the changes are all in place when it gets back, the only thing they could do is end on the Friday, and declare Mondays episode to be an alternate reality.

The trailers should be 'coming up on neighbours' instead of the moronic trailers at the moment.

Agreed. Five always used to rest them over bank holidays but this latest move by Ten makes it difficult, if not impossible.

It's been around eight years since I saw any Sky Sports football coverage. Do they still have Andy Gray prattling on for ages before and after the match, playing with a load of tiddly winks (meant to represent players) on a model football pitch?

Not sure if their F1 contract would have allowed that. They have to show the races on BBC One. The BBC might have negotiated exceptions for religious programming, but I doubt they negotiated one for Match of the Day repeats!

I've read about tomorrow's Frost in a few magazines, and I now think tomorrow's episode will be huge. ITV have filmed two endings - - so people will be tuning in out of curiosity to see which ending airs. However, if ITV have any sense, they'll use the first ending rather than the second, and avoid

I would have thought