Extraordinary not just for the peak, but as you say the incredible retention post race and also pre race. Incredible to compare that with ITV, where everyone turns off at the final whistle or chequered flag. Sky have got a fight on their hands next year.

NCIS does consistently well to get 19 million week on week, something which I've noticed despite not following American ratings. A 3.9 demo looks very good indeed. Quite surprised to see Glee down to 7.4 million. Wasn't it at 10/11 million last season?

Exactly. If anything, ratings for F1 have increased on the BBC, and now, we're seeing viewing figures at a 10-year high or something like that. The scary thing is that, if you take away the pre and post-race stuff, the races would be averaging 5/5.5 million, on par with the 1996 viewing figures.

No surprises there, even though it's rated below expectations. Ratings have been quite steady so far this series for it.

Forgot about Dallas. I could see that one starting high at least as viewers will be curious to see whether it can recapture its old magic, but not sure if it will be a ratings winner in the long-term. Too early to tell.

Re: Fridays, I think they've missed the boat on that one now really. Channel 4 recently brought their Friday night comedy block back, although it's not clear how committed they are to this. Meanwhile Sky1 has established a similar block with an impressive array of shows from the UK and beyond. It's going to be difficult for 5 to compete with these without a reliable anchor like BB. I think they'll be tempted to run specials/films on that night now, until Xmas at least. And then make it entertainment focussed again for CBB's return in January with When Paddy Met Sally possibly airing in the old Bachelor slot.

I would quite like to see them pick up Unforgettable as well, but only because I have a bit of a thing for Poppy Montgomery. I don't know if the show is any good or not.

I know, I'm boring but I'm a bit confused now. I thought Merlin had 5.9m viewers on Saturday. Which one is the correct number?

6.1m was the full-slot rating for 20.10-20.55 as advertised.

However, Strictly Come Dancing overan a little bit on Saturday, meaning Merlin started a bit late. As a result, Merlin's tape-checked average as reported by DS, was 5.9m. That was the average for 20.15-20.55.

The 6.1m average includes a slight SCD over-run (I think it was 2-3 mins).

Not quite true - the retention on the RWC post match was very good.

Big Brother beaten by an episode of Hollyoaks on E4!

Thanks rzt!

I don't get the rush. After the first series was a success, they should have slowed things down a bit for the second series.

Or maybe they have slowed things down, and it had previously been due to move through the years even faster!

The Mentalist and NCIS were solid ratings performers on Fridays so Channel 5 are going to struggle to find a similar performer. I think it wouldn't do them any harm to show stand up comedy either, the Peter Kay Live at the Top of the Tower was a success and they do fairly well for BBC Two and Channel 4.

Think All About Amy will air either on Fridays or a weekday 10pm slot in January.


The 20s will be interesting as it's the era before The Depression and I think something like The Depression will impact The Crawley Family.

If ITV want to air Downton Abbey on Christmas Day, and if they want to keep it away from EastEnders, they'd stand their best chance with a schedule like this...

6.00pm Emmerdale
7.00 Coronation St
8.00 Quiz
9.00 Downton Abbey

... which would allow EastEnders to air at 8pm, if there plenty of BBC One comedies to fill 9pm to 11pm.

But, if ITV go with...

7.00pm Emmerdale
8.00 Coronation St
9.00 Downton Abbey

... fearing Abbey being isolated without a soap lead-in, they're going to end up with EastEnders at 9pm.

Looking at the listings for the last week of November it does seem like The Royal Bodyguard will be Wednesday at 8. Currently 7.30-8.30 is TBA. Either that or a Saturday or Sunday early evening slot? Live at the Apollo is down that Friday night at 9.30, I thought that may transfer to Saturday but no sign of that at the mo.

I'll guess Wednesday at 8 with repeats before Strictly on Saturday.

Would it be possible for Downton to air at 8 or 8.30pm as it's not exactly filled with violence or swearing. Boxing Day is the likely day for it and BBC One will either air a film or comedy in that slot.

It started to fade after Bobby Ewing came to life in the shower at the start of the 1986 series and never came back, ending up as a Sunday afternoon show for its last series. Also it might attain a bit of curiosity value among old fans, but I can't see it doing more than a million.

BBC1 would put EastEnders against it no matter what. Christmas Day is the only day you would see EE on at 9pm, so it's best avoided. There are more unwritten scheduling rules on every other day of the year.

"Monumental… phenomenal… spectacular… incredible… thrilled… fantastic"

Has Mike Darnell eaten a Thesaurus or something? He's sounding awfully happy about something Fox are shelling out make-goods to advertisers for. Almost too happy…

No, in all seriousness, the recommission makes plenty of sense and Fox will hope the show will rise as the season goes on and when it returns next year. It's obviously boosted their year on year performance - and they'll be happy about that - but you can't shake the slight sense of disappointment that this is a long way from "Idol 2"…

The question now is how Idol performs in Spring. My theory was always that 2012 was it's real test, rather than 2011. It's survived without Cowell, but how will it cope now TXF (and The Voice) have offered the audience something bigger, more spectacular and more innovative in the time since it was last on air?

Yeah, I suppose they could start it at 8pm or 8.30pm, but I suspect that would increase its chances of ending up against EastEnders.

They wouldn't really have any choice, with two hours of ITV soap to avoid, it would be difficult to avoid two hours of Abbey as well.

I am still waiting and hoping that Body of Proof will hold up in the finals. DWTS overrun is really pissing me off sometimes with Castle and Body of Proof being adjusted down, most of the cases. Sometimes they go up, but sometimes they don't. ABC's 8pm sitcom block is looking worse by the week though. If they don't survive by January, what will happen to the Tuesday block? I think ABC will still put Cougar Town/Apartment 23 at 9pm slot and eventually move them up to 8pm slot in March, when DWTS 14 premieres.

Looks like Glee's moment in the sun may be fading away. This is the first time in ages that Glee got under a 3. Maybe the overkill of their franchise (The Glee Project, Glee 3D) has turned viewers away. Some people are saying the storyline hasn't recovered from season 2 either. This puts NCIS in a comfortable lead. Still amazing that they can still pull off 19-20m on their 9th season. Quite a contrast from in their first few seasons, when they did much lower than that. Unforgettable continues to see-saw in the ratings. One day they are doing fine, the next day they are in bubble watch.

If it doesn't recover soon, I think next season will be the last. The same thing happened to The OC, Heroes and Ugly Betty in their third season before being cancelled the following season.

I wonder if they will get rid of Steve Jones for the next series. I bet Simon regrets not giving the job to Dermot. I wonder if he will be offered the second series. That would leave a vacancy for presenter on the main show-probably offer it to Caroline Flack although she might run of with one of the younger male contestants

Neither option is very good for ITV or Downton, even with no Eastenders competition, the lead-in is going to be very low if its light entertainment, which will dent Downton's figure. Also, the beeb may be a bit naughty and have Eastenders run over the start of Downton. Im sure such a thing would go unnoticed here though.

I am very much in boat with you on Ugly Betty. Season one was really fantastic. I was virtually hooked on it every week. Season two was a hit and miss for me (writer's strike excuse?), but mostly a miss. They focussed away from their premise and did the whole stupid Betty-Gio-Henry love triangle for half the season. I liked season 3 and 4. Recovered a bit for me, but not much.

Ratings wise, it did absolutely fine during their first season. The second season had a slump, but still did good business (I don't want to blame the writer's strike for this, as I know some shows held up or did quite better. DH season 4 total viewers average improved from season 3, back when A18-49 numbers still played a supporting role). Third season really took a hit on them, as they declined significantly. ABC really f&%cked them over by moving them to Fridays. Midseason, UB was moved to Wednesday 10pm, hoping for a rebound. Too little, too late though.

I didn't really watch the O.C., but people are apparently saying season 3 and 4 sucked so much that they wanted to pretend it never happened. Is that true? Also, I remember The O.C. having to face CSI and Grey's Anatomy (both shows on their peaking seasons, getting 20m every episode) during their fourth season, which ultimately was another factor for their cancellation.