Signs not good for Primeval, given that it had already been axed once its flag isnt flying very high. Good for BBC1 shows, but there is always the feeling that its always there to be shot at-ie default shows when there is no Cowell to see on the side. I think the Beeb needs to search for another format, its certainly not The Magicians which having seen most of it last night is quite poor. What is its point?
IITWI is the best lottery format ever imo and does pretty well though steadily losing viewers year on year iirc. Casualty bounces but again its a default show, which it definitely wasnt even five years ago.
As others have said DOI on Saturdays would do wonders for ITV in this quarter, though I dont think ratings would be massive. Wouldnt there be any issues with having the live show/audience over two nights though? The Beeb have never done it with SCD - presumably the logistics/costs are too great-well as far as the press are concerned maybe.
Life Stories life blood is supplied by X Factor, its biggest successes are on the back of a massive and hyped up audience and with people associated with that show. No surprise that its not sought out when its not placed on peoples laps.

Just watched The Secret Life Of Bob Monkhouse on BBC iplayer, enjoyed it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode...Bob_Monkhouse/

Have a look after 62 minutes - Programme amendments? Time-checking?
Bob would have fitted right in here

You have got a point but when the show is on in the new year it achieves either the most watched show on the night or the second most watched show (behind Casualty). Basically the show is for all the family, also it's got that whiff of Family Fortunes that you can laugh when the contestants pick the wrong answers to simple questions. I find it amusing that back in 2002 posters on here were slagging off the show and saying it's slow but now it's gets through more questions that the likes of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

The show will be nine years old this May and if BBC decide to comission it for 2012 it would be on air for a decade. There aren't many Saturday night, non-celebrity quiz shows that have been airing for so long on the BBC. It does show it can get very good ratings when it isn't up against Simon Cowell. It was getting around 3 million in 2009 when it was up against BGT and The X Factor.

Thankfully, the biggest cause of the cookery shows has left now.

Shows how much ITV1 depends on Cowell on a Saturday as at other times BBC One does a lot better. Take Me Out is nothing more than an update on the Blind Date format which dates back to the eighties, You've Been Framed is 20 years old now, and Family Fortunes( when it's shown on a Saturday) was originally made by ATV, which shows how old it is. I think it's time ITV looked at some of these creaking formats.

Freeview HD viewers will need to watch it on children's TV now, nearly a week later!!

Last year, near the end of the season, E4 struggled to get the HD/DD5.1 version in time for the Monday premiere and the Thursday repeat was handy.

It's pretty dire all round in terms of output although BBC1's ratings are at least solid. ITV are lacking a big draw and when that happens, I think viewers tend to settle with BBC1 (hence The Magicians over 5m and Casualty and IITWI rising). I'm not sure that ITV even have much lined up for the next few months so it could be like this for a while. It also shows, once again, that no good comes from listening to "cult" fans on the internet.

Although 75% of those watching TV in those slots didn't watch any of last night's BBC One offerings!!

ITV1's ratings including HD yesterday were:

12:20- Live FA Cup Football: Arsenal v Leeds: 3.59m (31.0%)
14:50- Athletes Do The Funniest Thing: 1.46m (12.4%)
15:35- Star Wars Episode I: the Phantom Menace: 2.31m (14.1%)
18:05- ITV Regional News: 3.17m (15.5%)
18:15- ITV News: 3.83m (18.1%)
18:30- Harry Hill's The Best of TV Burp: 3.96m (17.9%)
19:00- Primeval: 3.75m (16.0%)
20:00- Take Me Out: 3.86m (15.9%)
21:15- Piers Morgan's Life Stories: 1.87m (8.0%)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Doesn't make much of a difference to the SD-only numbers but I thought it was worth noting. Not sure what ITV will do with TMO after this series. Although its overall figures have been quite low in recent weeks, once again it was the #1 show among the lucrative 16-34 demo on any channel yesterday with 1.18m (Total Wipeout was 2nd with 1.06m) and #2 show among anyone aged under 45 (TW #1). Problem for it is hardly anyone over 45 watches it which depresses its overall rating.

Some official ratings from the last couple of weeks:

EastEnders (NYD): 9.936m
Come Fly with Me (NYD): 8.802m
Rock & Chips: 5.8327m
The Nativity: Mon- 5.64m, Tue- 5.13m, Wed- 5.77m, Thu- 5.70m
Toast: 6.668m
Upstairs Downstairs: Sun- 8.845m, Mon- 8.132m, Tue- 8.1785m

Marple (inc. HD): Mon- 5.062m, Wed- 5.954m
Primeval (exc. HD): 4.94m
----------------------------------------------
Very impressive timeshifts for Upstairs Downstairs , giving it a series average of 8.39m - 4th most watched drama series of 2010, only behind: Downton Abbey, Touch of Frost and Sherlock. The Nativity also did really well as I thought it'd be the sort of drama to rate worse than The One Show and get ~4m or so. Also Marple's Wednesday episode was the show's most watched since 2006.

Or maybe Primeval is just a bit shit.

It rated well enough in its first couple of series so I don't know where this "it's just not an ITV show" has suddenly sprung from now that it's tanking.

It was originally axed for a reason. No idea why it was ever brought back.

I fear Primeval may become to UK TV what Neighbours is to Australia, kept around becasue a larger TV marker like it more than we do.

So including HD Primeval starts with more or less the same ratings as series 3. I imagine episode 2 will be down because the Sunday slot caught some people out and episode 3 will be down because of the poor quality of the series. (Actually I quite like it but I still think it could be better).

When it comes to whether or not the BBC recommission Upstairs Downstairs, I would imagine "4th highest rated of 2010" trumps "inferior to Downton Abbey". Some people seem to think the BBC will abandon UD because of all the negative comparisons to Downton. Although maybe a second series has already been commissoned.

ITV must be desperate for Harry Hill's return - at least they can be sure of a 5m plus banker with him there. There's just nothing else holding the rest of the schedule together. Primeval has died and TMO is suffering - though might still get a recommission thanks to its young skew.

As much as people take digs at Casualty and In It To Win It during the autumn, they really do come into their own when there's less on offer from the competitors. Solid 6m's and easily the top shows of the night. They'll be going nowhere.


Great numbers for Upstairs Downstairs - drama wise, the BBC had a good 2010. Their top two shows in terms of series average were new ones. 2009, by contrast, produced almost nothing. I imagine an announcement of a full series is only a matter of time. I could see them opting for Spring 2012, to be honest.

And massive credit to The Nativity as well. Like you, I thought that one would be a ratings clunker.

Guessing there is no way you can use the cast of Nativity for an Easter story, what with it being at least 30 years in the future (not sure how old Jesus was when he was killed)

Do you have the same for BBC1?

Looks pretty obvious now that Leeds vs Arsenal will be the chosen live FA replay game for ITV1.

4th round ties for ITV1 and ESPN to consider in a less-than-inspiring draw...
Southampton vs Manchester United
Everton vs Chelsea
West Ham vs Nottingham Forest
Fulham vs Spurs
Notts County vs Leicester City or Manchester City.

Primeval beaten by an early edition of the ITV News?! Oh dear. Take Me Out is being seriously hurt by the way Primeval seems to take all the sting out of the night. In hindsight, it appears the channel were exactly right to axe the show. Saying that, as others have already eluded, Dancing on Ice would really have boosted the night's schedule even if it only managed around 8m.

BBC1 did well and is unsuprisingly free of criticism on this thread considering their schedule comprised of It's A Knockout with water, a rubbish reality TV show (how the hell is it getting those kinds of figures?!), a quiz show which could be considered a rip off of hundreds that have gone before, a soap and a comedy repeat of a Little Britain/Airport crossover that aired a fortnight ago. It's not I'm saying they shouldn't do it but when ITV are blasted and BBC are not when all things are considered...

They've been posted earlier by sonny2001. Like D.M.N. said, all of sonny's ratings are correct.

Shame abput take me out.

rzt
18:30- Harry Hill's The Best of TV Burp: 3.96m (17.9%)
19:00- Primeval: 3.75m (16.0%)
20:00- Take Me Out: 3.86m (15.9%)
21:15- Piers Morgan's Life Stories: 1.87m (8.0%)
sonny2001
Harry Hill 3.84m 17.3%
Primeval 3.54m 15.2%
Take MO 3.64m 15%
P Morgan 1.81m 7.8%

They're different. I'm desperate for rzt's BBC1 ratings.

Sonny'2001s ITV1 ratings excluded HD, while mine included HD. But his BBC1 ratings include HD and are the same as the ratings I have.

Obviously the line up was much more attractive than a complilation of clips from a comedy show's past glory days, an anaemic drama, a rebooted version of Blind Date, and a repeat edition of a former newspaper editor's X Factor/Got Talent themed chat series.

There were as bad as each other to be honest, though at least ITV tried a family based drama. Just, as always, BBC1 is not criticised and gets the ratings.

I dont think there is much doubt that the BBC schedule is tired and shows like The Magicians are not much more than poor low budget fillers -Paul Daniels 30 year old shows were far glossier and much better looking and much slicker. However apart from Burp maybe, ITV is hugely reliant on X Factor and the other Cowell shows. It virtually wins the weekend on its own and has propped up a number of other ITV shows over the last few years which lets face it-look very much like BBC1 shows.

Its rare that anyone who berates the BBC for its schedules ever comes up with what they would like in its place. I would suggest spending more money and taking on people with a bit more nous, but then people would bang on about that too.