I watched it again last week and felt that it had been made faster. I don't know if that was just me or if it was really done but I felt it was muh better. I'm hoping for a renewal now.

Saturday 14 August Overnights
BBC One
18:00- BBC News; Regional News - 2.72m (18.2%)
18:20- Outtake TV - 2.71m (17.1%)
18:50- 101 Ways To Leave A Gameshow - 3.39m (19.5%)
19:50- Tonight's The Night - 4.55m (23.9%)
20:40- The National Lottery Draws - 4.58m (22.7%)
20:50- Casualty - 5.18m (24.6%)
21:40- John Bishop's Britain - 3.97m (19.7%)
22:10- BBC News - 4.09m (21.8%)
22:30- Match Of The Day - 3.95m (28.0%)

ITV1 [inc. HD]
18:00- Regional News - 2.17m (14.7%)
18:15- ITV News - 2.42m (15.5%)
18:35- You've Been Framed - 3.11m (19.1%)
19:05- Odd One In - 3.00m (16.9%)
19:50- Magic Numbers - 2.42m (12.6%)
20:50- 30 Years Of An Audience With... - 3.06m (14.6%)

Thanks to MattJ for the ratings
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Good rating for Casualty, after last week's underpar figure. Solid evening for BBC1 overall, with John Bishop reaching a series high. Poor for ITV1 - I'm sure they're glad TXF is coming back next week.

That looks like a great BBC1 night, Casualty 5m+. Ouch for Magic Numbers again.

Casualty did well, back above 5m. Ouch at Magic Numbers. MOTD did well on its return.

Happy to see that Casualty was able to get into the 5m area, I'm also pretty pleased that Odd one in is doing better than Magic Numbers as I think it's a better show though I don't see it getting another series. This will be the last Saturday that the Beeb is rated top, I'm guessing. ITV will be happy knowing the X Factor is back.


D.M.N - I hope you didn't put a bet on MotD coming first, it got bet by BBC1's entire primetime line up apart from 101 ways... and Outtake TV

Wow, shocking night for ITV, they really do depend so much on the Cowell shows, big relief for them it coming back next week. ITV have had a terrible few weeks, have they anything else new coming up apart from TXF?

Haha, nope. BBC's line-up looks up compared to last week so that's why.

With an X Factor lead in, I bet Magic Numbers will double it's rating next week.

Although Stephen Mulhern is very C list, he isn't that bad a host and is good at ad-libbing in a live TV show, with his many years of live TV and Butlins shows behind him.

Last Summer they didn't bother commissioning much for Summer Saturdays, they just ran one-offs, WWTBAM and drama repeats. Anyone know the ratings comparison year on year?

Saturday August 16th 2009

BBC1
17:50- Walk on the Wild Side: 2.3m (16.7%)
19:20- Total Wipeout: 4.2m (24.7%)
- peak: 4.8m (27.3%)
20:20- National Lottery: Guesstimation: 4m (21.6%)
22:00- Match of the Day: 4.0m (25%)

ITV1
18:50- King Kong: 2.3m (12.8%)
22:15- Pretty Woman: 1.4m (12.6%)

WWTBAM averaged 3.5-4.0m, with the drama repeats getting 3.0-3.5m. Their Saturday primetime average in June/August last year before TXF's return was 17.2%, this year it's been 14.6% since the World Cup ended.

Much better for Casualty and share up 1.8% week-on-week to a decent level as well. I really don't think putting the last episode in the series against X-Factor next week is wise and I suppose last night will be the last time it surpasses 5m until December now with the annual sacrificing coming up.

Good start for Match Of The Day, 28% share very nice.

Next week BBC1 have put Casualty on against X Factor. A mistake? It could have had another 5m audience if they'd put it on at 9pm against Magic Numbers. Perhaps BBC1's ambition is to have a 4m overnight against X Factor like In It To Win It was getting against BGT last spring.

Another solid performance for John Bishop last night. He's well placed to beat Magic Numbers next week. Unless MN gets a big boost from its TXF lead-in. It's not my cup of tea but there's not really any reason why MN should be doing any worse than any of the rest of Saturday's tripey LE shows, especially the one it clashes with.

John Barrowman - the only man on TV who makes Louis Spence look reticent.

I wonder if they could repeat some old An audience with's next year, i.e the ones from the 80s and 90s. Or is this sort of thing best left to ITV3?

They could though I don't think it would do great for the ratings then again they can't get much worse!

If the bet was on share it would have won though.

Good night for BBC1 again though with the return of the juggernaut next week will make a huge difference to the share figures. I know its all ifs and buts but I wonder how much ITV's very existence has been propped up by Simon Cowell in the last few years.

ITV1 About the same as last year.

ITV in below par summer performance shocker... same conversations every year.

Yeah but they've got to wonder if making those shows are worth it when OOI, MN and 30 years of an audience with averages only 0.53m higher than King Kong did!

Summer is terrible for advertising anyway so I doubt very much that ITV are too disheartened with those ratings

I do think they'll be quite dishearted though as two new shows flopped, any TV station would be dishearted by that -surely.

Looking at tonight's TV schedule I think that Secret Britain will take first place though I'm really hoping that Vexed can do well and maybe even get into low 3m area. I know it's a long shot but fingers crossed.

For what they are, I think Magic Numbers and Odd One In aren't bad - and far better family viewing than the dreadful 101 Ways... and Tonight's The Night - the latter has awful taste with Barrowman singing Uptown Girl for cancer sufferers - for me it just doesn't work.

But, typically lazy scheduling from ITV. 30 Years of An Audience With could have done quite well in winter, as I remember a Torvill & Dean documentary getting a massive figure in a Saturday night slot.

But, the only reason I previously suggested X Factor moving back to Saturday is the same reason as football's best on Tuesday.

Name one programme that consistently averages more than 4m past 9pm on Saturdays.

Name one programme that consistently averages more than 4m at 8pm and 9pm on Tuesdays.

If X Factor wasn't on Sundays, there would certainly be a decline - but another entertainment show, or a drama, could manage 4/5m per week even if we see the drought of 2008.

Business-wise, X Factor is best on Sunday - but from a long term perspective - maybe shifting everything back a notch may help.

Sundays and Wednesdays have always been typically strong for ITV, while Tuesdays and Saturdays do need that extra boost in my view.

But it's quite a conundrum, and I don't presume that I'm right at all - but I think ITV has a lot of scheduling issues.

I actually fine those to shows to be quite nice and fun. I often wonder if Tonight's the Night would get as much complaints if it wasn't hosted by John Barrowman. I think that he's here to stay as well as an extra 1.16m viewers tuning in for it obviously means people like to watch him.

As for 101 ways.. I think the shows got much better and I'm hoping for a renewal.

I think last night's audience will probably secure TTN a recommission. But might JB be too busy to do the show if they're filming more Torchwood? (Nah! Probaly not. I'm pretty sure this guy is identical triplets.)

A few possible suggestions for replacement host if needed:
Alesha Dixon
Charlotte Church
Michael Ball

but not Graham Norton - you need someone who can sing with the members of the public. (In which case, for added entertainment value and possible ratings boost, I recommend Jeremy Hardy. One there for fans of Radio 4's I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue.)

The X Factor no doubt will top the ratings this week, but I still predict it will be down on last year as the Cowell magic seems to be fading a bit- BGT was down by 20pc on last year. Maybe if it starts to fade in the ratings he'll cancel it as he seems more interested in the American market now.

I think Saturdays launch show will rate higher than last years, but this years series average will be down on last years. Past X Factor stats:

Overnights//Officials

Series 1- 4.9m//5.3m
Series 2- 6.6m//6.7m
Series 3- 7m//7.5m
Series 4- 9.5m (peak of 10.7m)//9.7m
Series 5- 10.2m (peak of 12.1m)//12.8m
Series 6- 9.9m (peak of 11.6m)//11m

I think this year will probably be the most watched launch off the back of last years success (10.5m?) but won't grow as much.