Aussie overnights will be out shortly.

I wonder what sort of retention we can expect from Downton Abbey. Excellent start for it last week.

Hadn't considered C5 doing that and not sure they would either considering they seemed intent on keeping it in the BBC1 slots when it moved and I doubt it would get much of a boost by being an hour later. Neighbours has long since fallen out of the UK's conciousness (sp?)


Exactly. And remember BGT thinks of itself as by Royal appointment - they love to use the Royal connection throughout the series so they'll be more than happy to have their final as part of the Jubilee weekend.


Eurovision and the Champions league is annual - and as far as most the nation is concerned the Jubilee weekend is just another May bank holiday - although a week late.



Remember though the US is five times the size of the UK. And as for the live shows I think both ITV and BGT - plus if we're honest the viewers - would prefer five semi-finals topped up with acts that shouldn't be there than a couple of semis purely with talent.

In all honesty the really bad acts this week come to half a dozen or so at most - and there are certainly eliminated acts who could have taken their place. At most I would cut one semi-final, but replace it with a wildcard show, but really there is no need to at the moment as it would be changes for changes sake.


Exactly.


Also will be interested to see how Cloudstreet finishes for Showcase. It started out with 147,000 - not bad for a premium channel. Not sure how it did last week but it's been highly regarded and is another example of a fine Aussie show that UK broadcasters should be looking at. It would fit neatly onto C4/More4 or BBC2/4.

And talking of Aussie shows again, More4 would be wise to snap up Grand Designs Australia.

12.19m for BGT's results show?

Really?

Makes you wonder whether it was worth generating all that tabloid hype about a "fixing storm" to try and drum up more interest. I suppose it did mean a couple million more watched the final.

How does the 12.19m figure compare with the final 30 minutes average of last year's BGT final?

Brucie should be pleased. Not only did SCD beat BGT in 2010, it looks like it might do in 2011 - unless ITV run TXF up to 18th December to continue the Christmas No 1 "gifting" tradition. But that will only dent both shows, one assumes.

Indeed, SCD's December 2010 final not only beat the 2010 final of BGT, it's now beaten the 2011 final too.

As for the BGT winner and runner-up, if both were young singers, what's the difference between BGT and TXF? Isn't TXF supposed to unearth "new singing sensation megastars", and BGT the dancing dogs, puddle-dancing teenagers, middle-aged spinsters who knock out a tune?

I am going to assume that this is true (if it isnt i take it back) but its amazing how little hype SCD will get about that fact.

Very respectable for DW by the way, 5.5m.

Add in the timeshift viewing, and the official ratings should even be ahead of the average for the crucial England qualifier on ITV!

Which I don't think anyone could reasonably have expected.

I'm not sure I follow that, tbh...

I didn't expect it to be that high, though I expected it to be dented more by Britain's Got Talent than the football, considering it did start after the football had finished.

To be Honest i think Doctor who is the surprise rating of saturday. I never expected it to get 5.5m.

what I meant was that SCD never gets the credit for its big ratings for ITVs Simon Cowell shows do.

Ah, ok. I thought you were suggesting SCD was fixed too.

Or pretended to be to bag more tabloid column inches....

I level no such claims at SCD.

Well how to you know SCD Is not fixed. It could be you know.

how do we know the World Cup of Football isnt fixed, it could you know.

Seven
18:00 Seven News 1.51m
18:30 Dancing with the Stars 1.54m
20:30 Downton Abbey 1.87m
*up 60k week-on-week.
21:40 Castle (R) 0.64m

Nine
18:00 Nine News Sunday 1.50m
18:30 In Their Footsteps 0.94m
19:30 60 Minutes 1.03m
20:30 The Mentalist 0.78m
21:30 The Mentalist (R) 0.55m

Ten
18:00 Ten Evening News 0.39m
18:30 Merlin 0.88m
19:30 MasterChef Australia 1.45m
20:30 Hawaii Five-O 0.66m
21:30 NCIS (R) 0.39m

ABC1
20:30 The Kennedys 0.64m

7TWO
17:00 Downton Abbey (R) 0.18m

BGT has better share of audience with 47% and 49% in daylight on a balmy June evening.

That SCD rating came on a day when swathes of the country were housebound due to snow.

Superb night for Seven again. Their talent shows seem to have been on top of the game of late, and Downton Abbey is doing as brilliantly in Aus as it did here.

And is it me, or is MasterChef not really gaining much momentum this year? I know its demos are still chart topping, but Ten must be a touch apprehensive with how often its been getting beaten recently.

MasterChef is turning into Britain's Got Talent. The figures are definitely not something to be sniffed at but it seems to be gradually trickling viewers.

Superb for both Dancing with the Stars and Downton Abbey - ITV will be annoyed that they didn't produce it! I notice NBC Universal were co-producers; have NBC already aired it or do you think they may air it sometime in the summer/autumn?

In the US it was broadcast on PBS.

NBCU co-produce through Carnival Films, a UK production company which they own. They covered some of the deficit (ITV didn't cover all the production costs) and I'd guess deal with international sales. Carnival also make Whitechapel and used to do Hotel Babylon.

So did ITV Studios co-produce the show?

No, ITV Studios didn't have anything to do with it, although they are developing a new period drama in-house hoping that it can repeat the success of Downton Abbey.

I think producers generally have to fund new series to some extent. They recoup that money in repeats, in DVD sales or international sales (and over time can probably demand more money from the network if the show is a hit). For a show like Downton Abbey, the gap between what ITV pay to broadcast and what it actually costs to make is likely to be quite significant. So not many companies could have taken it on - Carnival Films (being owned by NBCU) didn't have that problem.

US shows are very heavily funded by the studio. A new drama might cost $3m an hour to make but the network might only pay $1.5m leaving the studio with a $1.5m shortfall.

Only just noticed that BBC1 Scotland have been airing Holby City at 8:30pm on Fridays with HIGNFY at 9:30pm in recent weeks (Holby doesn't rate very well in Scotland). That might partly explain why HIGNFY has been a little down of late.

Thanks. I'm sure ITV Studios would love to have a hit on their hands like Downton Abbey. I can't see a another 'version' pulling in the same kind of figures; it'll just appear like a copycat.

I thought ITV Studios did at least co-produce it. Bit of a blow for them considering how much it is making overseas now.

Even by your own very high standards that is a classic post.

This is why syndication is important, shows like Two and a Half Men are ratings hit and make tons of money for Warner Bros, CBS simply pays a fee to license the show. I think in some cases like Til Death and Rules of Engagement, the studio reduces the license fee in order for the show to continue producing episodes for syndication. It's one of the reason why shows owned by the sister studio of the network that broadcasts them tend to be safer in renewal.

Co-productions have become more important especially for drama, Masterpiece which is part of PBS co-produced a range of British drama from Dowton to Sherlock. The new series of Torchwood probably wouldn't have been made without Starz coming on board.