In a word no. As we've seen BBC1 are scheduling more agressive than before. This will definally occur on Christmas Day. I'd expect to see EastEnders scheduled against it.

The only benefit to ITV is that DA will probably rate better than what they usually air, but as they will still lose out to BBC1, is that a statistic that anyone would care about. It's not much of a tabloid headline.

The Killing (best TV programme of the decade) returns to BBC Four with a second series on Saturday 19th November.
Sofie was on Newsnight last night

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-rad...-second-series

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2011-...the-killing-ii

To earn The One Show a place in the Top 100 highest rated programmes of 2011?

maybe its going to feature alot of Matts cycling quest.

Not that it matters, there is never anything good on in the first half hour anyways.

Hopefully all the bits I want to watch will be between 8pm and 10pm, and I can leave it at that this year, only one im not sure about is Russel Howards Good News, that might be later.

Yeah, I just know the schedules will end up being almost the same as last year, as commercially there really is no point for ITV to air something like Downton Abbey on Christmas Day and I can't see them putting the effort in to do something different and more competitive this time. From a ratings thread perspective though it would be interesting seeing a proper Christmas Day ratings battle for once. Say for example, EastEnders was facing something like Downton Abbey rather than All Star Family Fortunes, would it still be capable of 11-12m figures it's managed in recent years? I suspect not, and that would possibly mean something else ending up as #1 show of the night: something like Doctor Who or even Corrie if the latter were to be well scheduled away from SCD. But I guess it's not something which really matters to ITV - they'd rather take a respectable performance on Xmas Night with their big hitters airing elsewhere over Xmas when ad revenue and ratings potential is better.


There's a chance that The One Show CIN special could end up beating Emmerdale. In previous years, Children in Need has quite comfortably beaten Emmerdale between 7-7.30pm and although the gap won't be as much this time, I can see BBC1 just about edging ahead during that clash. Good bit of potential PR there: "first time ever The One Show has beaten Emmerdale" and then probably articles in the press of how Emmerdale is apparently in decline and not as good as it used to be and how well The One Show is doing.

I've been looking at the official ratings for the first series of The Jury in 2002. It started with 8m but slumped to a low of 5m before rallying slightly to end of 5.35m. Wouldn't be surprised if series 2 next week did exactly the same thing.

Meanwhile the weather forecast just on has suggested that Saturday night (Bonfire Night) could be wet and windy across much of the country. Good news for The X Factor.

Worth noting ITV1 Wales, and possibly UTV would have opted-out to show local shows

I'm really not sure what ITV would get from airing Downton on Christmas Day unless of course they're planning to actually take the fight to BBC1 on Christmas Day (and again I don't know what they'd get out of doing that). I think perhaps people are reading a little too much into the 'get you through the end of Christmas' comments. That could just as easily mean it'll be airing Boxing Day where it would probably make a little more sense, didn't they air an Agatha Christie drama on Boxing Day last year? I'd imagine it'll just end up taking that slot.

US Ratings Monday October 31
Note these are all final numbers so no adjustments to come later

Halloween produced a down night in the US on Monday night across broadcast although much of that can likely be explained by lower than average HUT and PUT levels across the night.

None the less Dancing with the Stars had its worst performance show rating ever last night on ABC which brings them crashing back down to earth after highs of Once Upon a Time on Sunday. On the plus side for ABC Castle was up vs. last (the only show on broadcast to achieve that feat) and was just a tenth behind Dancing with the Stars. Although I’m not sure the second half of that stat is a plus side for ABC. Also lets all take a moment to enjoy the irony of Disney owned ABC airing the DreamWorks Scared Shrekless (it debuted on NBC last year).

Over on Fox Terra Nova hit a disastrous series low. Barring a miraculous rebound next week whatever slim chance it had of renewal has basically disappeared. House was down 19% vs. its last original episode. On CBS Two and a Half Men hit a series low of 4.7 which Modern Family fans may want to note was only a couple of tenths bigger than a repeat of Modern Family last week. Everything else on CBS was relatively stable.

The Sing-Off mirrored Dancing with the Stars pulling its lowest ever ratings. And Rock Center debuted horribly with a 1.0 but I doubt NBC was expecting more from cheap schedule filler (and for its worth I think it’s pretty good). Over on The CW repeats of Ringer (which I feel has maybe aired more repeats than originals already this season) was basically unwatched even by CW standards.

For those that might care ESPN’s Monday Night Football pulled a 4.7 equalling Two and a Half Men as the biggest show of the night whilst I suspect the WWE Raw (hours of 1.7 and 1.8) powered USA will have beaten broadcast sister NBC in primetime with ease.

ABC
8PM: Scared Shrekless[r] – 1.7 [8.53]
8:30PM: Dancing with the Stars – 2.8 [16.29]
10PM: Castle – 2.7 [12.58]

CBS
8PM: How I Met Your Mother – 4.2 [10.49]
8:30PM: 2 Broke Girls – 4.3 [10.97]
9PM: Two and a Half Men – 4.7 [13.90]
9:30PM: Mike & Molly – 3.7 [11.45]
10PM: Hawaii Five-0 – 3.0 [10.60]

Fox
8PM: Terra Nova – 2.1 [6.59]
9PM: House – 2.5 [6.65]

NBC
8PM: The Sing-Off – 1.4 [4.40]
10PM: Rock Center with Brian Williams – 1.0 [4.14]

The CW
8PM: Ringer[r] – 0.2 [0.68]
9PM: Ringer[r] – 0.2 [0.64]


EDIT - Also ABC appear to have picked up a show that is fairly similar to ITV's Holding Out For A Hero entitled 'You Deserve It'

From the producers of “Deal or No Deal” and “Secret Millionaire” comes a new, heartfelt game show perfect for the holiday season, “You Deserve It,” hosted by Chris Harrison (“The Bachelor”) and co-hosted by Brooke Burns. In this six-episode unscripted series, contestants aren’t out to win money for themselves, but are playing for someone else – someone they feel deserves it. Starting with a $ 10,000 round and going up to a $250,000 round, contestants purchase a series of clues to help them solve the puzzles and win money for their chosen recipient. But each clue will cost them -- and the cost of each clue is randomly selected and won’t be revealed until after it has been purchased. The beneficiary, who is in another location under constant hidden-camera surveillance throughout the show, gets the surprise of a lifetime when family, friends, Brooke Burns and a camera crew burst in with life-changing news. “You Deserve It” premieres, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21 (9:01-10:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

What's happened to Dancing With The Stars this season? It's been well short of the 20m it normally gets. I guess CBS having a stronger comedy block could've impacted it, but since Two and a Half Men has returned to normal levels now, I was expecting DWTS to do better. For Castle to only be 0.1 behind what is supposed to be ABC's flagship entertainment show must be concerning. On a side note, I see that of DWTS's audience, 22% are aged among 18-49. It skews with an older than Strictly does here (around 32% normally).

The CBS comedy block is doing wonderful business especially 2BG although I think they should swap with Mike and Molly. House is gone after this season and Terra Nova is on shaky grounds.

Extreme Frontiers is scheduled for 1st December at 9pm but given The Mentalist will be airing in that slot, I think's likely to change especially as both Mondays and Wednesdays will be free once Hotel Inspector and Paul Merton finish their run but it could easily be delayed until January.

I think ABC would pay good money to anyone who could explain to them what’s gone wrong with Dancing with the Stars this year. There was a lot of press hysteria surrounding the contestants (or one of them at least) heading into the show but usually for these kind of shows that increases rather than decreases the numbers. I suspect, in part at least, the US audience is just burnt out on the show – it has two cycles a season after all. I feel this is a similar problem NBC has to tackle with Biggest Loser.

Having said that someone at CBS (who’s name currently escapes me) was pushing the notion that America has just tired of two-hour reality blocks. I believe he used the ‘under performance’ of The X Factor alongside the falling ratings for Dancing and Biggest Loser along with The Sing-Off crashing and burning to push this. There might be some weight to that but I imagine The Voice and American Idol will probably blow that theory out of the water midseason.

On the subject of its skew I think I’m right in saying that Dancing with the Stars is the oldest skewing show on American broadcast and pretty much always has been. That wasn’t an issue when it was pulling 20 million viewers but it has become more of an issue this season. Tuesday nights in particular have been skewing amazingly old for ABC so far this season (those Dancing recaps didn’t help them at all). This is the worst time for Dancing to be collapsing though not just because of ABC’s general schedule woes but because NBC has the Super Bowl inflated Voice coming to Monday nights midseason. I do wonder if we might see a Dancing revamp midseason similar to the one we saw for Strictly last year.

There is no way DA will air Christmas Day. Boxing Day is odds on IMO.

I doubt they will. That 8:30 slot has been a pain for CBS over the past couple of seasons. Everything they've put there since they moved Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother around has been cancelled (with the exception of Rules of Engagement which I think aired there for half a season).

DWTS is one of those shows which don't really improve until the semi-finals week. That has always been the pattern for the last few seasons. This season was very publicized and it backfired mainly due to CBS comedies having a strong impact. DWTS is now at a stage where they can only hope the numbers will not go down any further. Justin Bieber and Boyz II Men is appearing on tonight's result show and if that doesn't juice up the numbers, DWTS is screwed.

That being said, Castle is doing really well and being only behind a tenth really is a compliment to the show. They have a very strong fanbase and their accompanying novels have been in NY Times Bestsellers List. We would have to see how they can cope in January, when their lead-in show is The Bachelor. If the numbers stay in tact or improve, maybe they can move to a new slot.

I think there might be a reality burnout aspect to it too. But it still seems like a big collapse. Wasn't it doing really well (20m+) as recently as last season? I would've thought any kind of "burn out" factor would've resulted in a gradual decline season to season rather than one big one this season.


Yep, all these reality shows airing year after year will take their toll. Though with that said, that makes The Voice's success earlier this year even more impressive- the fact it broke through in such a saturated market full of reality shows already. Comedy is definitely the genre which is booming at the moment. On another note regarding Grimm: surely NBC will move that away from Fridays considering how poorly Rock Centre and Prime Suspect have done? It would be a massive shame if they left it on Fridays for a few more weeks, meaning it could potentially lose a lot of viewers on Fridays. After this week's episode, they need to move it to another night ASAP.

Yes I saw that too, but like you say it's bound to change. They won't mess about with The Mentalist I wouldn't have thought.

I could see Extreme Frontiers going on either Mondays or Wednesdays in December. At 4 episodes long it's perfect for the run up to Christmas. It should rate really well, sounds like an action packed series and his previous shows for BBC Two have been ratings winners.

I think 2BG will likely succeed HIMYM at 8pm if it doesn't move to Thursday in the next season or two, think the next season is planned to be the last although CBS may be tempted to renew for another season but I think the cast want to move on.

Don't think this has been mentioned but Anger Management with Charlie Sheen is to air on FX next summer, it has a model similar to the Tyler Perry shows where it gets 10 episodes and if it hits certain ratings, FX orders an additional 90 episodes. Dunno if it is going to be multi-camera or single camera.

There has, I think, been a gradual decline year-on-year in recent seasons but you’re right that for the most part this decline (or at least the size of it) has just come from nowhere. In the early weeks of the season it was easy to point toward the success of the CBS comedy block and argue that was depressing the numbers slightly but it’s become increasingly clear that’s not the case. I do find myself wondering if there is perhaps more of a crossover between The Sing-Off and Dancing with the Stars than NBC and ABC both originally thought. The Sing-Off’s performance might not be impressive but if you add those 4 million viewers (and the mid-1 demo) back onto Dancing with the Stars its right back on track. Maybe NBC are smarter than people give them credit for and they’ve sacrificed The Sing-Off to depress the Dancing with the Stars audience ahead of The Voice’s return midseason.

It’ll be interesting to see what ABC opt to do midseason with the show. In theory they have a ‘revamp road map’ because the BBC just successfully did it with Strictly so they have options open to them. When you actually stop and think about it basically nothing has changed about Dancing with the Stars since it launched in the Summer of ’05 and they’ve had about 7 seasons of it since then so its probably view some changes...


I'm a little split on the whole 'comedy boom' thing. Obviously it has been a great year for a lot of comedies but at the same time there have been some real comedy bombs this year (Free Agents, Man Up, How To Be A Gentleman). And of course the networks have collectively invested hugely in comedy this year so it was almost always going to be a great year for it - I think there's something like 27 comedies scheduled to air across Fall on the 'big 4' with even more on the bench for midseason. If you aren't producing hits with that depth something has gone horribly wrong I think.

On the subject of Grimm that's a very tricky situation. Before it debuted I was pushing for NBC to move into one of their open slots on the off chance that it found an audience and on the surface the Friday debut suggests they should have done that but at the same time maybe it wouldn't hold up outside of Friday and then they've taken a show that can break a 2 and turned it into another show that's barely above a 1. I think they need to see how episode two does (against a full slate of drama competition) before making any judgements though. If it holds up then they should probably at least consider a straight swap with Prime Suspect. But then they're left with the tricky question of where they launch Awake midseason if Grimm holds up.

Rock Center won't go anywhere until midseason though. Its cheap and with Smash locked into that Monday 10PM slot they won't want to put Grimm there knowing they'll have to move it again to make way for Smash. For better or worse I think Grimm might be locked into Friday for the rest of its run. Maybe it'll move if it can land a second season. Still very early days for that though.

It would be a nonsense to say TXF was top show with the 15-16m it will almost certainly get, when a combined 26m watched the wedding (19m for the ceremony on BBC1).

You have to make exceptions to the reporting rules sometimes if you are going to make statements that have any credibility.

I'll do a deal with you. If ITV's average between 5.30 and 10.30pm on TXF Final Sunday beats 13.6m, then it will have won top slot on a level playing field.....

Looks like we're going to have a month of speculation about the DA Special scheduling. Joy....

I'm not sure how Fellows's "end of Christmas" comments necessarily mean 9pm xmas night. My Christmas ends when I go back to work on 4th January!

Perhaps they will save it for New Years Day, the most watched night of the year?

Seems slightly pointless though; I imagine it brings in a decent amount of cash advert wise considering they've tacked on 15 minutes to this series so won't it be better for them to air it before Christmas...maybe the Sunday after The X Factor final?

Maybe they could just skip airing it altogether and release it on DVD in time for Christmas...?

No?

Ok.

It's going to depend on whether CBS really want to make a play for a 2 hour block on Thursdays next season. And I can't see why they wouldn't do that, with their current slate of comedy. Otherwise, their usual "cancel the weakest of 6 comedies" routine could lead them to axing something with a 3+ average - while dramas like The Mentalist or Person of Interest escape with 2's. If they do, then 2BG is looking like the most obvious candidate for a move to hold down 8pm, with TBBT holding 9pm. Of course, they'll then need some of the new comedies to take off, or else they could find themselves short staffed on Mondays when HIMYM ends and if 'Men' enters a slide. But those are the risks you have to play...


At least it's new for this year. Got to beat endless agonising over what order the BBC will play Who, Strictly, EE and the Royles in!

And NYD would certainly be interesting. I've a suspicion the BBC might have that one marked down for Sherlock. Now that'd get people talking...

(Seriously, though, if it's a Christmas special, it'd seem daft to wait until 2012.)


Seems most likely - but it might end up isolated in an empty schedule. Especially if the BBC have any sense and string the Strictly final out to Sunday (which they can do live at that stage because Len and Bruno have finished in the US). At the very least, Downton would be robbed of a lead-in. I'm sure it'd do well still, but we're talking about a show that has never had anything but a 12m plus lead-in. Must have some sort of effect.

Beyond that, Boxing Day would perhaps be the favourite within the Christmas fortnight itself. BBC One might be prepared to throw them that one, but they'd surely go nuclear with EE on Christmas Day itself...

I think Sunday 18th is a possibility, NYD would mean facing Sherlock. ITV1 have Fast Freddie but I think thatll air in the post Christmas week because they're not restricted by news at 10pm. Think Lapland will be the sacrificial lamb against Downton rather than Great Expectations or Birdsong.