she was one of the winning singers of US Popstars, if that doesn't make her qualified to judge, then I dont know what does.

She even had a cameo in Sabrina The Teenage Witch.

This fall we've seen DWTS down, X Factor lower than expected and The Sing Off not really delivering on Mondays. But it was only a few months ago that American Idol came off a strong run (lower A18-49 decline than the past couple of years, up in total viewers), The Voice was being touted as its first genuine rival and America's Got Talent was posting series highs.

I think they struggled for momentum. It was just so drawn out from the original announcement 21 months ago. That also allowed American Idol and The Voice to come in with X Factor elements (for example, Idol cut the age limit to 15, hence X Factor cutting to 12) and while X Factor was trying to gear up for its launch earlier this year, those 2 shows were generating more buzz.

I don't think The Voice really has many big names. Christina, yes. The other 3 have had varying levels of success in music recently but none are particularly high profile. I think they just ran a better marketing campaign with what they had.

Channel 4 top programs of 2011 so far:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ C4 -------------- C4 +1 ----------- C4 Official
01: Big Fat Gypsy Weddings 08/02/11 ----------------------------- 7.5m (29.2%) -------- 711k --------------- 8.80m
02: My Big Fat Royal Gypsy Wedding 28/04/11 --------------- 4.0m (16.5%) -------- 650k --------------- 4.56m
03: Embarrassing Bodies 04/02/11 ---------------------------------- 3.6m (14.9%) -------- 587k --------------- 4.17m
04: FILM premiere: Taken 05/03/11 -------------------------------- 3.2m (14.3%) -------- 505k --------------- 3.72m
05: Shameless 10/01/11 -------------------------------------------------- 3.1m (15.8%) -------- 355k --------------- 4.05m
06: Grand Designs 28/09/11 -------------------------------------------- 3.0m (13%) ----------- 441k ------------------------
07: FILM: premiere: The Day The Earth Stood Still 19/6 - 3.0m (12.3%) -------- 633k --------------- 3.47m
08: FILM: premiere: Iron Man 2/01/11 ----------------------------- 3.0m (12.1%) -------- 561k --------------- 3.39m
09: Embarrassing Fat Bodies 6/06/11 ------------------------------ 3.0m (11.9%) -------- 504k --------------- 3.29m
10: The Real King's Speech 23/02/11 ------------------------------ 2.8m (11.3%) -------- 265k --------------- 3.31m
11: One Born Every Minute 14/02/11 ------------------------------- 2.8m (11.1%) -------- 374k --------------- 3.44m
12: Big Fat Quiz of the Year 2010 3/01/11 ------------------------ 2.7m (12.9%) -------- 400k --------------- 3.34m
13: 24 Hours In A&E 3/08/11 -------------------------------------------- 2.7m (12.7%) -------- 327k ---------------- 3.10m
14: Mary Portas: Secret Shopper 19/01/11 ---------------------- 2.7m (11.1%) -------- 349k ---------------- 3.36m
15: FILM premiere: Marley and Me 10/7/11 --------------------- 2.7m (~11%) -------- 505k ---------------- 3.18m
16: Million Pound Drop 04/02/11 ------------------------------------- 2.6m (14.2%) ------ ~180k ---------------- 2.79m
17: FILM: premiere: The Lovely Bones 24/07/11 ------------- 2.6m (13.7%) -------- 331k ---------------- 3.11m
18: Location, Location, Location 28/09/11 ---------------------- 2.6m (11.8%) --------- 208k ------------------------
19: Britain's Fattest Man 5/01/11 -------------------------------------- 2.6m (11.3%) -------- 334k --------------- 3.01m
20: Undercover Boss 5/7/11 --------------------------------------------- 2.6m (11.2%) -------- 358k ---------------- 3.01m

Last year's chart for comparison (there were no new entries after that post).

C4 and C4 +1 are overnight ratings, C4 official are from the Barb website.
All overnight ratings are averages for the full slot running time, rounded to 1 decimal place.
Shows are ranked in order of overnight ratings.
Each show only gets one mention in the list.
Come Dine With Me would chart in 2011 ~ 2.6m but don't have exact rating


Channel 4 bucked the trend amongst the terrestrials last night. Whilst the other channels were struggling in the heatwave with the total TV viewing levels well down week-on-week, it was able to bag series highs for both of its property programs. Grand Designs moved up 4 places in the chart and now seems to be shifting into the higher ratings it is known for, Location also did very well entering the chart for the first time this year. Grand Designs could yet rise further in the coming weeks; its highest overnight rating last year was 3.5m (exc +1).

She is pretty C list in America, she even did 'Dancing with the Stars' 2 seasons ago.


I don't think the American public is as enamored with Paula as Simon is. Her version of Sky 1's 'Got To Dance' was a huge flop on CBS earlier this year.
I think the relationship/chemistry between her and Simon and its appeal to America has been over estimated by Fox and Simon. Next year I expect some changes on the panel.

Nicole is seen as a bit of a flop in the U.S. since her solo stuff hasn't done that well. I think her current single is doing OK but Poison barely made the hot 100 I think

Why on earth NBC commissioned a show which flopped here for C4 both critically and in rating terms I don't know.

Can I ask about American ratings.

Do the total viewers count for nothing? Are the networks only interested in the demo? Which is the percentage of 18-49 viewers?


Quite amusing to see X Factor USA being a bit of a disappointment after hearing Cowell bang on about it for over a year as if it is unique and original TV

Location, Location, Location and Grand Designs put in superb performances for Channel 4; Fresh Meat didn't hold on to enough of it's lead in, really. Hollyoaks hit the 1m mark again which they'll be happy about and The Simpsons did very well at 6pm.

An average night for BBC One with a set of reasonable if not spectacular ratings. Waterloo Road seems to be performing steadily in the 7.30pm slot. Who Do You Think you Are? seems good for at least 4m viewers, no matter who the person covered is. The One Show appears to be returning to steady levels after a low summer. It's a shame Ask Rhod Gilbert can't claim more viewers in the post news slot.

Big Brother dipped slightly but so did most shows on the night. Five will be pleased to hit 1m between 8pm and 10pm though Law and Order would do better with a complimentary schedule around it. OK TV! is still not doing very well even if it has seen a slight boost.

Emmerdale's share is ok for ITV1 but the rating itself is poor. the football struggled as well, but Chelsea do not have the same pull as Manchester United. The highlights package performed reasonably well after the news.

BBC Two didn't fall apart but didn't light up the ratings board either with a set of ratings around the 1.5m mark. Shooting Stars seems a bit low...was it a repeat?

Modern Family retained a decent demo figure from the launch and I guess it can afford to lose a bit more, though ABC will be hoping that it holds up. Suburgatory performed reasonably well in the 8.30pm slot;especially considering the weaker lead in. Is there anyway we can get the breakdowns to see if Modern Family boosted it late on? Revenge's figure is ok for 10pm.

CBS had a consistent night. I didn't expect Criminal Minds to beat Survivor - is that normal? CSI performed very well at 10pm; losing only a small percentage from the launch.

3.9 is a good demo figure for a two hour show but FOX would've liked a lot more than that; American Idol would've managed that easily. The thing about The X Factor is momentum can be gained easily, but will it catch a break?

Those are a set of poor ratings for NBC. Free Agents must be at the departures longue already with Harry's Law at check in. In turn, they hurt Law & Order: SVU which struggled in the 10pm hour. They'll be hoping that Up All Night can hang on to what it's got.

In a way, I think X Factor has been set up to fail. The absurd hype, the bullish way Cowell suggested it was going to storm all before it, the hoopla about judges. It's all just led to an increased sense of anti-climax when it actually premiered - and people realised the actual show was just a sort of cross between Idol and The Voice.

I found this comedy skit on Conan quite telling:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/liv...l-video-239698

Obviously, thats Conan and he'd take the mickey out of anything. But TXF is such an easy target and you get the sense so many are really wishing it to fail...


They count for something - but primarily major, mainstream advertisers are looking for viewers in the 18-49 demographic. Shows that do well in total viewers often have them quoted on press releases (Dancing with the Stars on ABC, or anything on CBS) but mostly it's the demo that dictates how much adverts cost.

Some channels will try to use their numbers in other demos to appeal to niche advertisers. Hence, The CW will go on about young women, or the Disney Channel will look for Kids or Tweens. Oddly, the demo you very rarely hear anything about is upmarket viewers - it's odd because ABC1 is one of the few demo's you hear about at all in relation to British TV.

Average night last night for the UK channels, apart from Channel 4 which appeared to benefit from the weather. Seems like daytime is suffering too for yesterday, from DS:

"Earlier in the day, Doctors entertained 1.29m (23.7%) on BBC One from 1.45pm, while Neighbours had 652k (11.9%) on Channel 5."

I imagine over on ITV, Loose Women is under 1m by quite a bit now and Celebrity Masterchef must have been hurt by the warm weather.

I think people tend to underestimate how big Blake Shelton is. I'd agree that he maybe lack(ed) a big mainstream crossover following but he's a big country star and that's a pretty big market in the states. What The Voice did and that The X Factor hasn't though is put together a pretty diverse panel that all have their own following.


That's not a bad question. In fairness the show itself isn't horrible and there was a feeling that Hank Azaria's performance in particular could pick up some Emmy love that now looks like a long shot to say the least though.


Basically total viewers count for nothing.

Advertisers are only interested in the demos and as a result that's all networks care about. Generally speaking the 18-49 demo is the best gauge of how a primetime broadcast show is doing on cable that can change. Cable news for example is primarily judged on the 25-54 demographic and different cable networks target different age ranges and different sexes. Advertisers and networks actually have much more specific demographic breakdowns that they focus on but as a general rule of thumb shows that don't do well in the 18-49 don't do staggeringly well in any of those demos either.

The 18-49 number itself is the percentage of total 18-49 year old's with a television who were watching the show. The share (which I haven't posted here) is the percentage of 18-49 year old's watching television who were tuned into any given show.

For reference sake ABC's 18-49 ratings and shares for last night

The Middle - 2.6 / 8
Suburgatory - 3.3 / 9
Modern Family - 5.6 / 14
Happy Endings - 3.2 / 8
Revenge - 2.7 / 7

So if you look at Revenge's numbers for last night 2.7% of 18-49 year old's with television access watched the show and 7% of 18-49's watching television at 10PM watched the show.

For those that might be interested here's how the network shares (combined) in the 18-49 demo for each hour of primetime look

8PM - 36%
9PM - 36%
10PM - 20%

So at no point last night were the majority of 18-49's who were watching television watching broadcasting. And that's pretty standard.

Its rarely reported but 'upmarket' 18-34 is the primary demo NBC sell their comedy block on. If I remember rightly Parks & Recreation and 30 Rock have some of the highest average audience incomes of any show on television. This (along with the awards love) was part of the reason NBC adopted 30 Rock as one of their flagships despite apparently low numbers. Its also part of the reason they ditched My Name Is Earl a few years ago despite it performing on the same level if not slightly better in the 18-49 than the rest of the comedy line-up - it didn't skew rich enough.

I have no need to. I can comment on a public thread though.

No advertisers, in the UK or US, buy "total viewers". But there are lots of demos other than adults 18-49. Cable channels tend to be more targeted. For example, MTV will often publish numbers for Persons 12-34. Cable news does Adults 25-54.


I'm sure (like Cee-Lo and Levine) he was successful in his market and sold lots of music. But I dont think any of them were the kind of people that would obviously get people watching a TV show.

What I think NBC did was sell them better. As you say, they emphasised the diversity and the fact that they were all current stars and all a bit younger as well - a contrast at the time to Idol with Steven Tyler. Plus, the thing they did having them all perform together seemed to impress people. It seemed like a different kind of judging panel.

That might not be a great rating, but thats the highest share for lunchtime Neighbours i've seen in a long time!

I think ABC sort of braced themselves for Revenge numbers. Happy Endings was a weaker lead-in and they knew well enough that it was going to affect Revenge. Though, people have been predicting a far steeper drop such as 30% ()! 18% decline is not the best of results, but not really traumatizing. It should also be noted that Revenge grew in total viewers from Happy Endings. A possible different angle for ABC? Although, if Happy Endings go on a similar route as Cougar Town did last season, it may not be a good prospect for Revenge. 10pm shows may grow in viewers, but is extremely difficult for A18-49. So far, their decision to put Happy Endings as a lead-in for a new show baffles me. Then again, a lot of scheduling decisions that ABC makes baffles me.

Great results for Modern Family and ABC comedies. Decent debut for Suburbgatory. Up All Night is nearing the danger zone while Free Agent is nearing the chopping block. At least Harry's Law can use the "older-skewing" card, for now (seriously, 1.2 and 7.4m?!?!?!?!). The X Factor's drop is pretty good. However, for a show like The X Factor, this should be worrying. Whatever happens in coming weeks, no one knows. CBS, meanwhile, can smile with confidence for Survivor. I bet they might have not predicted they were going to do THIS well against The X Factor. ANTM numbers may have risen, but not to the satisfaction of the network bosses. As for H8R, Kim Kardashian was the reason why it improved, and she does great ratings business for E!

What's the difference between Mondays at half ten and Wednesdays at half ten? Not that much, surely? Sure, Monday at half ten's had some comedy shows in that slot, but for most of the year it's been A Question of Sport. I think Ask Rhod Gilbert is a bit of a contrived format as it happens, not helped by me finding Greg Davies a completely repellent performer.

Would anyone be interested to know that one of the many Scott-Lee brothers went to the same university as me and Lisa sometimes used to visit him in our halls of residence?

Latest - Tottenham Hotspur 0, Shamrock Rovers 1 (Channel 5). Gosh!

They are obviously important for cable networks that aren't funded by adverts, but are subscription based, like Starz.

Poor scheduling by the BBC, moving the Friday comedy block to Thursday for one week only and then moving it back to Friday next week.

Technically moving the shows twice during the run, all so they can squeeze in an extra SCD show. Surely they should have planned this in advance?

You'd be surprised. Country fans can be very fanatical which is why Idol usually has at least one almost every year.


That scheduling is all about Happy Endings. They're trying to grow that after it got increasingly positive critical reaction during its first season. They think (rightly or wrongly) that with the Modern Family lead-in it can grow into a second breakout comedy hit for them. I think all the right ingredients are there for it to do just that but we'll see how it goes.


Total viewers aren't entirely important there either. Subscriber rates and brand awareness are more important factors for premium networks.

It's typical BBC scheduling isn't it - and with comedy especially they never seem to look six weeks ahead. Indeed it's quite rare for sitcoms at least on Friday nights to keep the same slot throughout a series.

I think with tonights Outnumbered being the first of a double bill finale they might have been better playing both episodes tonight and promoting it as the finale. Alternatively it could have had a six week uninterupted run in between the SCD launch and Children in Need - but really it just comes down to them splitting the Strictly shows on the first weekend. If they can have a two hour show the week after, why not this week - or why not play them on Saturday/Sunday instead.

It makes no sense anyway - why are two shows needed this week yet a two hour long show next week? Either how two sets of hour longs while there are 14 couples, or two sets of two hour shows. If Doctor Who's an issue they could've planned better and started it a week earlier.

It's very random.