I think it should be rested, and then brought back in its original format with no celebrity specials - given 9pm slots in the week before Christmas Week after I'm a Celebrity finishes.

1. It would be cheap - ad revenue will not be big anyway.
2. Likely to fetch 3-5m - which is good business - and the week before Christmas is good.
3. Scheduling wise, it suits ITV to have something lasting the whole week because, with I'm a Celebrity finished, what are ITV supposed to do? Launch one-offs for the whole week?

I think the live auditions were a short-term plus but a long-term problem.

I think that, also, ITV should do this scheduling wise:-

Auditions: Saturday, 8pm-9:30pm
Judges Houses/Boot Camp: Saturday, 8pm-9:30pm; Sunday, 8pm-9pm
Live Shows: Saturday 8pm-9:30pm/10pm, Sunday results 8pm-9pm
Q/F; S-F: Sunday, 8pm-9:30pm; results 10pm-10:30pm
Final: Sunday, 8pm-9:30pm; results 10pm-10:30pm

I don't think it's great to drag things out too much, even if ITV are desperate for ad revenues - it'll hurt the show in the long run.

I think the scheduling here is sensible, and the Quarters, Semis and Finals being billed for just Sunday nights should build momentum.

Three comedy pilots on Sunday's from 9:30-10pm when The X Factor is airing its Q-F, S-F and Final should bring mammoth audiences - and gives ITV the best chance of creating a new comedy hit.

What does everyone think, as I know there are conflicting views on The X Factor? Especially on audition rounds and stuff

This drama battle may not be as close as I thought it would be, as Jonathan Creek has been really tedious so far. Viewers may stick with it anyway but unless Frost is also as boring as Creek has been so far we could be in for an upset in the morning.

Just seen another advert for The Prisoner... looks quite a bit faster pace than the first advert I seen last weekend.

Why would there be an upset? AFAIK most have been predicting a win for Frost.

By an upset I mean a larger margin of victory than people expect. Sorry, I should have been clearer about that.

Don't think that'd work. There was a reason this year ITV promoted it as 'The Big Weekend', by moving the last few shows on Sunday would utterly destroy the Saturday schedule. It really should be left as it was, or similar to what it was. I'd do:

Saturday
18:00 - You've Been Framed!
18:30 - Harry Hill's TV Burp
19:00 - Take Me Out
20:00 - The X Factor
22:00 - Piers Morgan's Life Stories
23:00 - ITV News

Sunday
18:15 - All Star Family Fortunes
19:00 - The Cube
20:00 - The X Factor Results
21:00 - Drama

I would very deliberately on Saturdays move Harry Hill hour back to 6pm where it could still get 5/6m, but boost the following programme - which I've put in the above as Take Me Out, but could apply for any new(er) shows.

Sundays would be similar, but Family Fortunes this time moves forward to 6:15pm, with The Cube coming in at 7pm.

Oh, I see. So you're not concerned then about the fact that many are recording Frost and watching Creek instead?

I suppose it won't matter too much, as long as they watch it tonight.

There is no way Millionaire would do big numbers thesedays, how long's it been on, about 12 years.

It's just good as a fairly reliable filler getting 3-4 million viewers.

Regarding a remake of The Crystal Maze proper, there are two major issues, one, how much would it cost? and two, many people will dismiss it completely because of some minor issue. See The Krypton Factor, a fairly accurate remake but dismissed as rubbish by many.

ITV should wait for Ant and Dec to grow up and then call them again. Why would anyone watch a Takeaway rip off which isn't as good as the stale original? The whole schedule bombed, with only a TV Burp repeat and The Door performing within respectable boundaries.

BBC1 did ok - Doctor Who did well, though thought the launch may rate higher. I think Robbie's right in criticising the scheduling; a show like that could clear up in January. Over the Rainbow and Casualty didn't seem to do that brilliantly considering the relative weakness of the opposition and the fact they were on later than Who.


I think Jonathan Creek'll win. With it being a holiday weekend, people'll want a bit of humour, not a heavy crime drama. Frost won't be crushed, but it won't get brilliant figures IMO.

I agree with Fudd, Creek will probably win. Expect Frost will do well - 6-7m - but nothing spectacular. The bigger figure will no doubt come tomorrow night.

They should combine the best bits from Push the Button along with the best bits from Takeaway into the next series of takeaway.

Some of the games in PTB were better than 'Ant v Dec: The teams' which has dominated Takeaway recently.

I cant see Creek winning. As a viewer who will watch both, I preferred to watch Frost as its 2 hours and then watch Creek on the I-player later on. I think the longer running time, Corrie lead-in and the fact people will want to make sure they have watched the first part before tomorrow's finale that Frost will win it but I reckon it will be fairly close.

I forgot about the Corrie lead-in. Although Corrie will be down on what it usually gets.

I don't think the Corrie lead-in will provide much of a boost for Frost. Last year's Easter Sunday episode of Corrie only got 5.4m and I can't see tonight's episode doing much better as it wasn't promoted at all. Indeed the Antiques Roadshow might even get a higher rating than Corrie (not by much though).

I agree it will probably be a minor factor but still one to consider. I just think people will have watched Frost when it aired but more will catch up on Creek. I could see Frost winning on overnights then Creek overtaking in the officials.

I thought that'd happen on New Years Day 2009 when Creek went up against Marple IIRC - people watching the latter then catching up with the BBC1 offering. It didn't work out like that, which is why I think Creek may edge it this time around.

Surely people would record the one with the ads?

Definitely the comment of the day (it hasnt appeared as bold so its the "Ant and Dec growing up bit")

And thats three of us who go for a January start for Dr Who. Obviously fantasy stuff as presumably logistics would not allow it.

Frost is a lot more popualr than Marple, though, and that episode of Marple was not the last ever episode (I know tonight's Frost wasn't either but it was part of the final two parter). After a very slow start Jonathan Creek improved massively in the second half, so it was decent enough overall. It's definately one of the most interesting ratings clashes in a long time.

Maybe but even with the ads I watched Frost as it was 2 hours long instead of Creek that was only 1 hour 35 mins meaning if I had watched Creek I would have been scratching around for 25 mins wondering what was happening on Frost.

Also after being sceptical, I think repeating Michael McIntyre's show tonight was a good move. Similar audience to Creek and a good way of growing his potential audience for his new series later in the year.

There is one thing which might cause an issue in regards to Doctor Who airing in the winter - Primeval. That took the Saturday slot from January to March, and will be back next year. Still, ITV would see an opportunity to piggy back the show off Who and considering the BBC have an interest in Watch, who'll broadcast the following series first, I can see them wanting to give it a good outing. So if the BBC went with:

6.00 Total Wipeout
7.00 Doctor Who
7.45 Andrew Lloyd Webber vehicle

then ITV could try something like

5.45 Animals Do the Funniest Things
6.45 You've Been Framed
7.15 TV Burp
7.45 Primeval

and try to attract the Who audience accross. Of course that'd mean schedulers working together so I won't hold my breath.


I guess the fact that the Creek v Marple battle was during Christmas time may have something to do with it as well. It's just with the year the two channels are having, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Creek edge it.

Frost could boost Corrie!

Don't forget that Creek was on from 20:00 to 21:35, with Frost on from 20:00 to 22:00. So Frost might 'beat' Creek, but actually lose head-to-head as people don't wish to watch Michael McIntyre's Live and Laughing.

Would people switch over after missing 90 minutes of a programme though? Surely they'd choose another channel?

I suppose some may decide watching the last half hour will give them enough insight to watch tomorrow's without bothering with the previous hour and a half.