Superb F1 figures for breakfast time on a Sunday - that's on a par for what the 1pm races were getting last year. Terrific.

The Golf seems to have knocked BBC1 and ITV1's evening line up - but that's no real defence for what are underwhelming figures for the big two dramas. Possibly record low overnight ratings for both WTD and Lewis, although WTD closed the gap considerably - just 0.3m this week against 1.4m last week.

A poor showing really for the WTD 2-part finale. It was a top-notch episode, and it would be a shame to see such a landmark drama series go out on a whimper.

I thought last night's Lewis was turgidly dull, and I'm a huge fan of the Morse-Lewis franchise. I expected WTD to do a bit better last night as people got bored of Lewis and switched to BBC1 for WTD. It seems they switched to the golf instead.

I notice the quick repeat showing of Atonement did no better than when it was up against The Apprentice on BBC1's Super Sunday at Christmas. After it massively flopped there, I expected them to air it again over the summer, but probably in a Sunday 9pm slot. Surprised they put it out again in exactly the same Sunday 10.15pm slot.

The tape-checked rating for The Walking Dead (stripping out the last 3 minutes) was 1.5m.

Good result, could push towards 2m next week with a much earlier finish and some of those male viewers who were preoccupied with the golf catching up during the week?

Yeah, I reckon quite a few people may have turned off/over at around 11pm too, because it went quite quiet then, before picking up pace towards the end.

Any demos for yesterday, especially The Walking Dead? According to Channel 4 Sales, Channel 5 was more popular with 16-34 year olds than both Channel 4 and ITV1 yesterday.

Channel 5 - 7.9%
Channel 4 - 6.9%
ITV1 - 6.6%

Those are all-day shares as well, so not just primetime. They will be over the moon with that.

Pretty good for The Walking Dead, about the only decent thing on Channel 5. Will most likely drop next week, as that's when the quality dips too. :sleep:

Formula 1: The Malaysian Grand Prix - 15-Minute Breakdown
08:00 - 1.6m (29.2%)
08:15 - 2.0m (32.3%)
08:30 - 2.4m (33.8%)
08:45 - 3.1m (39.8%)
09:00 - 4.4m (49.5%)
09:15 - 4.3m (46.8%)
09:30 - 4.4m (45.6%)
09:45 - 4.4m (45.4%)
10:00 - 4.3m (44.1%)
10:15 - 4.3m (44.3%)
10:30 - 4.4m (45.8%)
10:45 - 3.1m (37.2%)
11:00 - 2.3m (28.4%)

Seems like there were 4.3m that got up to specifically watch the Grand Prix. And...

Golf: The Masters - Hourly Breakdown
19:00 - 1.8m (8.4%)
20:00 - 2.4m (9.8%)
21:00 - 2.8m (11.2%)
22:00 - 3.4m (17.8%) *peak: 3.6m (16.3%) @ 22:00
23:00 - 2.8m (23.8%) *percentage peak: 2.9m (26.2%) @ 23:30
00:00 to 00:15 - 1.0m (14.0%)

Have ITV missed a trick with their scheduling? Lewis is performing pretty underwhelmingly considering it's ITV's most-cherished franchise...why didn't they save it till May like last year, where it performed well and where there's usually no BBC crime drama...

This is what I would've done with ITV at the weekends through the spring:-

Saturday
7:00pm Mr & Mrs
8:00pm Britain's Got Talent
9:00pm Sing If You Can

Sunday
7:00pm Emmerdale
7:30pm Coronation Street
8:00pm Britain's Got Talent
9:00pm Piers Morgan's Life Stories

(Britain's Got More Talent only airing on Sunday at 9pm, would probably be complimentary scheduling with Morgan on ITV1).

What does everybody think about this idea? Saving Lewis for post-Talent, in my opinion, would've been best.

Would it be Britain's Got Talent overkill to have two hours every week, or would the two-day split work for the auditions?

Is Piers Morgan in the right slot? Would it do well against Waking the Dead with a BGT lead-in?

Only thing I think is unequivocal is that Mr & Mrs is the perfect alternative for Doctor Who, and Sing If You Can suits a post-9pm slot.

The figures quoted on here for this year included HD.


Twitter last night was full of comments berating the completely OTT reaction, especially from Hazel Irving, of the demise of Rory McIlroy.

Surely the BBC and Sky were both taking essentially the same CBS core coverage ? How could one be much better than the other ?

Brilliant ratings for both the golf and F1.

The fact 4.4m watched the race (plus 1m the pm re-run) fully vindicates the BBC's acquisition of the rights and their (hopefully) determination to hang on to them, or at least not relinquish them early like ITV had to.

F1 is a major sporting event, despite what its detractors think, and it is at home on the BBC, the network that nurtured the sport from the niche affair it was in the 1970s to the dominant force it is now.

Doubt it. Shorter slot, only three breaks (I assume there were five last night), earlier finish and no competition from golf.

People need to remember Waking The Dead will timeshift a lot and should be near if not over 7m. Lewis fell quite a bit but should recover next week with no Golf, WTD and maybe worse weather.

The Walking Dead did just about OK but given the amount of promotion and they way some have been talking about it there must be a few slightly disappointed.

The Cube again showing its not that successful and only gets a good audience when it has a big show around it. It also got a lower share than SYTYCD on Saturday.

Well, a good day for sports coverage. Highly impressive that the F1 was able to stir well over 4m for the race at 9am on a Sunday morning. There's relatively few sporting events that could manage that. Plus the extra 1m for the re-run, of course.

And the Masters did well too - helped by the drama of McIlroy's collapse, I suppose. That's worked well for the BBC and allows them to trumpet their raw figures when they're in competition with Sky for the first time. Events like last night suit FTA coverage - even people with little interest in golf, who've watched little of the first three days, would have been drawn to it.

Aside from that, poor for both WTD and Lewis. The clash has done neither any favours. The BBC probably won't be too concerned with the former coming to an end though. Nice start for The Walking Dead considering the late slot and all. See where it goes from here...

More figures from DS, Broadcast and Attentional:

BBC Two
19:00 - Golf: The Masters: 2.86m (14.4%)
* 5-minute peak: 3.51m (18.1%) @ 22:25
* 2.82m (27.8%) were watching @ 23:45

ITV1
19:00 - The Cube: 3.44m (16.9%)
* +1: 226,000 (0.9%)
20:00 - Lewis: 5.59m (22.6%)
* +1: 127,500 (0.6%)

Channel 4
19:00 - Come Dine With Me: 1.45m (7.1%)
* +1: 369,000 (1.5%)
20:00 - Civilisation: Is The West History?: 540,000 (2.3%)
21:00 - Country House Rescue: 1.33m (5.2%)
* +1: 224,000 (1.2%)
22:00 - FILM: Wedding Crashers: 740,000 (5.2%)

Channel 5
17:50 - FILM: Mr Deeds: 1.01m (5.9%)
22:00 - The Walking Dead: 1.46m (8.2%)
* slot average: 1.05m (6.2%)

BBC Four
20:00 - The Space Shuttle: a Horizon Guide: 159,900 (0.6%)
21:00 - Storyville: Knocking on Heavens Door: 205,600 (1.1%)
22:00 - Destination Titan: 121,900 (1.2%)

ITV2
22:00 - The Only Way Is Essex: 888,000 (4.4%)

Sky Sports 1
18:30 - Golf: The Masters: 520,900 (2.8%)
* 5-minute peak: 717,200 (3.3%) @ 22:05

Primetime Shares
BBC One - 21.5%
ITV1 - 17.9% (+1: 0.6%)
BBC Two - 11.6%
Channel 5 - 6.5%
Channel 4 - 4.6% (+1: 0.9%)

All figures are tape-checked and include HD where necessary.

Any idea of what OK! TV Sunday did?

Thanks

I don't think anyone will be disappointed. It was up against really stiff competition and has already been on FX yet it still managed 1.5 It will probably get right into BARB's top 10 as it cut off for that is about 1.3 so I actually think it was a really good rating.

Sorry to ask again but does anyone have the rating for Monk on ITV this past Saturday ?

I agree. It was fascinating stuff and its rare I watch BBC2 for 5 solid hours, but i did last night. The fact that Woods was back in contention in a big way would have hooked some, and the very sad demise of Mcilroy in a strange way was rather compelling.
No doubt the figures will be a boost for the BBC in attempting to hang on to at least some of the coverage.
As for the rest, well AR and Waking The Dead,along with the Golf have once again dampened Lewis.Great scores for the F1.
In fact if its the BBC's plan to ditch a major sporting contract its going to need some pretty good PR as there will be an inevitable outcry from some quarters.
The Cube? I think the reason its not doing all that well is simply that its not very good.

rzt, any Sky golf ratings for Saturday?

The BBC's golf rating appears identical to last year - per BARB the final round last year also got exactly 2.86m (not sure about HD this year and last year may obviously make a difference).

Sky's golf rating is actually higher than the first 2 rounds when it had exclusive coverage. Obviously you would expect a higher audience for the final round but even so suggests most Sky viewers did stick with Sky.

A solid start to the series for The Walking Dead - Channel 5 will be pleased with that figure. I can see it holding very steady next week because it's in a shorter hour slot and I reckon some of the 'timeshifters' for episode 1 might watch episode 2 live due to weaker competition next Sunday. It's a promising start, certainly, and Channel 5 had a good evening overall with Hellboy pulling in a good audience.

A very good rating for The Masters Golf on BBC2. It beat Sky Sports' coverage by 5.5:1 which is a good margin, even taking the whole FTA argument into account. Both Waking The Dead and Lewis got record low overnights but I wouldn't call the figures 'poor' because there's a good reason why both are down - they're denting each other, fewer people were watching TV last night compared to recent Sundays and the Masters didn't help matters, although the golf did dent Lewis quite a bit more than WTD. Looking at the consolidated figures, WTD posted a very strong 7.2m figure for last Sunday's episode and Lewis got ~6.9m excluding STV (effectively ~7.5m had STV shown it). So both are timeshifting well and the official figures paint a different story. Lewis should recover next week against weaker competition, if it doesn't and gets another 5.6m then indeed I would say it's poor as there'd be no excuse. Solid audiences for BBC1's 7-9pm hour, while The Cube rated poorly.


18:30- Total Wipeout: 3.71m (26.8%).

Total Wipeout did very well, especially when you look at the share. It also makes SYTYCD rating look even worse, which instantly fell a million from what TW ended with and was beaten by You've Been Framed too.


On Saturday, The Masters on Sky Sports 1 between 19:30-00:30 averaged 332k. It peaked with 435k at 22:30.

Head to head against BBC2's coverage between 20:30-00:00, Sky Sports 1 averaged 364k. It was beaten by BBC2 and BBCHD's coverage by 4.6 to 1.


I think we're seeing a case of ITV trying to give their new shows the best possible slots. Lewis could've easily been shown in May once again and got the 6/7m overnights it was getting last year but ITV are giving Vera that slot as it'll be up against easier competition to give it the best possible start. In a way, it makes sense: Vera is a brand new show which could run for quite a few years if it starts well, while Lewis is a show nearing the end of its shelf-life (if rumours that Kevin Whately wants to call it a day after next series are true). Also, The Cube could've had the pre-BGT slot but once again, they're giving that slot to a new show - Sing if You Can. I can see the reasoning behind that as they need new hits to come through, although it's certainly put a big dent in The Cube's figures which can't really cope by itself without The X Factor/Cowell cushion.

As for your fantasy schedule, I think 2 BGT shows over the weekend would've been good. Viewers are used to that sort of thing as TXF, SCD and even the Andrew Lloyd Webber shows have done that sort of thing for the last few years. I do think, however, that Sing if You Can is pre-watershed fluff, not post-watershed material, and that'll be clear once it airs on Saturday.

Most Watched Shows of 2011 [Top 20 - Officials]
01 - 12.56m - CORONATION STREET (14/02/11) - ITV1/HD
02 - 11.42m - EASTENDERS (03/01/11) - BBC1/HD
03 - 10.26m - COMIC RELIEF (18/03/11) - BBC1/HD
04 - 10.23m - DANCING ON ICE (09/01/11) - ITV1/HD
05 - 9.52m - EMMERDALE (13/01/11) - ITV1/HD

06 - 8.80m - BIG FAT GYPSY WEDDINGS (08/02/11) - C4
07 - 8.80m - COME FLY WITH ME (01/01/11) - BBC1/HD
08 - 8.69m - WILD AT HEART (09/01/11) - ITV1/HD
09 - 8.50m - SILENT WITNESS (17/01/11) - BBC1/HD
10 - 8.22m - BENIDORM (25/02/11) - ITV1/HD

11 - 8.10m - MIDSOMER MURDERS (02/02/11) - ITV1/HD
12 - 7.98m - LET'S DANCE FOR COMIC RELIEF (19/02/11) - BBC1/HD
13 - 7.91m - FILM: INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL (01/01/11) - BBC1/HD
14 - 7.70m - SOUTH RIDING (20/02/11) - BBC1/HD
15 - 7.68m - LARK RISE TO CANDLEFORD (09/01/11) - BBC1/HD

16 - 7.50m - ABOVE SUSPICION (03/01/11) - ITV1/HD
17 - 7.38m - TOP GEAR (23/01/11) - BBC2/HD
18 - 7.38m - RUGBY SIX NATIONS (26/02/11) - BBC1/HD
19 - 7.36m - WAKING THE DEAD (20/03/11) - BBC1/HD
20 - 7.36m - MARCHLANDS (03/02/11) - ITV1/HD

Notes:
- No duplicates: i.e. no BGT/DOI in there twice.
- HD audience included for all programmes airing on HD
- BBC1 HD is bundled in automatically with BBC1
- ITV1 +1 excluded
- Thanks to MattJ and rzt for some of the missing ratings off BARB

Most Watched Multichannel Shows of 2011 [Top 20 - Officials]
01 - 2.69m - LIVE FORD SUPER SUNDAY - MATCH (06/02/11) - Sky Sports 1
02 - 2.63m - GLEE (17/01/11) - E4
03 - 2.00m - HATTIE (19/01/11) - BBC4
04 - 1.97m - LIVE FORD FOOTBALL SPECIAL (01/03/11) - Sky Sports 2
05 - 1.86m - UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE LIVE (08/03/11) - Sky Sports 2

06 - 1.78m - CELEBRITY JUICE (31/03/11) - ITV2
07 - 1.77m - MAD DOGS (03/03/11) - Sky1
08 - 1.69m - JUNIOR DOCTORS (15/03/11) - BBC3
09 - 1.57m - BEING HUMAN (23/01/11) - BBC3
10 - 1.43m - LIVE INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL (26/03/11) - Sky Sports 1

11 - 1.41m - MIDSOMER MURDERS (08/01/11) - ITV3
12 - 1.39m - EASTENDERS (08/02/11) - BBC3
13 - 1.37m - GOT TO DANCE (27/02/11) - Sky1
14 - 1.37m - THE ONLY WAY IS ESSEX (20/03/11) - ITV2
15 - 1.35m - FOYLE'S WAR (13/02/11) - ITV3

16 - 1.21m - THIS IS YOUR LIFE: HATTIE JACQUES (19/01/11) - BBC4
17 - 1.20m - LIVE CARLING CUP FOOTBALL (12/01/11) - Sky Sports 1
18 - 1.17m - TOP OF THE POPS: THE STORY OF 1976 (01/04/11) - BBC4
19 - 1.10m - LEWIS (30/01/11) - ITV3
20 - 1.09m - LIVE FORD MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (14/02/11) - Sky Sports 1

Source: BARB. Excludes +1, Includes HD for Terrestrial Chart. Only 1 programme per 'show', i.e. only one Ford Super Sunday game.

Mrs Brown's Boys ended the series with 4.10m (It made it into the BBC1 Top 30 for the week)

BARB

Thanks rzt, for this and all your posts on the subject over the last few days.

A huge win for BBC but then that was to be expected. Look at how the BBC does in simulcasts vs ITV and then bear in mind that only just over 25% of homes have Sky Sports.

The figures for Sat and Sun (compared to Thur and Fri) suggest the majority of Sky Sports viewers did stick with Sky.

Excellent news - bring on series 2

I agree. Whilst the overnights look disappointing the officials should even things out, and I suspect last night's Lewis will timeshift even better than last week's due to the circumstances and WTD should be above 7m again. This STV situation is a real pain as it messes up the officials as its much nicer when we get a proper total rather than extrapolating to get an estimate. I wish ITV could just sort it out.


Thanks for that one. Yeah it does make SYTYCD look worse as the 5:30pm show did better than it. The Sun says that SYTYCD peaked at 3.7m which suggests that it didn't grow much over the hour, probably due to Mamma Mia starting at 7pm. Being beaten by YBF is pretty bad too. The 20% share isn't disastrous for the slot but the raw numbers leave much to be desired and the BBC must be disappointed.


That definitely seems to be the case and with Lewis/Vera I definitely think it's the right move as Vera sounds like the sort of show that'll do well so needs to be given a good slot. Lewis' overnights may be suffering a little but the officials sort it out and it repeats really well so they won't be worried. The Cube is definitely suffering in that slot. 3.7m isn't very good and it would definitely be doing better in Sing If You Can's slot. Whether the move will pay off depends on how SIYC does. Sundays at 7pm are a difficult slot for ITV in Spring/Summer so I wonder if they'll be satisfied with The Cube or not as whilst the numbers are low they aren't that bad and they're a decent improvement on where that slot was last year. Even if they aren't too happy I still think it'll be recommissioned for a fourth series but in an easier slot (probably alongside a Cowell show).

As for BGT itself continuing from what people said last night, the launch will definitely be down from last year's 10.6m. I think it'll get 9m or so, perhaps a touch higher. How it does for subsequent episodes depends on how well the launch is received. From what I've seen and heard so far this series sounds pretty good and the new judges may breath some life into it as it felt tired last year. It's a lighter, funnier show apparently which should help as that seems to be what people want.

That's quite a win for the Beeb. Although 25% of households have Sky Sports, the vast majority of sports fans have access to it, and indeed pay close to £50 a month for the privilege. For so many of those subscribers to choose the free coverage over the £50 a month coverage is quite a statement, is it not?