Well done on dredging that one up-beyond the call of duty for sure!

Not even Bruce dould raise it to a level where it would be missed when it went. The BBC-for so long the home of Ask The Family type shows hadnt all that savvy when it came to a more glamorous set up.

In the latest Sky News brochure they describe Live From Studio Five as "produced by the Five News team" they are that embarrassed to admit directly that they make it!

For those interested here's the synopsis of Takeover Bid from UK GameShows.com

http://www.ukgameshows.com/ukgs/Takeover_Bid

I think this was one of those quizzes where you needed to see it in action to fully understand the rules (and possibly not even then.) I have a vague memory of the programme. I think I quite liked it, but don't quote me on that.

I got the impression she couldnt make her mind up and was waiting for someone to do it for her. In the end the BBC did it for her.

Christine and Adrian sit so close together on Daybreak that they actually look like they are shut in a suitcase and cant wait to spring apart!

Survivor did really well considering it was up against America's Got Talent and Masterchef, CBS will be happy and it will boost Wednesdays for them. Big Brother performed strongly and it'll back for another season.

America's Got Talent did well but I wonder if NBC would ever consider moving it out of summer because it would boost their lineup.

I suppose all those late '80s/early '90s quizzes might turn up on an obscure digital channel at some point, if they haven't already!


That sounds more complicated than I remember. For me, the highlight was the potential for the contestants, via bidding, to end up with gloriously unsuitable prizes.

Thanks for the DCI Banks replies

I'm not sure Spooks has attracted very big audiences for a few years now, so probably room for both shows.

Sorry to answer my own question, but yes, it's the new series.

If two episodes can be a series...

I think DCI Banks will do quite well as it more appealing compared to Bouquet of Barbed Wire. It's both a one-off and a pilot for a potential series in the same way Above Suspicion and Vera were. They've dropped the subtitle Aftermath which suggests that it will probably get a recommision anyway.

I think they've really benefitted from it over the summer. At 16 weeks, it has stretched across the whole summer TV season and averaged a 3.1 rating in the key demo. NBC's summer average has been around 1.4/1.5, so without AGT for 3 hours a week, they would really struggle. There's also the question of where to put it in the main season.

AGT this summer has been around 42 hours long - twice as much as BGT. It's also an 8 hour addition to last season which was far longer than the 2008 series as well. But despite the extensions, the series has held up well. Not only was last nights audience the largest ever for the show but Tuesdays final A18-49 rating was also an all time high 3.9. It also seems to have generated more media interest in the US than in previous years due to a higher standard of talent.

In the shake-up of Cowell's shows in the UK, I think we might see a longer BGT in the autumn running a similar format to AGT. Even if the ratings never get close to 2009, having a 100% increase in the number of hours will benefit both Syco and ITV hugely.

I think by moving BGT to the Autumn, they can still keep Simon and perhaps have Amanda provided they can work around her schedule as she's doing Shrek the Musical. I think if Piers doesn't return, I would opt for Paul O'Grady as he can be quite biting and caring at the same time.

Wonder if Simon Cowell would go as far as replace Ant and Dec as they would have to present IAC from November but given BGT isn't as long as X Factor, they could air it from August and finish by early November they could hold onto Ant and Dec as I can't think who could replace them.

Sunday 26th September is going to be a big night for the terrestrials with BBC One showing Inspector George Gently, ITV1 with X Factor and Downton Abbey, BBC Two with Snooker, Channel 4 with the terrestrial premiere of Juno and Five with the terrestrial premiere of 300. There's a lot of choice for everyone but I have a feeling Downton Abbey will debut very well. 300 I think will beat Juno but I will be recording both as I want to watch Downton Abbey.

Any predictions for BBC4 tonight? Will ITV mention it at the end of the second Corrie episode?

K

Good news. Though I love BoBW so probably not typical. I think it is great that ITV are showing some interesting drama again.

I'm thinking 0.7-0.8m but over 1m wouldn't surprise me.

The Road To Coronation Street has had a lot of coverage in the papers. I predict it will beat BBC4's record audience. (The Curse Of Steptoe with 1.41m overnights and 1.63m officials - according to Wikipedia, so don't quote me on that?)

CBS - Great start for Survivor. Does that mean Survivor will stay on Wednesdays from now on? No doubt that CBS will rule Thursday 8pm slot with The Big Bang Theory and S**t My Dad Says - since one is very popular with adult demos and the latter is getting lots of hype since last season. Plus, it was based on NY Times bestseller. On the contrary, S**t could be like Rules of Engagement - that being the sandwiched programme doing badly between two high-rated shows. I see a very slim chance that My Generation will do well. At best, they will rate much better than NBC's sitcoms. My Generation can still bring surprises.

NBC - AGT redeemed itself and rated well for their finale. Outlaw, on the other hand, did mediocre. Going up against 20/20 on ABC and Blue Bloods on CBS, I doubt they are going to be any better.

FOX - Never a great news by falling 20% from its previous week for their season finale. Since it was up against CBS and NBC's reality powerhouse, I guess we saw it coming.

CW - Good to see ANTM rising from last week, considering how disastrous their premiere was. Could this be a signal that ANTM could rise and perform better this season? One of the biggest turn-off for ANTM in previous seasons was how many of the contestants were chosen based on personality rather than modeling potential. Sure, it did help back when they were on UPN and the first few cycles on the CW, but not recently. Their credibility was sinking and we all know that some winners were fixed. Now with the prizes being serious this cycle and Tyra being more there for the contestants, we could be seeing a comeback. Hellcats, while it's not bad, it is no fantastic news either.

ABC - All repeats.

Looks as though ITV has carried out another raid on the Bargain Hunt pool of experts, as they've signed Kate Bliss to present a show called Secret Dealer, which could easily be mistaken for something else.

Seriously, though, it's hard to understand why ITV persist with these antiques programmes when the BBC's originals always rate two to two-and-a-half times better.

Story of the night:
* The series finale of The Farmer Wants a Wife is Australia's most watched and helps Nine win the night;
* Home and Away's disappointing ratings spell continues;
* And Ten trials its 90 minutes news block in Sydney - with unimpressive results - as it crashes to a 16% share.

Seven
18:00 Seven News 1.36m
18:30 Today Tonight 1.34m
19:00 Home and Away 0.99m
*below 1m for the third consecutive episode.
19:30 Four Weddings 1.10m
20:30 City Homicide 0.82m

Nine
18:00 Nine News 1.21m
18:30 A Current Affair 1.17m
19:00 Two and a Half Men (R) 1.03m
19:30 Two and a Half Men (R) 1.19m
20:00 Hot Property 1.15m
20:30 The Farmer Wants a Wife 1.45m

Ten
17:00 Ten News at Five 0.75m
*90 minute edition in Sydney to mark 10 years since the Olympics last came to Australia, 60 minutes in other markets.
*in Sydney, Ten averaged 5,000 fewer viewers than last week with The Simpsons.
18:00 The Simpsons (R) 0.44m
*not shown in Sydney.
18:30 Neighbours 0.59m
19:00 The 7pm Project 0.89m
19:30 The All New Simpsons 0.88m
20:00 The All New Simpsons 0.94m
20:30 Lie to Me 0.75m

ABC1
20:00 The New Inventors 0.81m
20:30 Spicks and Specks 1.32m
21:00 The Gruen Transfer 1.41m

Corporation Shares
Nine/GO! - 30.2%
Seven/7TWO - 26.3%
ABC1/2/3/24 - 22.1%
Ten/ONE - 17.1%

Network Shares
Nine - 26.6%
Seven - 22.9%
ABC1 - 19.2%
Ten - 16.4%

Link: http://www.browndailyherald.com/abc-...iere-1.2331565

Apparently, ABC's Body of Proof is set to premiere on October 22. The official ABC website still said "Coming This Fall". However, according to Brown Daily Herald, Matthew Gross (executive producer of the show) said that ABC was impressed with the show that BoP might move to another night. Currently, it's on Fridays at 9pm. So, the possible move sounds promising for the show.

I reckon it'll break 2m in the officials, as to what it will do on the overnights depends on whether it gets any mention on ITV1 (I'm not holding my breath on that one!)

K

Survivor and BB did pretty well - Survivor has been solid for the past 3 seasons averaging from 11.5m-13.2m for its episodes.

Outlaw won't do very well, but NBC wanted to screw Conan over again anyway

Glad ANTM was up - didn't like the premiere though, will get ep 2 to see what it's like. Hellcats will do ok I think, even though I thought it would fail.

My CW Predictions (at an uneducated and probably wrong stage):

RENEWED
Vamp Diaries
Nikita
Hellcats
ANTM (for 2 seasons after season 16)
Gossip Girl
Supernatural (if it is't ending)

AXED
90210 (possibly, depending on DVR ratings)
One Tree Hill
Life Unexpected

I always thought it should have been on another night, Dana Delany deserves a better slot.

Of course they won't, why would they?

ITV don't promote The Royle Family or Countdown.

The BBC advertise the England World Cup match as being available only on Five Live, ignoring that it will be on ITV1.

Five don't advertise The X Factor or BGT when they do those 'Simon Cowell: Where did it go right' type programmes.

Of course not. ITV don't even announce when the odd episodes air on Wednesdays and Sundays.