first there is no such role as the "face of the Olympics" - she wasnt going to be presenting the main events

second if the ITV deal is so bad, why is her ex-agent suing for a share of it!

thirdly, there is nothing wrong with UTV

Nice extended promo for The Walking Dead during Death Race last night. Looks excellent. I think we could be looking at big ratings for this, even though it's already aired on FX.

The latest news on the airdate is it won't be starting before Saturday 9th April. So Monday 11th April at 10pm is my final prediction!

I think 2m would be fine for TWD but I think it could be higher. I wonder why Channel 5 aren't launching it with The Hotel Inspector.

It's not your cup of tea, so of course...

I think they still could be. Once again neither show was mentioned in the press pack issued Friday for w/c 4th April, suggesting they will both launch the following week.

Parenthood is coming to 5* w/c 4th April, that's about the only new addition to the schedules that week.

I sense a raw nerve has been touched here...

well really.. if her agent genuinely thinks its a bad deal... why does he want a % cut of it.. especially as he tried to talk her out of doing it.

Still getting those rogue STV opt-outs in the ITV1 HD ratings, which then get carried across to the 'other' top 30.

Been nearly a year now!!

dont remember you saying that about celebrity juice

Last night's ratings prove that Wild at Heart is actually a hit, and isn't just something watched by default, like some keep saying every week.

Essex did well. I don't watch it myself, but it seems to have got people talking.

The Duran Duran thing didn't do that bad, people are talking like it got 2m!

Dancing on Ice continues to put in a solid performance despite some predicting it's downfall.

The Titanic drama looks like it could be a hit

Er, because he was her agent and she hasn't paid him?

Why should he swing for the cash because he thinks she got a bum deal and he advised against it. Do you know how agency agreements work?


"Prove" is a strong word - happy to hear your thinking though...

Do you maintain that WAH would get the same 7m+ figures in, say, an 8pm Wednesday slot? Or even in the same slot but without a DOI sandwich?


Or it could be holed below the waterline and sink without trace...

If they marry it up with TXF, then it may well be. If it's airing a year from now, it very well might air alongside the next series of TXF!

But will ITV want the next series of TXF, if it's airing post-Christmas, to be associated with a sinking ship though? Could be risky...

Yes it did Andy! To rate below 4m with the inheritance it received and sandwiched between two DOI shows is very poor. Not to mention the fact it had no direct competition from a mainstream channel with an 8:30 start time, and that it shed viewers throughout, denting DOI in the process.

"At least it didn't rate as low as 2m" seems like a weak defense, perhaps best to just leave it if that's the best positive spin you can come up with?

Sorry Andy, but Duran Duran was a disaster considering the relative opposition, the lead in and the fact it was away from a natural junction and it hurt Dancing on Ice in the process. There's nothing positive to be taken by that rating whatsoever.

Dancing on Ice did ok I guess. I do wonder if it's the only reality TV show where the launch tends to outrate the final though; it appears to happen a lot for Dancing on Ice, possibly because the final is dragged out and is aired in better weather than the launch.

BBC1 did well as did BBC3 with Becoming Human and ITV2 with the ever popular The Only Way Is Essex. I guess Essex's performance will allow ITV to breath easier after seeing Duran's Duran's figure.

Big Brother?

Not sure whether you were just on about current TV shows, not sure whether you'd call Big Brother current providing their Channel 5 deal hasn't fallen through?

I was thinking more of current reality TV shows but Big Brother's a good one. I guess with it, people wanted to see who went into the House then viewers started to dip as their favourites went hence a lower final rating.

Do you know what "your fired" means?

Yes, ouch for Duran Duran. These music specials tend to be very hit and miss, at least it wasn't as disastrous as JLS.

It's been mooted for some time, but looks as if ITV are to introduce another detective to the ranks

http://www.brightonandhovefreepress....e-novels/21999

Brought this over from Gallifrey Base. Look at the timeshift for Waking The Dead. It had an overnight of 5.9m.

Top 20 programmes, 7/3/2011 - 13/3/2011

1. Coronation Street - 10.75 million
2. Eastenders - 10.11 million
3. Dancing On Ice - 8.60 million
4. Emmerdale - 8.05 million*
=5. Wild At Heart - 7.42 million*
=5. Let's Dance For Comic Relief - 7.42 million
7. Waking The Dead - 7.11 million
8. Benidorm - 7.06 million
9. Casualty - 6.69 million
10. Antiques Roadshow - 6.47 million

11. Monroe - 6.32 million*
12. Champions League: Tottenham vs AC Milan - 6.20 million
13. Holby City - 6.11 million
14. National Lottery: Secret Fortune - 5.99 million
15. BBC News - 5.86 million
16. FA Cup: Manchester United vs Arsenal - 5.81 million
17. Silk - 5.80 million
18. Six O'Clock News - 5.73 million
19. Six Nations: England vs Scotland - 5.66 million
20. Countryfile - 5.44 million

* not including HD

BBC1 = 12
ITV1 = 8

Looking at BARB, the Sunday repeat showing of Harry Hill's TV Burp that week actually had more viewers than the original Saturday broadcast. Must be the first time that's happened!

If you were to include the BBC News simulcast, this would be 11th.

Slightly better than I expected for the Skate Off given the lead in, and I had hoped Waking The Dead would do a little better with such weak ITV1 competition. DOI's main show did fine. Whilst it isn't in the same league as Strictly, X Factor, Talent or I'm A Celebrity, that's more due to the growth of those shows rather than any significant losses for DOI. It still does very well for them, although I think it could do even better with better scheduling.


Interesting point there. Here are the the figures for DOI's launches and finals since it begun:

2006: Launch: 9.5m, Final: 11.0m
2007: Launch: 8.6m, Final: 8.4m
2008: Launch: 8.9m, Final: 11.7m
2009: Launch: 8.4m, Final: 10.8m
2010: Launch: 8.9m, Final: 8.8m

NB: For the first two series, the final was split into two separate shows and I took the ratings for the Skate Off show. All ratings are overnights.

Interesting to note that the final rated lower than the launch for the two lowest rating series of the five. Series 5 last year really struggled to gain any momentum, as after the second week no show hit the 8.5m mark, and a poorly scheduled final held the rating back further. In 2007 meanwhile the ratings for the performance shows were pretty similar to the 2008 and 2009 series', but the Skate Off shows performed very poorly, to the point where in the final the performances show (9.6m) was 1.2m ahead of the final results show! I think that's why ITV merged them in 2008 and continue to do so. The scheduling of the final in 2008 and 2009 was perfect, with it running from 7pm to 9pm. 2009's final was dented a little as the result was so obvious, whereas in 2008 the final was wide open). 2010's was too late and unfortunately they've done the same this year. 7:40pm to 10pm is useless. Last year's final peaked with 10m - significantly lower than the averages for the two finals before it!

I think this year's final will get something in the 9's. The ratings have been up a bit overall this year and the final is wide open this year, whereas in 2009 and 2010 the winner has been obvious, which has dented the ratings. However, the fact that it's 20 minutes too long and on an hour too late will prevent it from getting the 10m+ rating that it's probably capable of. I think it stands a chance of topping the 9.3m that this series launched with but it'll be close. This series has been weird in that it launched with 9.3m, then remained steady at 9.1m for the second week, before dropping to 8.4m for week three and remaining at ~8.5m from then onwards (hitting 8.9m once). Keeping hold of viewers better is something ITV needs to look at for the next series.

Quarter one Saturday's need to be boosted next year - splitting Dancing on Ice must be awfully tempting. Maybe if they can claim a big star to pad out the results show with to make it an hour long on a Sunday (8pm-9pm) it shouldn't affect that night too much - especially as Wild at Heart is more resilient than I thought considering how Duran Duran performed.

Obvious Saturday's won't be a walk over but it could be another case of sacrificing the show slightly to improve the night for the channel.

The problem with DoI stripped across the weekend is Phil and Holly already have committments Monday to Thursday with This Morning. As highly paid as these pampered ITV stalwarts are, I doubt they'll be happy doing a six-day week.

They could get Ruth and Eamonn to front an extra day during DoI season I suppose, should their other commitments allow. Although it has been known for Eamonn to front Sky News Sunrise and This Morning on the same day, I'm not sure he'd be up for doing it regularly.

Was there a rating for EastEnders whitney episode on BBc3 last night

Cutting Phil and Holly from say the Thursday and Friday show could work ok, as it gives them a weekend before Dancing on Ice. They could always try different couplings on one of the days to see how they work together with Eamon and Ruth keeping, say, the Friday slot to themselves.