did you forget about their run away success, Dont Stop Believing?

This is what I think as fairly recent films like Quantum of Solace would still pull in 3 or 4 million. It's a shame their old summer escape route of American mini series dried up about 20 years ago. However, I think ITV1 should go for the cheapest summer imaginable and concentrate on films, some Audience With repeats and the two big soaps until the big hitters come back. The BBC is bound to do far better this summer with half of the Euros, Wimbledon, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics.

Hell on Wheels did very well for AMC although Westerns are to American TV and film what period dramas are to British TV and film, will be interesting whether it can hold especially as its not going to have the lead in when TWD goes on its winter break until February.

Provisionals for week beginning 26th November out - Strictly on from 18:55 to 20:15, X Factor on from 20:00 to 21:45.

I'm a Celebrity on 8:30pm to 10pm all that week from the Monday, Friday's ITV1 schedule is blank.

LOL, but I still think if Channel 5 can bag the right format, then they can pull in 2-3 million viewers. CBB proved this.

They have however got highlights of Children in Need (or a repeat of last night's CiN which itself repeats itself on the night) lasting 70 minutes at 17:45 though.

The BBC are scheduling SCD really well this year. The timeslots it's occupying in the next few weeks must be among the best it's ever had on a Saturday for non-final episodes. Last year's equivalent episode, for example, ran between 6.30-7.45pm. Also going a little bit past 8pm has the additional advantage of denting TXF's average.

I can see The X Factor moving to 20:15 if BBC One refuse to budge. I can't see why the BBC don't schedule Strictly Come Dancing to finish by 8pm to be honest. Bar bragging rights, they have little reason to push it later.

Should the TXF episodes be getting shorter as more contestants are evicted, not longer?

I still can't get over you supporting Channel 5 & Big Brother after all the posts you've made in the past (Slating low brow TV constantly etc)

They could quite easily, like in previous years. But from their perspective, why should they? Starting SCD later is boosting its ratings and helping BBC1's primetime %s.


The contestants sing twice when they're down to the final 5 or 6 I think, so that's why the length of the show can get longer.

I think each act will sing two songs from that week; there will be five acts left by that point if I've done the maths right, equalling ten performances.

Because they are "cock of the night" now, and ITV have proved that they will happily move TXF out of SCD's way, knowing that SCD is the stronger show when head to head and TXF is the show that will come off worst ratings-wise?

(Tin hat donned, blue touchpaper lit - now retreat to a safe distance... )

Did Danny Cohen make the claim that they wouldn't clash with The X Factor this year? If so, it must've come with the extra 'as long as The X Factor moves out of it's time slot".

Seriously, I don't get the reason behind it. The primetime shares would be up, even if Strictly finished at 8pm because of how well Merlin is performing and how Casualty is holding up.

Yeah I definitely think that's what they should do as I don't think they should move Downton as it suits that slot so well. I like the idea of launching a sitcom after TXF on Saturdays too. It'd perhaps be a bit awkward after the live shows but they certainly should launch one after the audition shows and also launch one after the BGT audition shows on Saturdays.


It's a shame but yeah it isn't looking too likely that DOI will move. Bringing back SNT is a good move if that's happening, and I think rather than wait until late February/March, they should start it on Saturday 21st January. They could launch DOI on Saturdays and Sundays over 2 weeks (7th and 14th) with 7 celebrities per week, each skating once on Saturday and once on Sunday with one being voted off on the Sundays, leaving 12 to skate on the 22nd when it would be back to Sundays only. Takeaway would run for 8 weeks on Saturdays with this schedule:

18:30- YBF, 19:00- TV Burp, 19:30- Ant & Dec, 20:45- Take Me Out, 22:00- Jonathan Ross

Unlike Push The Button, SNT could hold c6m in that slot, with TMO in turn getting c5m afterwards. YBF and TV Burp would get c4m and c4.5m respectively with c3m for Jonathan Ross at 10pm. That would be a reasonably solid schedule and with The Voice probably not starting until mid-March the competition wouldn't be too stiff. Let's Dance will bother them a bit but if they can schedule around it reasonably well they should be OK. Also if it is going to be the last ever series of TV Burp they might as well make a big deal of it and advertise it as such as it might boost it a little. That line up would run for 8 weeks ending on 10th March. The following weekend is DOI's semi final so they could do a special weekend like Strictly do for their semi final (except theirs is Friday/Saturday not Saturday/Sunday), with the other shows continuing.

BGT would then return the following Saturday (24th) and I agree that ITV seem happy with the schedule they have for it, so they could keep that except bring it 3 weeks earlier. The reason is they'll have to bring it a week earlier due to the Jubilee, but if they only bring it one week earlier the final will be on Eurovision night which would be a terrible move. The week before is the Champions League final so they won't be able to have it that night meaning it'll have to be the week before that, meaning that the final will be on Saturday 12th, with the live shows still beginning on a Bank Holiday Monday, but the one at the start of May instead (7th). The auditions would be on over 7 Saturdays from 24th March-5th May with this schedule:

19:00-The Exit List, 20:00- BGT, 21:00-Take Me Out/Titanic/Security Men

TMO would have 3 weeks left to run, which would lead nicely into Titanic on 14th April. After that they have 3 weeks of BGT auditions left. I think The Security Men was filmed earlier this year so they could show that on those 3 weeks (with ep 4 on BGT final night) which would really boost it. If it hasn't been filmed and won't be ready by then they could put the 3 part romantic comedy 'Love Life' there instead. BGT week would run as normal on w/c 7th May. If Sing If You Can is indeed returning then that could go on Fridays at 9pm in the Spring where Keith Lemon would have a bit more free reign.


Perhaps but Takeaway is an established and well liked format that would be making a big return. I suspect it'll launch big at least. Ant & Dec are still pretty big draws anyway. Despite Push The Button falling to 3.9m by the end of its 2010 run it still got 6m for its first episode this year, which wasn't far off its debut in 2010. Red or Black also debuted well which suggests that they are a draw. You only have to look at the huge boost to the Celebrity Juice ratings the week they were on to see that. I'm not totally convinced that The Voice is going to be a huge force to be reckoned with against them either...

Oh you're right - if momentum swings the other way next year suddenly BBC One will be trying to keep Strictly out of The X Factor's way.

It's just all the manouvering strikes me of something two commercial channels would do; not one with a guaranteed income. Maybe I'm being a bit unfair, I'll admit that.

Remind me, what were your thoughts when ITV used to schedule hour long Emmerdales opposite EastEnders?

Some sort of conspiracy moaning about how they were only doing it to dent EastEnders and hence make Coronation Street look better if I recall?

Funny how your opinions seem to have suddenly changed.

As for The X Factor, all this talk of it ending after its contract expires in 2 years is pretty ludicrous. It's still averaging c10m on Saturdays and c12m on Sundays and the final is on course for a 14-15m average. So whilst down y-o-y the numbers aren't to be sniffed at and I can't see it dropping massively y-o-y next year. Last night was a good performance from it. Not great but good. We all know and can clearly see that it's down a fair bit y-o-y, there's no denying that. However it seems a little pointless to slate every single rating it gets this year because of that, and it did get a series high last night and was still comfortably the #1 show of the night and indeed the week. So whilst last night's episode was down on the same episode last year as all of this year's live episodes have been, within the context of this series it did well last night.

Sensational rating for Downton too, which has done a terrific job this year. Excellent for Strictly too.

It's partly about media perception and momentum: SCD is doing really well this year and is getting a lot of positive press so the BBC can move the show into a later slot, overlap it a little bit against XF and won't get criticised for it. A couple of years ago when there was a lot of negative press surrounding SCD, they were almost forced to move it earlier, away from XF, and that had a knock-on effect on how they scheduled it last year. 7-8.15pm is the ideal timeslot for SCD: it starts in primetime so gets a big base audience right from the start, instead of building from a low base as it does with 6.15pm starts, and it has an advantage of denting XF. Part of it is about bragging rights, they know that when they cleverly go into the 8pm slot, it dents The X Factor's first 15 minutes, meaning SCD has a better chance of ending up with the higher average = more positive press. The BBC scheduling this year has been more competitive, and to be fair to them, why shouldn't they be? You can also bet your bottom dollar, they're not going to move SCD half an hour earlier during XF's final night as they did last year, which will no doubt dent XF's Final average if that remains at 7.30-9.30pm.

In all honesty it's getting quite boring, the same points made over and over again every week, each one dafter than the last. I'm sure it'd be quicker if people just copied and pasted their comments from last week and then went down the pub!

TXF/SCD talk should be banned from Midnight Tuesday to 6pm Saturday

Strictly won't get the positive press per se - The X Factor will get negative press. It's got to the point where it's almost presented that The X Factor has got into such an extent that even Strictly is beating it; certainly that's how the press promoted it last week.

I don't see why they should move Strictly earlier if The X Factor wants to encroach before 8pm. That's ITV1's problem to deal with. But for me, Strictly's slot is anytime between 6pm and 8pm and The X Factor's is anytime between 8pm and 10pm - the best time for both would be around 7.15-8.45 as viewers tend to be slightly lower from 6pm and after 9pm but there's give or take because they'd only harm each other by going head to head.

To be honest, both channels have been childish about this (like ITV1 moving The X Factor earlier last year to build on momentum). They should grow up and live and let live side by side.

EDIT: And I can see certain people getting wound up at arguments about provisional schedules...sorry about that.

I think given the circumstances, the above would be a solid enough schedule for ITV. It'd still probably be beaten by BBC1 but it'd do well in the key demographics and rate better than what they had earlier this year. The one thing which lends to me think that won't happen though is that on ITVMedia, it's been stated that The Exit List is airing in Q1. That would suggest Exit List won't be airing in the pre-BGT slot as you've suggested. Your suggestion would be better though. As for BGT, I agree that Champions League and Eurovision does disrupt its momentum, and in an ideal world they'd have the final before those two events. As you say, they should take advantage of the BGT lead-ins better. Airing two Piers Morgan Life Stories series after their two biggest Saturday shows on TV is a bit too much - one series after XF/BGT would be fine, but they should let another show have the chance to have that lead-in too.


Oh, absolutely. The media can have a massive impact on the public image of a show by how they report on certain things. There are a number of people I've seen who actually believe SCD is the number one show in the UK at the moment consistently beating XF - obviously that's not the case (it's beaten XF once) but because of the way things have been reported in the press, some people just believe it to be the case. XF has had a lot of media love in recent years so the backlash was going to come sooner or later and was due- they have to turn it around next year with a good series.


Yeah, I know what you mean. But ITV aren't faultless in this either as they had the first couple of live episodes before 8pm. Maybe if they'd stuck with post-8pm starts right from the beginning, the BBC would've played a bit nicer. I still don't think it's wrong of the BBC to overlap a little bit into 8pm since they deserve to take advantage of the situation they're in at the moment. The matter is only going to get worse for ITV next year, I reckon, with Doctor Who airing in Autumn too, we could be seeing SCD airing between 7-8.30pm with DW at 6.15pm. That's not going to be a good position for ITV to be in, as it'd force them to start XF at 8.30pm to avoid clashes, but that's too late a start to attract its full potential. For the BBC, a night of DW/SCD/Merlin/Casualty/MOTD next Autumn would be a great schedule and ITV wouldn't be able to cope with that.

The figures are still strong enough to bounce back; or the show can even afford to drop another 10% year on year, though ITV1 would start to panic if that happened.

Certainly the BBC are using the deflection of the press' attention to be more competitive with Strictly.


I'm wondering whether BBC One are trying to use the hold they have to force The X Factor back into an earlier slot, thereby taking the heart of primetime for themselves. If ITV1 find themselves pushing The X Factor further and further back, they'll probably give up and schedule it as more of a direct head to head, at which point Strictly will take the 8pm spot. Of course then ITV1 will then look to overlap The X Factor at every opportunity.

Of course, if The X Factor auditions do well next year (I think they'll be down on this years audition stage), BBC One will play it save with Strictly until they know how the live shows do.

I may not agree with the petty squabbling between the channels but scheduling wise it is intriguing.

I like the sitcom idea - and perhaps more for the live shows than audition shows. It's kind of perfect if they get it right - something entertaining, but something different, and even if it's only around the 4m mark it would probably skew younger than Jonathan Ross or Piers Morgan.

I think ITV could be in for a rough time of it next year. If the Voice is a success, then it means the BBC is pretty much guaranteed to dominate weekend primetime until at least August. And then if the X Factor fails to rally or at least stabilise and Strictly stays strong, they could be in for a real headache.