Must say nothing on the BBC1 drama slate which particularly appeals - and far too many short run series IMO.
Originally Posted by C14E:
“I'm not averse to reality TV, but a few years ago E4 were really going strong on scripted content. Skins had a successful cast change, The Inbetweeners grew and grew, Dead Set was an ambitious stripped project, Misfits came through and they restarted the Hollyoaks Later strand. It seems to have been put aside in favour of UK reality. They need some new scripted hits to come through.”
To be fair Skins, Hollyoaks Later and Misfits are still going, along with Beaver Falls - they've got more returning primetime drama than C4 at the moment. They definately need a new breakout UK comedy hit or two though and it would be great for them to use their strong US comedies to help bring an audience to them.
Originally Posted by C14E:
“Sunday:
9.00pm - Desperate Housewives (NEW)
10.00pm - Revenge (NEW)
Monday:
8.00pm - The Big Bang Theory (R)
8.30pm - Happy Endings (NEW)
9.00pm - 90210 (NEW)
10.00pm - Made In Chelsea (NEW)
Tuesday:
8.00pm - The Big Bang Theory (R)
8.30pm - 2 Broke Girls (NEW)
9.00pm - The Secret Circle (NEW)
10.00pm - UK Drama (NEW)
Wednesday:
8.00pm - The Big Bang Theory (R)
8.30pm - New Girl (NEW)
9.00pm - Pretty Little Liars (NEW)
10.00pm - FILM
Thursday:
8.00pm - The Big Bang Theory (R)
8.30pm - How I Met Your Mother (NEW)
9.00pm - The Big Bang Theory (NEW)
9.30pm - UK Sitcom (NEW)
10.00pm - Skins (NEW)
The Secret Circle was a safe bet among US buys this season because it was on a weak network with the only decent lead-in that network has to offer. Hasn't done great in the US but it'll get another season easily. Amazed ITV2 never bought it. I can only assume Sky Living priced them out?
The second episode of Pretty Little Liars season 2 (part 2) had a 1.3 rating last night with A18-49 and 3m viewers. Last week it was the #1 TV show of the night with females 12-34 - a night that included original runs of CBS sitcoms and The Bachelor premiere. The CW would kill for those numbers and it's only on MTV here.
Revenge might have been a risky buy in September. But it has a 22 episode order and has had for a while now.
The big stretch is maybe the extra hour of UK drama on Tuesday at 10pm. I suppose that could be anything instead - US drama, a repeat or UK reality.
It cuts back a bit on The Big Bang Theory - hopefully keeping the numbers up over a longer period. Moving new episodes to 9pm means they can get more out of it and viewers can identify the new ones more easily! Should be a good lead-in for new sitcoms during the week,”
I see you're stripping TBBT at 8pm there - not sure though whether the 8pm comedy hour is a fantastic idea or not, but I do think E4 is struggling to fill that 8pm hour at the moment, apart from on Thursdays with the comedy.
Packed to the Rafters is something we've mentioned numerous times and could fill a weekly slot for a couple of years before catching up with Australia - and I think it might do rather well too if they market it right. Revamping E4's schedule though isn't too difficult - basically they only need to get something into the 9pm slot each night and then they can quite easily build a schedule around that.
Originally Posted by Samthefootball:
“Thing is what do ITV do to make Tuesday's better. You can't say they haven't tried. They have had game shows, Reality Shows, documentaries and Dramas there but nothing seems to work.”
Football will obviously fill a third of the slots from next year, so I think I'd be tempted to pretty much give it over to detective drama repeats and the occassional run of cheap documentaries that we already expect on Tuesdays and concentrate on ensuring the problem isn't moved to Wednesday nights, where after Corrie I'd be running new episodes of those detective shows and looking for series for both the 8pm and 9pm hours - possibly pre-watershed drama and 9pm factual.
Originally Posted by Steve Williams:
“Why are ITV commissioning so many bog-standard quizzes, for a start, these are all too complicated and don't appeal to a very wide audience at all, they're just dead dull. It's been a decade since The Weakest Link, quizzes don't all need to be humourless and serious. They need more lively playalong formats like Family Fortunes and Play Your Cards Right, or silly things like Let's Dance. I suppose The Whole Nineteen Yards was a decent stab but they decided not to bother continuing with it. When they had one of those in Sing If You Can they executed it incredibly badly. It either needs to be a spectacle or something daft and lightweight, not these dull affairs. What's the hook of The Exit List?”
I think they should have kept hold of The Krpyton Factor and expanded that into an hour long slot. OK, it would need a bit of padding - but they've dropped two rounds which could be revived, and all shows have padding now anyway with 30 minute formats often filling an hour long slot.
Talking of which maybe not for Tuesdays but as we've said before ordering a decent number of regular versions of Family Fortunes could fill some awkward Saturday and Sunday slots in the Spring and Summer and perform relatively well.
Originally Posted by F1Ken:
“They certainly have. Janice hadlow has played a blinder increasing drama on BBC Two. There becoming much more consistent. I haven't been watching BBC Two so much for ages they really have a great mix of programs.”
Do we know what the BBC2 budget is roughly nowadays?
