I agree that a top 20 is better if possible as the soaps will eat the top 20 up alot. I also like the idea of including things from outside of prime time.

BB's only real hope is that Endemol take over Five, and regardless of the ratings they'll probably put it on there anyway. If it has a break then no matter how badly this year falls, if it does return in a few years then it could get a wave of nostalgia viewers at least tuning into launch night.

As terrible as the ratings are, I think too much emphasis are put on them about whether BB is picked up or not. And the All Stars bit at the end should maybe show theres still a bit of wider interest at least in novelty versions of the show.

With regards to the future of DS ratings- I'd very much like to see ratings from daytime, I often think they're overlooked when sometimes they could be quite interesting at times.

Hello PJ Millar,

What you have suggested with the DS ratings articles sounds really good. I agree with others that a top 20 would be more interesting than a top 10 though.

Can I make a suggestion though, with the top 20, can you include the HD ratings for the programs as well please? Preferably as separate numbers next to the main channel's rating, perhaps put them in brackets or similar format if possible.

Thanks

This could well be starting in September, but I'm not sure whether time would allow us to do Top 20 and Top 10, though I understand your point and I think we should research how "eaten up it will be".

Nearer to then, we'll be hoping to have the soaps ratings and the TV ratings up every day by midday - with a focus on having the soaps ratings roundup linked at the bottom of the main article for easier navigation.

It's important that we listen to your suggestions, especially given that this thread is one of the busiest in this section.

Sorry to be back on the BB front but the whole Twitter % thing reflects roughly what ratings the show would get, tonight it reached 0.23% which is the highest since launch!! I really doubt tonights episode got 3m+ especially with the time slot!

First of all, thanks for such a lengthy and informative reply. I really appreciate you taking the time to do that.

It's encouraging to hear that this is being treated as a matter of priority at DS from the things you've been saying. Clearly you are keen to improve the quality of the reports and that's great, as is the fact you are looking to get feedback from us on how to go about it.

I've noticed the range of shows featured in the articles has improved lately with more daytime shows creeping in. That's always a plus. I hope this means we will get a steady stream of breakfast TV ratings when Daybreak launches later this year?

I certainly like the idea of a simple rundown at the end of each article listing the top rating shows in order of popularity. They started doing something similar in a chronological format rather than in order of the most watched on both Broadcast Now and MediaGuardian but it's inconsistent. If you're going to do it, whether it be a top 5/top 10, I think you should persist with it each day if possible.

One other suggestion I would like to make is a separate report each day for multi-channel TV in addition to the soaps report. Again this is something all of the "big 3" (DS, Broadcast, MG) do occasionally, but not with any consistency. However a multi-channel top 10 each day would suffice. I appreciate there isn't always loads of things happening on multi-channel TV, but these days the likes of ITV3, E4 and BBC Three are producing such robust figures so often that more detail on these would be welcome. Just to have a more regular stream of multi-channel ratings instead of just a couple here and there would be good as personally I find them more interesting than the main channels a lot of the time!

Thank you for reading and good luck in your new office-based post.

Less things to tweet about at 11pm at night compared to say 9pm or 10pm?

Just a thought. Like yourself I doubt very much it broke the 3m barrier in that slot. More likely to be at or slightly below 2m.

I agree.

Yesterday, it only got 0.03%, but the world cup was getting a humongous amount of tweets so it distorted it.

Good post. I agree with a lot of the points you make. It really is quite a tricky one to predict. Everything about it so far is screaming hit to me; the concept, the branding, the choice of presenter, the Sunday slot (which will be less competitive once Corrie is out of the way after week 1), even the advertising which has been good with 5 minute teasers allocated across the week. However Five's recent track record with light entertainment does not support such bullish confidence.

I'm nervous. But taking everything into account, anything above 1 million would be a success in my view. 1.5m+ and we're looking at a big hit.

I will be watching. Not a Glee fan, but Sunday nights have been dire on the box lately. Something fresh and fun like Don't Stop Believing is just what is needed to liven it up a bit. With the two main channels serving up programmes like Antiques Roadshow and Heartbeat at that time on a Sunday, there must surely be a sizeable young audience available for Five to tap into.

Seven
18:00 Seven News 1.56m
18:30 Today Tonight 1.44m
19:00 Home and Away 1.06m
19:30 Border Security (R) 0.98m
20:00 The Force: RBT 0.89m
20:30 Desperate Housewives (Two Hour Season Finale) 0.72m

Nine
18:00 Nine News 1.47m
18:30 A Current Affair 1.49m
19:00 Two and a Half Men (R) 1.18m
19:30 Two and a Half Men (R) 1.03m
20:00 The Big Bang Theory (R) 0.97m
20:30 Rescue Special Ops (3/13) 1.14m

Ten
18:00 The Simpsons (R) 0.69m
18:30 Neighbours 0.64m
19:00 The 7pm Project 1.01m
19:30 MasterChef Australia 2.00m
20:30 Just for Laughs: Comedy Festival 0.96m

SBS One
04:30 2010 FIFA World Cup Final: Holland v Spain Live 0.88m
07:00 2010 FIFA World Cup: Morning News 0.72m
07:30 Tour de France Daily Updates 0.31m

I've put it down to get 1.8 and I know it's a big risk but I think it will pay off. If it can get something like that or even 1.6 and end up with about 1.2 as a series average then I'd think it was a success

Terrific world cup ratings in the USA where 24 million people tuned in, despite the afternoon/lunchtime timeslot. 24 million is a lot more than basketball, baseball and ice hockey normally pull in, so its one in the eye for those Americans who love to mock 'soccer'.

Of course their version of football is still very much the sporting king over there, but the world cup ratings generally have been very impressive.

http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/07/12...-million/56860

I'm unsure about how it will do but it sounds much better than Five's previous trys at light entertainment like Heads or Tails, Good Times and it looks like they've actually spent some money on it. Shine have a great track with Got to Dance, Masterchef etc

Wondering how well The Silence did.... it got a positive reaction on the internet, could this be a hit? I only caught the last half of the episode and me myself was gutted that I missed the first half.

Monday 12th July 2010
BBC1 (inc BBC HD)
18:00 - BBC News at Six: 4.1m (24.7%)
18:30 - Regional News and Weather: 5.5m (31.3%)
19:00 - The One Show: 3.6m (19.1%)
19:30 - Fake Britain: 3.5m (16.7%)
20:00 - EastEnders: 8.7m (38.2%)
20:30 - Panorama: 2.3m (9.9%)
21:00 - The Silence: 4.9m (20.6%)
* 4.7m (20.0%) excluding HD
22:00 - BBC News: 4.3m (20.5%)
22:35 - Who Do You Think You Are?: 2.3m (15.6%)

BBC2
18:30 - Antiques Road Trip: 1.3m (7.3%)
19:00 - Wild Wales: 1.5m (7.8%)
20:00 - University Challenge: 2.7m (12.0%)
20:30 - Antiques Master: 1.9m (8.5%)
21:00 - Mary, Queen of Shops: 2.6m (11.1%)
22:00 - Rev: 1.7m (8.1%)
22:30 - Newsnight: 0.8m (5.1%)

ITV (inc ITV HD)
18:30 - ITV News & Weather: 3.2m (18.1%)
19:00 - Emmerdale: 6.4m (34.1%)
19:30 - Coronation Street: 8.2m (38.9%)
20:00 - Countrywise: 3.4m (15.2%)
20:30 - Coronation Street: 8.5m (37.3%)
21:00 - Identity: 4.0m (16.9%)
22:00 - ITV News at Ten & Weather: 2.1m (10.2%)
22:35 - FILM: The Thing: 0.9m (8.5%)

C4 (inc C4 +1)
18:30 - Hollyoaks: 1.3m (6.7%)
19:00 - Channel 4 News: 0.7m (3.1%)
20:00 - Dispatches: Africa's Last Taboo: 0.8m (3.0%)
21:00 - Concorde's Last Flight: 2.3m (9.0%)
22:30 - Big Brother: 2.1m (14.7%)

Five
18:30 - Live From Studio Five: 0.3m (1.4%)
19:15 - Cricket on Five: 0.5m (2.3%)
20:00 - Police Interceptors: 1.0m (4.5%)
21:00 - FILM: xXx: 1.1m (5.3%)
------
Solid, if unspectacular return for The One Show, about where it was before if I recall. Good for the soaps, in particular solid share for Emmerdale.

Seems The Silence hit Identity, I hope Identity bounces back next week - it should bounce back to at least 4.5m I hope against Who Do You Think You Are - which attract totally different audiences. The Silence I think should stay around about 5m for the remainder of the week with poorer competition.

Big Brother did well in the later slot, although the move was justified as Channel 4 was again above 2m in the 9pm slot - been a good few weeks for them in all honesty. Rev held up alright on BBC Two, while Five had another 'meh' night.

Looks like The One Show hype hasn't really helped. I know it wasn't Jason on last night but I'd still expect more than 3.6m.

Eastenders and Corrie seem slightly higher than usual, of course it could be people catching up now they know WC is over once and for all so they can get back into their routine.

Looks like the curse of the first episode has hit Identity too. Real shame as it was brilliant last night. ITV ought to put out a new trailer this week to try and get it to bounce back a bit next week rather than flatline like Married Single Other did. As it's a crime drama it may find that a little easier to do than things like MSO did. Decent start for The Silence, if slightly unspectacular. Looks like both dramas were dented by the Concorde doucmentary on C4. Mary Queen of Shops has done very well this series, so BBC2 will have mixed emotions as it's finally broken through just as she's leaving. BB held up fairly well in the late slot.

A terrible return for 'The One Show' could this be a sign of things to come without Adrian and Christine at the helm? I think the BBC should have pulled their finger out and found a female presenter so that yesterday could have been the launch with Jason Manford rather than delaying and allowing time for the show to start shedding viewers....

Elsewhere a big drop for 'Identity' and very, very solid rating for BB considering it was on at 22.30-the ratings for this series have been pretty surprising at times-for example the Friday eviction was dire considering the time, and competition, but then Saturday, Sunday ratings seem to be up and there have been other shows which for no particular reason seem to have higher than expected ratings.

The Silence did well, I enjoyed it even though I watched the last half of it. BB came scond in its slot, just 200,000 behind Who Do You Think You Are, which i'm sure hits 5m+, so its obvious that these late slots didn't help either BB or WDYTYA, even though BB did very well to have 2m+ watch until 11:40pm. BB did beat the ITV film by a big margin.

The Soaps are higher than usual for some reason.
Identity dropped, which was going to be inevitable.

The One Show is down, from it hitting 5m+ at times.

Wow, really big drop for Identity, Luther held up much stronger than that for the first week, only loosing .3m. before falling to the 4m mark. Maybe it will do better next week, doubt there will be a big crossover between Identity & New UK WDYTYA. The Silence did very well, I thought it might be lower, as it's not a big people pleaser, commercial type show.
Low for the One Show, it was pretty dire though, will be interesting to see, what the final line up is and how it works.

Funnily enough the WC final was watched by less people in the Netherlands than the semi-final last week. 12.2 million reach opposed to 12.3 last week. Mind you this was down to rounding up/down as the bare figures show there was 55.000 in it.

Good night for the Beeb. Strong rating for EE and BBC2's lineup performed solidly with Rev not dropping any further which is good. Anything above 1.5m is good for BBC2 in the 10pm slot, especially a new comedy.

Slightly higher than I expected for The Silence and it will be an interesting battle tonight with The Bill and CSI:Miami premiere. I suspect The Bill will be squeezed out.

WDYTYA:USA also seems to work better at 10.35pm and the UK version should be good for 4.5-5.5m next week.

The only weak link (apart from the obvious Panorama) was The One Show-I expected it to be higher sue to Jason's first show and all the publicity.

Good shares for the ITV soaps, but yet again Corrie is falling behind EE. I didn't expect Identity to fall by nearly 2m aswell. Hopefully it will pick up next week, as others say.

The move of BB seems to be justified by the strong rating of the factual programme and the share for BB is excellent, but it seems BB is just being moved anywhere around the schedules now, and almost being used as 'filler', because I reckon if it wasn't known that BB was being axed that documentary would have aired at 10pm.

Jason hasn't started yet. Last night's programme was presented by Matt Baker (Countryfile) and Louise Minchin (BBC News). Guest hosts will continue until next month at the earliest.

It was an unspectacular return - perhaps the BBC should have delayed it a bit longer until they had the new hosts sorted.

Theres also the argument that such a show requires a routine to watch and because it has been off air for a while then the routine has been simply broken. The BBC are probably hoping that by the time Jason & Tess start (assuming thats the new pairing) then viewers will be back into the routine.

Ah right I didn't realise.

And I agree...surely it would have been much better to get permanent presenters sorted first. Because viewers like familarity and it could turn into a situation similar to The 5'O Clock show where guest presenters don't work.