Yes, I remember that magazine - I think it was threatened with/had legal proceedings against it to stop it publishing. How times have changed!

I do actually miss the old BBC only RT, with all the listings each day on a double page spread, BBC1 on one side, 2 on the other. No rifling through several pages like today.

We also took the TV Times, just so as to take the occasional cursory glance at it to make sure there was nothing on the other side.

The papers also had special dispensation at xmas to publish 3 days of listings as opposed to the maximum of 2. Hard to believe.this restrictive practice was allowed to carry on so long.

On ITV? When's that, then?


Well, it's not the first time stuff announced for Christmas has been squeezed out. That Florence Nightingale drama that was shown a few years back was in the inital Christmas press pack and ended up going out on a Sunday night in, I think, June. And there was that time the other year when one of the made-up tabloid TV guides had The Aviator on BBC1 on Christmas night. It ended up going out in May. On BBC2.

Funnily enough I remember it happening in 1995 with Jasper Carrott, funnily enough, with Carrott's Commercial Breakdown 4 being in all the press packs and the tabloid TV guides, but it didn't go out at Christmas - which was odd as previously Jasper had always had a special of some kind at Christmas, and the previous Breakdowns had all gone out then - and it ended up on a Tuesday night in March. I seem to remember about a million tabloid TV guides at Christmas 1995, actually, and I think that was the festive season with the most last-minute shuffling (that was the year they were supposed to be showing Corrie and 'stEnders at the same time on Christmas Day). And that year the TV guides ran 16th-29th December so there was more pondering over New Year.


Yes, our local paper couldn't even print Sunday listings in their Friday edition, they just had to do a spread of highlights. It was only for a year or so that they did a double page spread of listings though*, from 1990, because before that there were adverts on the programme pages so they could go on over several pages.

* That's apart from the three day week in 1974, from which I've got a couple of issues, where there were only 32 pages and they had to cram everything in so the listings started on page four, there was a double page spread for telly and radio each day, and they finished on page 31.

ITV and BBC Press offices seem to have a radically different idea to the scheduling than digi guide or indeed you lot seem to have.

The Paddy show isn't even mentioned and it'll be all right on the night is supposedly on the Fri 30th.

You'll no doubt still be bleating that your made-up schedules are correct even when both press sites have confirmed the actual schedules and the RT hits the shops.

I have visions of you in Smiths telling punters not to trust the Radio Times and handing out your own print outs...

I suppose waiting for the Radio Times for the schedules is just a quaint memory these days

Love on the Transplant List: 323k (1.2%). It won the 9pm slot on multichannel

Signed by Katie Price meanwhile bowed out to just 88k (0.3%) on Sky Living at the same time. Ross Kemp took a much more respectable 303k (1.2%) for Sky1.

Source: Broadcast.

I note from the Downton press pack that the special is supposedly in the shops on DVD on Boxing Day.

If true, I guess that confirms there won't be any last minute shift away from Xmas Day.

I wonder if that does mean pre-orders stand a chance of arriving before Christmas. And will people not bother watching on the night if they can go out and buy the ad-free DVD the following morning?

Perhaps the BBC should make sure audiences are aware of this, if it is true?

Daybreak's blushes spared again at the bottom of the Appreciation Index for last week, although it still claimed positions 2-7:

The National Lottery: 18 UK Millionaires BBC1, Fri 25 Nov, 23:20 66
Daybreak ITV1, Mon 21 Nov, 06:00 66
Daybreak ITV1, Wed 23 Nov, 06:00 66
Daybreak ITV1, Fri 25 Nov, 06:00 66
Daybreak ITV1, Tue 22 Nov, 06:00 68
Daybreak ITV1, Thu 24 Nov, 06:00 68

I'd assume voters not being one of the 18 Millionaires is the reason for the low score, because I remember that being (surprisingly) well produced for a Lottery draw show.

adverts on the BBC?

I was thinking more along the lines of a DVD review on The One Show, Breakfast, Radio 2, online - noting that if you wait and buy the DVD on Boxing Day, not only do you have your own personal copy of the special, but you don't have to watch or FF any ad breaks.

"Every little helps..." as they say.

You'd just ramp it up even further. Watch it on ITV and see it a day early and for free. And happy christmas too

Talking of ramping, I see the Beeb have played a blinder with the SPOTY shortlist.

Nice little bit of toys-out-of-pram throwing brewing up due to the lack of any women on it. Should generate a bit of publicity; maybe even a nominal lass adding to the shortlist so we have 11 nominees, and more pre-publicity.

I can see a campaign to give Gary Speed a postumous award being ramped as well. Not sure that is appropriate.

I was expecting Desperate Scousewives to be closer to the 1 million mark, considering how successful shows like TOWIE have been. But it may grow its audience through word of mouth. Someone on Twitter last night said 'Desperate Scousewives makes TOWIE look like Downton Abbey' so it may grow its audience as people check out how bad it is!

I think ultimately there's only room for one show like this though, and that's TOWIE. Made in Chelsea is mildly successful, due to the more sophisticated and posh characters and setting that it features, but Desperate Scousewives doesn't seem to have a USP that makes it stand out from other reality programmes. It's a complete TOWIE rip off.

CONFIRMED

7pm Doctor Who
8pm Strictly

ITV1
9pm Downton

http://twitter.com/#!/RadioTimes

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2011-...ly-and-downton

in that case either EE is at 9pm, or is split at 18:30 and 21:00

As Boxing Day is a public holiday (and no postal deliveries) how many shops will be open selling DVDs ?

ive had a few DVDs in my hands days before the official release date, most recently Primeval. So its possible anyone who has pre-ordered will have the DVD before Christmas Day.

The last episode of Torchwood Children of Earth was on the internet before it had been broadcast anywhere, due to people getting the dvd early.

Good chance of DW winning the day I would have thought then.

Guess I should hold up on the speculation, as im sure Digiguide will give us a nice update this evening.

Would be nice to see Doctor Who win, I wonder if the Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe theme, can pull in any non Whovians, who might not normally watch.

I wonder how many minutes SCD will over-run by this year?

Stopwatches at the ready...

Not if Emmerdale beats it in UTV, STV, TTTV, YTV and Granada regions as it did last year.

I was puzzled to hear the short list was drawn up by newspaper sports editors rather than viewers' votes.And no disabled athletes either as far as I can see. Isn't it a bit ironic that newspaper sports hacks are selecting the short list for a television award ?