BBC Breakfast is serious until 8:30am, isn't it?

Emmerdale and the first Corrie did well. Obviously a drop for the second Corrie, but I suspect this rating is for the slot and not tape-checked. I imagine both will be alot closer in the officials.

Excellent start for SCD. I wasn't expecting the first episode to pull in 9m, although have to disagree with rzt saying this could be the most watched series yet based sorely on one rating. Let's just see how it performs over the next few weeks.

Another 1.1m for The Inbetweeners on C4 which is remarkable. Also QI holds up very well against the second Corrie.

It shouldn't be as low as 16% now from a launch of 25% share after all the resources involved.
We all know it was never going to overtake Breakfast, but those ratings are really bad and there is obviously something wrong.

About six months, I think.

I don't think EastEnders will do any special storylines that week, but, as you say, there'll be a displaced episode to fit in in late November or early December.

Also, by my reckoning, there have been two extra half-hours of EastEnders this year, presumably as it's the 25th anniversary year. Maybe, there'll be another one this autumn, or maybe they'll add one to the Christmas fortnight, to give 12 eps instead of the usual 11?

Or maybe there won't be any extra ones at all?

Cracking night for BBC One - they'll be delighted with the opening for Strictly. They've made better changes it seems this year, with a better celebrity line-up than in the past, an enhanced production and - crucially - fairly sensible scheduling.

QI performs excellently in that 8.30 slot opposite Corrie, and gets a great alternative audience. Along with Watchdog and The One Show, the BBC line-up pre-9pm seems solid and is certainly holding back the ITV soaps somewhat.

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Daybreak is looking like a real problem for ITV at the moment. I suspect they'll give the producers until Christmas to continue to fine-tune, but if things don't improve by then, they'll have to look a shaking it up more dramatically.

Imagine Strictly Come Dancing starts hitting record heights in its earlier slot once the clocks go back: could we see the ultimate irony of XF moving to 6.30 or 6.45pm in order to keep Strictly Come Dancing's ratings in check?

It depends what your definition of serious is. I watch between 6 and 7 and there is what you would expect-news sport finance etc, but there is nothing too formal about it. Bill, Sian, Charlie and lovely Susanna Reid do get a few laughs and jokey asides in from time to time-in that way they are strangely more effective than Adrian Chiles. I think they have got the balance about right imo.

But then ITV would massively compromise their own schedule as a result.

Yes agree with you there. The SCD set is much bigger and the stairway to the Tess Pit is a much needed improvement.

Have to say that the Paul Daniels/ Ola Jordan effort represented a first for me-I didnt focus on the celebrity dancer once during the whole routine.

DS have put their ratings article up for yesterday: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/...rady-live.html

PJMillar - if you're reading this, could you please say what primetime shares BBC1 and ITV1 (+HD) had yesterday? Thanks.

That's where the irony would lie.

But, surely they will stick to the 8pm slot which brought XF its high ratings last autumn?

It looks better, but I get the feeling it's an accident waiting to happen.


Naughty!

Of course they'll stick to the 7.30/8pm! No point whatsoever in them moving TXF to the outskirts of primetime and losing viewers and advertising revenue by clashing against SCD.

Yeah, I'm guessing (hoping, too!) they've learnt from their mistake of starting XF at 5.45/5.50 in 2006.

Great start for SCD. I was expecting 8m myself.


It will be interesting when the next radio figures come out as I suspect some of the old GMTV viewers will have defected to Chris Moyles or Chris Evans. Daybreak has tried to be that light news programme but has alienated both the viewers who want more news and viewers who want more entertainment.


I agree on putting drama repeats on ITV1 on Fridays. Entertainment just isnt working on that night. BBC realised that comedy wasnt working on Fridays so moved it to Thursdays, ITV could so the same.

you really dont understand that ITV is more concerned with maximising its audience & revenues?

I'm sure they will as they've got Family Fortunes, You've Been Framed and TV Burp to fit in before X Factor so starting X Factor much before 8pm would involve either shifting those programmes earlier so they end up in crap slots with dead space later on in the evening or moving one of them to after The X Factor which would be too late for that sort of programme. I'm surprised that they're just wasting Family Fortunes at 5:55pm next week considering how well it did last year, although perhaps ITV see it as a ratings equivalent to Total Wipeout, in that whilst airing it earlier will dent it but it'll still pick up a decent audience for that time. And they're both dirt cheap. I can't remember the last time ITV had such a packed Saturday schedule as they do next week though, as in the last couple of years they've generally just ran entertainment from 19:00-21;30 with movies and repeats before and afterwards.

As for last night, stunning start for Strictly. It doesn't do it for me but I caught some of it last night and there's no denying that it was very well produced and seemed much fresher and much more entertaining than it was last year and i can certainly see the appeal so all credit to the BBC there. Paul O'Grady was dented as expected but I doubt ITV'll read much into it due to the extraordinary competition. It'll be back to its usual 3.5m or so next week and should increase further in the Spring when it won't be against New Tricks. It's a similar situation to Law and Order, which was dented by much tougher than usual competition this week, and is underperforming in that slot for whatever reason anyway, but should be back up to its usual 5-6m on Mondays in the Spring.

Back then, they had a results show to fit in on Saturday nights too, so that's why they started the performance shows around 6pm.

It's been 4 years since then, and considering in that time they haven't scheduled episodes that early unless they've had to (i.e. Rugby World Cup), it's safe to say it won't happen again.


Problem with drama repeats is that the BBC are airing original episodes of drama on Fridays these days, surely that will take away a portion of the repeat audience? A lot of people, I'd imagine, would rather watch a new episode of Silent Witness/New Tricks rather than an umpteenth repeat of Midsomer Murders. It'd be a really sad state of affairs if ITV has to air drama repeats all year round on Fridays.

I understand that they always should be.

Thats a valid point but some of the entertainment offerings on Fridays have done so poorly that they may aswell accept 2.5m+ for a Poirot, Midsommer etc. Another option could be to put film repeats/premieres on that night or factual.


Thats is the theory but hasnt always been the case for ITV. For example, airing Emmerdale as an hour on Tuesdays to clash with Eastenders to damage it. It could also be said that Chiles and Breakley were poached more to harm the BBC then benefit ITV and we know what good that has done!

Yeah, it did seem a little strange when the schedule was starting at 7pm. It's a good sign that they have more programming either side of 7.00-9.30pm this autumn, even if it does seem a little wasteful in some respects.

What did they used to show between the performance programmes and the results programmes? I'm guessing You've Been Framed and/or TV Burp?

Family Fortunes between 2006-2008. YBF and TV Burp aired before X Factor, but TV Burp only began airing in the Autumn in 2008.

True, but next year they've got Benidorm returning (~6m), up to 20 episodes of PoG (about 3.5m for most weeks), and possibly Comedy Rocks and Popstar to Operastar (also at about 3.5m) on Friday nights. It's probably better for ITV to just keep it as it is rather than moving Corrie yet again to another night and then airing repeats which won't do their reputation any favours.

There's only a handful of film premieres which rate well: Harry Potter & James Bond, which they have rights to, but Pirates of The Carribean and a couple of others are with other broadcasters I think.


Back then it was Who Wants to Be A Millionaire? and All Star Family Fortunes.

Taking a random Saturday live show from 2006 (October 28th to be exact) on BARB:

16:55 - All Star Family Fortunes: 4.14m
17:45 - The X Factor: 7.10m
19:35 - Who Wants to be a Millionaire?: 6.14m
20:35 - The X Factor Results: 7.52m
21:15 - Afterlife: 3.96m