I think the BBC would get away with putting Doctors up against a Channel 4/Channel 5 soap, maybe slightly unfairly. So the 5.30pm slot is possible and indeed I thought they would move Doctors there when Neighbours went to Channel 5.

The BBC could be nasty and have The main showing at 5:30pm and the repeat The next day at 1:40pm and that way clashing with Neighbours both times aday

Sadly i don't see a repeat or later slot of Doctors happening soon.
In the DS producer interview their long term producer (near enough since day 1) had suggested 6:30pm BBC2 as a good slot.

Just lately the Cast has started to get bigger and there's people of all ages now so maybe the BBC are planning a later slot?

I think that'd be a good slot for it actually - though there would be a clash with Hollyoaks I can't see it damaging Doctors if aired there.

I don't think there will be that much of a crossover actually.
Most people watch Hollyoaks First look do they not?
Id say BBC1 1:40pm and BBC2 6:30pm and that way it doesn't lose the daytime slot and it gets a later slot also.
Abit of promotion for it will do the world of good.

The Producer also hinted at improving their official website (giving them a proper one Like EastEnders) and promotion the show alot more.
I think this could lead to a later slot (I hope anyway)
BBC2 will have it's own soap then and during wimbledon it doesn't have to take a break

It probably would do while BBC1 decides what to do with the Murray matches.

I genuinely don't see the point in moving Doctors. I actually think it would rate worse in the teatime slot than it does in the slot it's currently in. When Neighbours was on the BBC it used to get roughly the same audience at teatime as it did for the early afternoon showing (about 2.5-2.8m each) but at teatime it had a much lower audience share due to the larger amount of people watching TV overall. However, it was well established across those two timeslots and had built up a long and successful history there, unlike Doctors. The golden opportunity for the show came when Neighbours moved channels (swapping a soap for a soap, a like-for-like replacement), but the BBC elected to put The Weakest Link there instead. Even with the current BBC cuts, I think that was it's best chance at gaining a significantly better slot and having its profile raised, and for whatever reason the idea didn't appeal to the BBC. I'm assuming since it didn't then, it certainly wouldn't now. As of 2011, 5pm is very competitive across the main 5 channels and one of the hardest timeslots of the day to win, so I really wouldn't recommend the BBC move a long running serial there at all, not if they actually want it to succeed anyway. Remember also what happened to The Bill and that was only moved by one hour.

When are we going to get some Ratings for Last Night?

I think Doctors would work.
A bit of promotion during some of the big shows (EastEnders,Casualty,Holby ect) and a huge storyline to kick it off with.

ITV ruined the bill though. Not by moving it 1 hour later but changing the Theme Tune/The cast and have horrible camera movements.

The BBC seem to treat their long-running shows much better


Very true. They seem to forget they have BBC3 for all that sort of stuff

I agree in that I'm suprised the BBC didn't move Doctors after Neighbours left the channel. I think 6.30pm would work best, on BBC2, if it does move into primetime.

Highest Rated:
1. NCIS Channel 5, Wed 22 Jun, 21:00 92
2. Born To Be Different Channel 4, Thu 23 Jun, 21:00 91
3. NCIS Channel 5, Sat 25 Jun, 19:55 91
4. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Channel 5, Sat 25 Jun, 22:50 91
5. Baby Hospital ITV1, Tue 21 Jun, 21:00 90
6. 24 Hours in A&E Channel 4, Wed 22 Jun, 21:00 90
7. Brassed Off Channel 4, Sat 25 Jun, 22:05 90
8. CSI: NY Channel 5, Sat 25 Jun, 20:55 90
9. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Channel 5, Tue 21 Jun, 23:25 90

Lowest Rated:
1. Daybreak ITV, Thu 23 Jun, 06:00 66
2. Daybreak ITV, Fri 24 Jun, 06:00 67
3. Daybreak ITV, Wed 22 Jun, 06:00 69
4. Daybreak ITV, Mon 20 Jun, 06:00 70
5. The Marriage Ref ITV, Sat 25 Jun, 21:00 70
6. King Of... Channel 4, Fri 24 Jun, 21:30 70

scores out of 100.

Wow...what happened to Tuesday's Daybreak? Or did that rate 70/71?

I know! Were Chiles and/or Bleakley off or something? I am sure it was around the 70/71 mark.

By the way, you asked last week about ITV's new series Penn and Teller: Fool Us. That posted a good AI score of 84 for its June 18th episode. It beat all of the BBC's light entertainment formats on the night - Total Wipeout's 73, Who Dares Wins' 79 and Lee Mack's All Star Cast's 71.

Thanks for that. That's a pretty good score at least. I wish they'd given it a better lead in (say airing it after Britain's Got Talent or held it back for The X Factor) because I think it's a light entertainment format that has potential.

If Doctors were to move to primetime I'd stick it on BBC2 in the 6.30pm slot rather than all the Masterchef rip-offs.


I think an hour-long regional news magazine from 6.30-7.30pm might be more likely - only factor is it'll cost more I'm sure. From a ratings perspective though I see it being easier to keep viewers watching a regional news magazine for an hour than an extended national news.

If The One Show ever was axed I'd go for stripped formats in the 7pm slot. Rather than the messy scheduling they had before this year for Masterchef for example that could easily have filled 6-8 weeks over the summer as a One Show replacement - and then add in the Celebrity and Professional version and you've got about 4 months sorted already.

Pretty annoying overnights for Sky Box Office do not exist on a night like this(!).

How many cats get stuck up trees though - would thee be enough to fill 60 minutes?


so The Marriage Ref increased its AI and its audience in week 2 versus week1?

Bleakley has not been on Daybreak for at least a month.

Sky Box Office overnights do exist but are very rarely reported. Maybe tomorrow, or on Monday, a source will report it if we're lucky.

The only PPV overnight rating we've seen in recent years was for Mayweather vs. Hatton, which averaged over 1m in early morning (41%) and peaked as high as 1.4m (65%), beating all other channels. That was the most popular PPV fight in Sky Box Office history.

Edit: Another Sky Box Office overnight figure from the past: The WBA Heavyweight Boxing Fight between David Haye and Audley Harrison in 2010 peaked with 250,000 on Sky Box Office Events.

Thats where the Producer wants it to go.
All 5 main channels will have a soap then

Ah, okay. I knew we'd seen figures before, but didn't know whether they were officials or not.

I think we'll see a peak of ~1m maybe then for the Boxing. Should beat the 2010 figure comfortably, but not sure it will beat Mayweather vs. Hatton even considering the early morning timeslot for Mayweather and Hatton.

Which are?
The only cookery show that airs there is Great British Menu, which airs for 9 out of 52 weeks and is nothing like MC.


I agree I think its too weak for those slots and considering the BBC has snubbed it for this long I cant see it getting another slot.

Admittedly I haven't seen it in a while but the Doctors I remember should be able to hold its own in primetime. I do agree with you that, because of the BBC's approach to it so far, it'll be surprise if it gets a primetime slot now.

Doctors is kind of gritty now and it's similar to EastEnders in a way.
It's alot more soapy then it used to be too.
On the whole Doctors has been the best soap for the past 18/19 months and i feel it should be shown later.

The BBC use the excuse that it's too gritty for Tea time

From Monday I expect BBC1 to do very well with Pointless (Celebrities) at 5.15-6.00, the move from BBC2 will boost viewers, ought help BBC1 6pm News also.

I don't think BBC1 ought take risks against Emmerdale / Coronation Street on Monday evenings with expensive programmes, maybe they could consider a 60 minute show sometimes from 7.00-8.00pm.

I see the return of Cowboy Builders is being billed as "New Cowboy Builders" on air and across all listings guides including the EPG. Dom Littlewood and Melinda Messenger return for a fifth series this coming Thursday, airing in a new 9pm timeslot. There it will ultimately face three new dramas from the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, which will inevitably dent eachother so not necessarily a bad thing at all from Channel 5's perspective as there should be a decent non-drama seeking audience out there that will need catering for. BBC Two's History Cold Case shouldn't be too detrimental either.

This is one of the jewels in Channel 5's crown in my book. Yes, it may be rather formulaic from week to week, but this is great feel good TV, worth watching for the final showdowns with Dom alone. The ratings have also been consistently strong across the runs. Series 4 brought in an official average of 1.5m on Wednesdays at 8pm in early 2011, whilst the audience peaked at 2.03m for a Series 1 episode in February 2009. I'm looking forward to seeing how it fairs in its new home, I think it will hold its own at 9pm.