The Cheryl Cole interview was good viewing last night and deserves its high ratings. I'm not an X Factor fan, but have never had anything against Cheryl, who was actually very close to death this summer.

That is true about her almost dying and her husband is a waste of space. But she's a convicted thug which people seem to forget, and she never apologised for that.

No the woman provoked her and tried to accuse her of racism, odd since she married a black footballer.

Do we really need to bring that up everytime? I got suspended from school 7 years ago and would be slightly pissed if people blighted my achievements by bringing it up with no just cause.

Some Ireland tv ratings. The X Factor had 809,000 watching on TV3 last Sunday night.

Well maybe she turned a corner and hope she has, but it left a nasty taste in the mouth for a lot of people.

That's very good considering Ireland is tiny in population compared to the UK, I imagine having Mary plays a part to. They don't show the Irish numbers on screen nor do they mention TV3.

Equivalent to 9 million over here, nearly as popular in Ireland as Britain.

I hate how this is constantly dragged up and I'm not even that big of a Cheryl fan. Can anyone honestly say hand on heart they've never done something they're not proud of anymore? Besides, shes a different person now to what she was 7 years ago, just as most people are.

I wonder if there is much standing in the way of TV3 becoming ITV1 Ireland. They already simulcast a lot of major programming.

I think ITV used to have a stake in TV3 but it is sort of becoming ITV Ireland. They do have local shows but the bulk of their shows is ITV programming, RTE is a mix of British, Irish and American shows.

With the judges not deciding who goes from the bottom two, she should make the final.

PT and MLR?


Knew Cheryl would give Piers a boost, but didn't expect 7m+. ITV are going to be convinced we really do love her now! Must say too she has upped her game a bit on TXF too, though still not a patch on Dannii.

ITV used to own 45% of TV3 but that was sold a few years back. They still have an output deal with ITV hence why they air a lot of its programming.

Promise This (Single) and Messy Little Raindrops (Album).

I reckon if TV3 didn't show ITV shows, it would be shown on RTE but not all shows are shown like Life Stories wasn't shown on TV3 as they had Xtra Factor but UTV did. If you live in Northern Ireland, you can get both TV3 and UTV.

RTE have done a few co-productions with BBC and ITV, Father and Son and Single Handed were RTE/ITV co-production while Rachel Allen: Bake! was a BBC/RTE/UKTV co-production while an upcoming comedy Mrs Brown's Boys is a co-production between BBC One and RTE.

they do on the TV3 screening.

UTV is also available in the ROI on cable and terrestial over flow so that would likely add another 150-200k viewers in the ROI (excluding its viewership in NI which is BARB recorded)

TV3 is moving away from US shows and doing more local shows (basically Ireland versions of formats - Take Me Out and The Apprentice are currently running). Also the do quite a few documentaries focussing on crime and other tabloid favourites.


only in certain parts of NI. Its not province wide unlike RTE1 & RTE2.

Good numbers - seems to be a committed c2.5m audience for qualifying, whatever time it's on.

Today's result leaves Lewis with a sniff of a chance of the title, just, so that will be a mighty relief for the Beeb with the primetime (ish) Brazil weekend up next.

I thought it would be 'season over' from a British perspective after today's race.

[EDIT: I note we ended up with a BBC2 switchover at 9.30am today when the delayed start meant it had to be booted off BBC1 to make way for Andrew Marr]


That really is a superb figure for little old Merlin up against ITV's juggernaut, the show that never gets any publicity or promotion, but has a loyal audience nevertheless.

The Beeb needs 90 minute episodes next year...

Casualty's slight rebound last night I see hasn't merited any comment. Whatever the long-term solution here, surely a good short-term measure would be to run Casualty at 8.30 straight after Merlin, then the news, then the lotto draws?

The full-format lotto shows hold up to a point against Cowell, but the 10 min draw shows only hold viewers if there's nothing on the other side and a strong programme next up on BBC1.

Surely Casualty would have a better chance with a 5.8m inheritance than a 3.9m one?

Re TXF, do we have full breakdowns yet - I have a sense it didn't really do any better than last week in terms of new viewers, it just had a slightly higher average because it wasn't soundly beaten by Strictly in its first 15 mins.

My advice - buy a white flag and run it up the flag pole.

Good idea.

They can then sell it to ITV then when Cowell finally brings down the curtain on his talent shows and/or the public finally tires of the overkill...

I think the X Factor will end in 2013, when the contract ends. Also by then it will start to look tired and Cowell will want to move on. What he won't is to see it linger on like another popular Saturday institution, Stars in Their Eyes, and get " rested", ITV speak for cancelled.
Possibly, as it's a bigger and more varied show, BGT could live on. If Opportunity Knocks is anything to by, it could run for 21 series.

Good to see Casualty back over 4m.

Also good to see the BBC providing a decent alternative for non X Factor fans. Gone are the days when the BBC, faced with a Bond premiere or a blockbuster drama like the Winds of War on ITV, would cop out and show an old film or a repeat.

ABC1
19:00 ABC News 1.06m
19:30 New Tricks 1.29m
20:25 ABC News Update 0.75m
20:30 Farewell The Bill 0.98m
21:30 Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow 0.33m

Seven
18:00 Seven News 1.25m

Nine
18:00 Nine News Saturday 0.97m
18:30 Australia's Funniest Home Videos 0.87m
19:30 Hey Hey It's Saturday 0.88m

Ten
18:00 The Simpsons (R) 0.29m
18:30 The Simpsons (R) 0.45m
19:00 Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who 0.57m

Shares
Seven – 22.9%
Nine – 22.1%
ABC1 – 18.3%
Ten – 13.1%

Do you know which years those episodes are from?