Just watched "the world's greatest sports presenter" Ortis Delay on YouTube. A shame they fired him (or "reduced his role to nothing"). People might have watched more just to see how bad he was! Channel 4 claim they'll stick with developing talent which I can't imagine will help their case in future rights bids.

A female co-host might have helped. I'm thinking of either Konnie Huq or Zezi Ifore?

A shame if true as the biggest problem this series was the talent on stage IMO. The judges actually worked well, but Simon returning upset the balance. The only reason I'd axe the Hoff is if Cowell is returning full time.

Wonder if Amanda will be involved too considering her pregnancy.


Interesting with Sirens - could that save it from the axe?


But so were many shows in the 10pm slot - in the grand scheme it didn't rate too badly and IMO is definately worth a second shot. Similar ratings for a second series though and I would swing the axe.


Like so many big C4 shows they leave it running that little bit too long. 22 episodes though when it struggled at 16 was an awful move - they could have stuck to 16 and had another new 6-part drama series. I really do think it should end though after next year now (having like you, watched it from the start), especially with...


How has Shameless USA been doing recently - it really does remind you how good Shameless used to be and how far it's fallen in the last couple of years.

I'm now having horrific flashbacks of Zezi Ifore - poor Ortis would look remarkably competent next to her!

C4 have been removing the clips on Youtube, but somehow they just keep reapearing

Sporting events of national importance are not the time or place to "develop talent." By all means do so on T4 and the like, but not for high-profle programming that you are likely to be judged upon. The Athletics coverage was crying out for an experienced reliable broadcaster to front it, and they blew it by hiring someone who was never right for the gig in the first place.

I do feel sorry for Ortis. Those clips will haunt him for a long time.

Oh Ortis!

That was a horror show. He had some serious nerves but he's good at live TV usually. Must have been seriously outside his comfort zone.
Correct. Don't blood inexperienced sports presenters in primetime.

There is a Daily Motion clip in the Media Guardian article.

BTW, is the Strictly launch show over two nights - it's down on Digiguide as Sat (6.10pm) and Sun (5.25pm), both with the description that eight celebs are paired with their professional partner.

That's just the pre launch show that will reveal dancers and their partners. The show proper starts a few weeks later witha launch on Friday, show on Saturday and another on Sunday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dlsnwJaj_8

She doesn't even look like a presenter, at least Ortis does.

just to balance the posting of Ortis videos, heres one where a newsreader is very professional about the fact her mic and camera is the only thing working in her news room

http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2011/09/...he-system.html

So masterchef is now on at 2.15 pm. That's strange. Will lose a lot of viewers.

Another excellent night for BBC One. EastEnders picked up a very good rating and Holby City benefited. Harry's Artic Heroes held up very well on last week's figure.

The Great British Bake Off and The Boy In Striped Pyjamas both picked up superb figures on BBC Two with only Dragon's Den dragging the share down, but it still did well considering the time slot and that it was a repeat of Sunday's show.

Channel 5 will be delighted with the night's figures between 9 and 11. Celebrity Big Brother appears to have settled around the 2.1m-2.4m mark and it'll be interesting to see if it sees a boost tonight. CSI: Miami is always a reliable performer. Their early evening schedule seems to struggle, but I'm not sure what can be done against the soaps.

Seven Dwarves is slightly down on last week; probably down to the increased opposition from BBC Two. Shameless did alright but nothing special - I didn't realise it was the start of a new series. Inside Nature's Giants did ok, but again seemed to get lost on the night with BBC One and BBC Two so strong. Hollyoaks is continuing to remain around the 1m; they'll be happy with that considering how hard it had it in the spring.

Dire night for ITV1. Their drama repeats are just not working and Grimefighters needs the soap sandwich to retain some respectability. Maybe they should just shove Minute to Win It in the 8pm hour and move Cops and Cameras to 9pm? It can't do much worse. Talking of Cops with Cameras, it performed decently compared to the shows around it and Emmerdale did ok at 7pm.

C4 can not be happy about this, this Athletics is its first bit of sports coverage in a while, last thing it needs is its named tarnished like this.

I wonder if the very loyal generation of ITV viewers that stood by the station for decades have either passed away or changed loyalties. I don't mean this in a sarcastic way, but I do wonder if the hardcore ITV viewers who stood by the channel from the start( parental grandparents) and rarely watched anything else have died out as it seems the main ITV station generates little loyalty now except for its biggest shows.

You have to earn loyalty so viewers stick with a channel through tough periods. ITV1 have gradually allowed viewers to drift away by comissioning trash programming too often. Every channel has a flop now and again but ITV1 have had far too many for the 'loyal' base to stomach.

Also they scared a lot of the loyalists away by junking whole genres of programming in the noughties and showing too many reality shows that never lasted the course. I doubt many older ITV viewers would have been enthralled with the prospect of Coronation St being moved around to make way for a reality show aimed at young women.

I agree. The scheduling of Red or Black? is stupid anyway. At the very least they should've approached it the same way as the first series of Britain's Got Talent and have it at 8.30pm each night, running in one go instead of a split programme.

That makes up for all those times when it took up two and a half hours!!!!! of BBC1 primetime.

Boo to Jay Hunt.
Hurrah for Danny Cohen.

It's a cable show, so there were only twelve episodes, it finished in March.

Back next year.

Oh no, not two and a half hours!!!!! of a hit show in prime. How dreadful. Maybe they should ship EE to 10am while they're at it.

wonder the World Athletics Championship offical type people, would rather it was back on the BBC.

Again this could backfire, though the prospect of a new entertainment show with Ant and Dec always attracts the viewers.

Murray cruising at Flushing Meadow, England need 10 off last over at Old Trafford.

Good night for sports fans.

I'm guessing there's just no room for 5x45 minutes per week (even if it's only for three or four weeks) of Celebrity Masterchef on BBC One primetime. Ideally, they might have wanted to move it back to BBC Two, but with how much it's costing per episode now, it probably has to stay on BBC One.

Don't be surprised to see 30-minute cutdowns of the whole series the next time The One Show takes a break, though!

I think viewers are getting bored of Ant & Dec.

Despite what some may claim Push the Button is not hitting the usual heights, and ITV are only keeping it around, as they have little else (other than Syco TV productions of course), so as not to publically bruise the egos of Ant & Dec, and to stop people asking if there pay checks is worth while.

Im pretty confident both Im a Celeb and BGT wouldnt suffer from them not being involved, and BGT is an example of them riding Simon Cowells coat tails. (I guess they really are ITV people )

If Ant or Dec fail to bring something worthwhile to Red or Black? I think the secert that they are starting to fail, will soon be out.