Wasn't Britain's Got Talent only down a percent? It's hardly crisis levels. Red or Black? should be axed - it's tainted, even they try to remodel it it's too little too late. The X Factor did suffer a dip but it started at such a high level it can bounceback; as long as it doesn't suffer another 20% decline it should be ok for a few more years though I'll be surprised if it's still around in 2020 (though I think BGT has a chance). The X Factor USA allowed Idol to establish itself and NBC managed to get The Voice to air to take some of the hype away from the show; unlike in the UK it waited (had to wait?) too long to claim an 'easy' foothold.

He's clearly jut trying to generate a bit of hype - nothing wrong with that.

It'll be interesting to see what happens this year. Cowell has been open about 2011 not going entirely to plan and him returning to BGT is clearly the start of a planned turnaround for 2012 - we'll soon see how it goes.

I still think the only reason he's returning to Britain's Got Talent is to placate ITV1 as there's no way he'll be able to return to The X Factor - certainly not in a mentoring capacity. Out of the two, The X Factor needs Cowell more. Britain's Got Talent still has Ant and Dec and David Walliams should be a draw. The X Factor, 12 months after it's biggest series ever, has suddenly found itself with a panelist to draw people in.

Yeah, it wasn't the most incredible bit of scheduling but its a bloody long series, so it's probably for the best to get three shows out of the way on a quiet week than it is to have it filling up a weekly slot for about twenty weeks, getting in the way. They used to strip Just The Two Of Us over a week, and Masterchef is surely more worthy of the slot than that.

In other news, the printed version of Broadcast has had a bit of a revamp, and unlike most revamps recently (cf The Guardian) they've added a few interesting new bits including... official ratings! They're still doing all the overnights but there's now also a Top 30 of programmes on all channels from the previous week, arranged by the numbers of viewers it increased by, hence the highest percentage gain is Hawaii Five-O on Sky One, with a 150% gain, but it's only at number thirteen because that's only 730,000 more viewers.

I won't do this every week, but here's the top ten for 2nd-8th January...

1) SHERLOCK (Sunday, BBC1) - UP 2.09m (25.5%)
2) MRS BROWN'S BOYS (Monday, BBC1) - UP 1.44m (27.8%)
3) ENDEAVOUR (Monday, ITV) - UP 1.30m (18.8%)
4) ETERNAL LAW (Thursday, ITV) - UP 0.95m (21.2%)
5) PUBLIC ENEMIES (Friday, BBC1) - UP 0.94m (24.8%)
6) EASTENDERS (Monday, BBC1) - UP 0.91m (9.0%)
7) CASUALTY (Saturday, BBC1) - UP 0.88m (14.5%)
8) LAW & ORDER UK (Friday, ITV) - UP 0.80m (16.2%)
9) PUBLIC ENEMIES (Wednesday, BBC1) - UP 0.79m (19.3%)
10=) PUBLIC ENEMIES (Thursday, BBC1) - UP 0.78m (18.9%)
10=) TREASURE ISLAND (Monday, Sky One) - UP 0.78m (79.7%)

Also there's an interview with Peter Fincham, but he doesn'tt say much, other than he's not going to move The Only Way Is Essex or Celebrity Juice to ITV1 (full time, anyway) as "they are right for the ITV2 audience", but it looks like they're doing another attempt to give Keith Lemon an ITV1 show. Also "ITV has a long tradition of midweek entertainment and I want to revive that. The Exit List is one example of that but it's a progressive thing", there's going to be more new drama on ITV1 this year than at any time in his reign and it won't all be crime drama, and as well as new runs of Exposure and Perspectives they're also doing a new political show labouring under the woeful name of What's The Story with Tom Bradby, which apparently is going out on a weeknight. Presumably opposite 'stEnders, you'd think.

I had to laugh at the quote "I poached Alesha to hurt Strictly" on one of the papers today. SCD must be flattered that he was so keen to replicate their success that he settled for bringing over the least successful component of an otherwise winning formula to his show.

He's really taken his eye off the ball as far as the UK market goes and it shows in some of the things he's been doing. ITV will be relieved though that he at least acknowledges the problems and is keen on trying to put them right as soon as possible, regardless of his US commitments.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/...tyle-show.html

It sounds dire. As it's going to air in the spring, I guess it could be given a Britain's Got Talent lead in?

Simon Cowell doesn't make any money from American Idol any more and despite its disappointing numbers The X Factor US will still be making him a tidy sum. In general though I would agree with an assessment that the next 12 months are going to be an important one for him and SyCo as a whole. They need to a right a ship that didn't crash last year but certainly went miles off course and things aren't as easy as they might otherwise have been because of The Voice (on both sides of the Atlantic) and even shows like Superstar on ITV. I think what 2011 did more than anything else was dent the unstoppable persona that Cowell had managed to build up for himself over the years. Its going to be interesting to see how 2012 works out for him.


I agree on his reasons for returning to Britain's Got Talent. That has keep ITV happy written all over it.

Its going to be interesting to see what they do with The X Factor panel for 2012 though. I'm still not convinced that the show was specifically missing Simon Cowell but it was undeniably missing a Simon Cowell figure. As much as he (and ITV) tried Gary Barlow just didn't have the presence to be the central figure of the show on screen. I still think that, inevitably, they'll have to bring Cheryl Cole back to the panel. I don't really see any other quick fix options open to them at this stage.

Prediction for CBB tonight:
2.5m

Prediction for CBB: Live From The House tonight:
0.5m

Prediction for CBB BOTS tonight:
0.8m

I was surprised to see this making a move to ITV1, maybe Keith Lemon is being gently introduced to mainstream viewers, it is a re run episode S6-Ep6, last week S6-Ep9 was shown in a slightly later timeslot.

Cheryl returning should kickstart the hype which may result in the launch not being badly down on last year but the panel will not be successful without a better judge (with a lively personality) in Simon's seat - the show'll just see another decline without one IMO.

The main headline is "Cowell: I got it wrong" and the sub-headlines include "I poached Alesha to hurt Strictly" so that's another thing he's got wrong.

In other news Cowell reveals he plans to help ITV hurt the BBC by buying up the rights for "101 Ways To Leave A Game Show" and "Don't Scare The Hare" as well as persuading Hat Trick Productions to sell the second series of "The Royal Bodyguard" for their new Thursday 8.30pm comedy slot.

How about Cheryl Cole and Lily Allen? LIve together in the same studio.

The Big Bang Theory may be immune to Idol! The fact that it beat Idol, in their half hour, (it is currently set at a tie though, so we will have to wait for absolute finals) shows how much Idol has fallen, let alone failing to get over 20m. Rob's second episode did well and their drop was not bad. Ugh at The Finder. 2.2 is really pathetic for a lead-out show from Idol.

Private Practice is declining and the story may be similar for them as last year. Even with their Tuesday move, I really cannot see them progressing after this season. ABC can offer them a 13-episode order to finish off like Brothers & Sisters did (which B&S declined). The Secret Circle is slipping, but should not worry yet about their season renewal just yet as they perform better than most CW dramas.

Enough said about The Firm. Forget Saturdays, they will be lucky to even get a summer timeslot burn-off. Now we await for Jersey Shore numbers and see if they beat everything in broadcast except TBBT and Idol.

One journalist from each of the biggest tabloids got invited to this mini press conference in Cowell's office. Once they're there, he says whatever he can think of that might make them happy! Rather than pointing out that BGT did just fine last year with a bunch of dull figures, he accepts the press line, says it was awful and begins hyping up the latest series. Throw in an outlandish claim that conveniently draws attention to his shows new sponsor, a wee bit of inter show banter and it's a front page splash on The Sun and The Star and has a front page mention on The Mirror, The Daily Mail and The Daily Express. The BBC might be getting the hang of it - the ones that weren't in his office were probably watching The Voice auditions! It's quite ironic given the perception of the DM as a BBC hating organisation that they're probably their closest ally when it comes to generating hype for Strictly (and perhaps The Voice as well!).

The interview itself was light on new information. Although he does confirm that he has at least have one flop lined up for 2012 - Red or Black isn't going to work on weekends. I can maybe see why ITV would think that based on some of the numbers. But I think it will do a 71 Degrees North and go from mediocre to awful in its second run even around X Factor.


FOX had no choice, really. If they cancelled Idol it would have ended up on one of the other networks. If they hadn't signed up X Factor, NBC would have bought it. The only plus point is that had FOX let Cowell go, The Voice might not have been made in the US.

There have been loads of singing competitions over the years, all trying to chase Idol. What's different now is that Idol is undoubtedly weakened - by age and by departures. But also that the new shows are sticking. And they're similar to Idol but both take a step forward in the format. A lot of the others tried to be too niche - focussing on a genre or group. X Factor's top 12 was probably the most diverse seen on these talent shows.

Agree with this. If an eviction was to get over 2.6m, this would be the one as 8 people are up.

Going back to the US. TBBT is an incredible show that I watched on its very first airing here, thinking I would hate it... it makes me happy that every year, the ratings top itself. TBBT and HIMYM are the only two shows in the US that have aired for a while and is still hitting new peaks.

Main issues that effected the ratings last series:-

Too many new judges (only 1 of 4 remaining - too much for folk to take).

Too long programmes (sometimes 2hrs! Need to reduce to 90 mins. max).

Too many ad breaks, clash with Strictly Come Dancing, perceived lack of success of previous contestants and would current lot be the same?, lacklustre performances at times etc...

Simon Cowell needs to look at all of those factors.

Yes - ITV will surely be after a show getting figures which just about match the Tuesday night flop zone. All those shows ITV are "hopping" from have at least 4 times the numbers of viewers.


I'm surprised too it didn't get the 9pm slot. Also though I think More4 mixed in new editions with repeats it seems True Stories disappears again from C4 next week - guess it'll end up being a monthly thing.

Don't think it's been mentioned here but a US version of Gypsy Weddings has been commissioned stateside, so that's bound to end up on C4 in the future.


I know last year we talked about switching the schedule around and having BGT in the autumn and X Factor in the Spring in order for it to keep Cowell. I'm surprised that hasn't been considered as a direct hit against The Voice - though I guess at least with BGT it's a bit more difficult for the talent on the two to be compared directly.


I really don't think Cheryl Cole would fix the ratings - might keep the tabloids happy, but few people would say her absense contributed in anyway to them enjoying the show less last year. I still think they'd be avoiding the real problems with the show by just replacing the new judges (though Louis probably should go) - but considering Simon's comments on a generally well received BGT panel from last year if I were Kelly, Gary or Tulisa I wouldn't be turning down other potential work this autumn.

The Big Bang Theory did have the 100th episode hype but I think CBS should seriously consider moving it to 9pm next week along with expanding their Thursday comedy block to two hours.

As for PoI, I think a second season is looking likely although I think it'll move to Tuesdays and replace Unforgettable. It's going to very tough for CBS to see what shows to cancel. Think Rules will be axed as it'll have reached 87 episodes, one short of syndication although it wouldn't surprise me if it get renewed as Sony will want it to get to 100 episodes.

I'd like to see TBBT at 9pm next season but PoI seems to have picked up some momentum from the higher lead-in so I think they'd be mistaken to move that just now. And if they're doing an extra comedy hour, I'd have Rules on the bench just in case (and definitely renewed if Rob doesn't hold up).

Unforgettable will be cancelled. But I think the problem there might be 3 hours of procedurals - shows are just coming and going in that slot over the past few years. I guess you're looking at The Good Wife, CSI: Miami and CSI:NY as being most likely candidates for the axe. But none of those offer particularly appealing slots.

I'd like to move NCIS:LA to Sundays and shore up that night, opening up the 9pm slot on Tuesday. But that show is so valuable in syndication that I'm not sure CBS will lift the security blanket of an NCIS lead-in.

Tbh, CBS might as well have said to all their drama development staff just to take a year out and they could just do 2012-13 with what they have! It's just going to be a case of moving things around and cancelling things just because that's what you're meant to do.

I agree with you that Unforgettable will get the chop, alongside The Good Wife and potentially CSI: Miami. Sunday is really a weak spot for CBS dramas and CSI: Miami has been given enough chances. I have this feeling that CBS might go ballsy and move Person of Interest to Sundays next season at 9pm, since Desperate Housewives is ending and Pan Am will be canceled. NCIS: LA might be Sundays at 10pm. I am expecting a bloodbath of cancelation from both ABC and CBS this coming May. We should also expect to see a completely new schedule for ABC and CBS, on Sundays from 9-11pm in 2012-13 season.

Sky One has had problems tonight:

http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showt...4#post56045174

During Stella - not the best time for the channel to experience problems, really.

The current series of CBB is the best series of BB in years! I'm glad the ratings are doing good, it's been a very entertaining series.

I think the concern right now is that if they just go into another series with the same poorly received panel then they're going to start out down as much as 20%. They need to get people back and they need to get some momentum going before the series starts. I think people come to the conclusion that Cheryl has to do it because Cowell is unavailable and they can't really do another "next generation".

They ought to make other changes as well. But doing all that and bringing back a panel which is tainted by the failure of series 8 might be pointless. Pretty sure Louis and Tulisa will be back. I just can't see Kelly getting another chance regardless of whether or not Cheryl is willing to do it. I'd say Gary Barlow is 50:50.

NBC's Thursday ratings prove that critical acclaim doesn't matter when it comes to ratings. 30 Rock and P&R are both loved by the critics but get terrible ratings! Up All Night should have done better after The Office because it was rating like that in its old time period of Wednesday 8pm.

Here's a question: If Smash becomes a hit for NBC with a 3.0+, should they move it to another night next season to become an anchor at 9pm, so giving another show The Voice lead in? Or is that too risky and are they better off playing it safe by keeping Smash on Mondays after the Voice.

Not that ITV would be interested, but worth pointing out that in CBB's key demo of 16-34 it is doing significantly better than all the non-soap programming on ITV1 Tuesdays, and most non-soap programming on the other nights too with a few notable exceptions like TMO.