Certainly hasn't gone ITV's way... their favourite team are out!

2-1 to Liverpool - final result

If any of the big three soaps are to falter, my money would be on EE, rather than Coronation St or Emmerdale, which are less drab. EE is just relentlessly miserable, the acting is terrible and the actors aren't held in the same level of affection as the two Northern soaps

I think Idol is in the middle of a three year deal - and I suspect FOX always assumed that by the end of it only Idol or XF would remain. I still think XF can grow in it's second season as it's generally started off slowly - and I bet Simon (and ITV) has his eye on it ultimately taking the Idol slot.

Cracking game, cracking result, hope the ratings are very good indeed. I would like to see a 7m+ peak and 5.7m average please.

Hmm, EastEnders is seeing a summer-like dip in January; that's interesting. The figure itself doesn't matter but the share does and that's closer to Emmerdale (only 0.1% higher) than Coronation Street. Hustle performed ok but it's the right time to pull it. Room 101 performed well as soap opposition.

BBC Two - well, we know it did well in the 8pm hour and possibly dented EastEnders slightly but that's it at the moment!

Coronation Street did well for ITV1; with a share of over 38% for both episodes. I wonder how it would've done had it been scheduled evenly across the week instead of not being able to build on Monday's momentum? Emmerdale picked up a good fgure once again and Law & Order: UK was resilient against Hustle.

Hollyoaks takes it's traditional Friday dip though the share was only 0.5% down from Thursday's episode. New Girl looks stranded in the schedule and I wish they had had the confidence to build a comedy hour with it; say, with The Big Bang Theory a la CBS. The Million Pound Drop recorded an ok figure but they really are over-saturating it.

Celebrity Big Brother pulled a reasonable figure, and it held it's audience against the launch much better than the last series. Bit On The Side performed decently in comparison to previous episodes; maybe it's a shame Channel 5 didn't try and make the most of the lead in to launch something new but maybe they didn't think it'd work opposite Graham Norton.


The X Factor's biggest problem was Simon promoting it as getting 20m+. That was a stupid move from someone who's ego had outgunned his rationality. But it has the potential to build with a better panel and decent host. As I've said before the UK version has more problems than the US version.


Intrerestingly; there are 15 episodes of Downton Abbey to show (ignoring the Christmas Special) and 17 days to cover with the Olympics. But ITV1 could have a UEFA Champions League qualifier on 1st and 8th August involving British teams which would mean Downton would fill the gap absolutely perfectly for ITV1 to start a new schedule on 13th August.


In the end it went Liverpool's way! In the great scheme of things it's not dreadful for ITV1 but they would've liked a replay. Now I suppose they're hoping that Arsenal v Villa or Sunderland v Middlesbrough finishes in a tie.

there are 3 more episodes of Hustle.

Breaking my heart it is.

Pretty good for the CBB Final. I thought it would rate around 3m and overall a very consistent series. I wonder how the Summer version will fair?! Hustle edged out L&O: UK by just 0.02m, but including +1, L&O: UK is ahead. I never thought they'd be that close, but the 9m+ Corrie lead-in must be helping.

The ITV soaps did OK for a Friday night, with Corrie posting two 38% shares, and tape-checked over 9m for the 8.30pm episode. EE's 7.7m is very poor for January it has to be said. There's no excuse for that really.

As for American Idol, the ITV2 figures really are shocking, but maybe Idol has had its day now with some very low-ish ratings in the states. TXF: USA must have impacted this. There's only so many singing competitions people can take.

Oops, sorry; I've corrected my post. I should know better that to simply believe my mother on TV issues after 24 years!

My big problem with the series is Mickey. With Danny there his ego was kept in check but with him gone he's become smug and dislikeable. Sean doesn't have the same cockiness of Danny to keep Mickey in line as it were.

Good point. I've mentioned this before too. Any momentum gained from a strong Monday double is instantly lost due to the gap from Monday to Thursday. Once its back in the 7.30pm Wednesday slot things should improve, but that move then presents a whole lot of other problems with the stability of the Thursday schedule. Last year the Corrie lead-in helped boost a lot of dramas. For example: Kidnap and Randsom and Monroe. Once Corrie is gone, launching any new dramas in that 9pm slot will prove difficult. ITV would probably be better moving the second Friday episode over to Thursday, but that then becomes a further problem with the Friday 9pm slot.........

how old are you are? I stopped listening to my mother on things related to TV a LONG time ago.


fair enough, but obviously it goes without saying that for the show to get better it needs bigger cons which needs a certain amount of cockiness to not only come up with them, but to be confident enough to put them into action.

Also the show has never been about keeping your feet on the ground, so even if it goes too far, well thats part of the show.

and finally lets not forget what the show was like without Mickey, none of us want to see that happen again.

Irish teletext confirms The Voice of Ireland's ratings have been on the slide with some 12pct of its viewers having switched off in two weeks and further falls are being forecasted. Mrs Brown's Boys was Ireland's favourite show after 15 percent of the population watched the latest episode, equivalent to over 9 million in the United Kingdom.

You should be happy it lasted for eight series. Most shows dont last that long or even half of that. Hustles time has come, the current series hasnt been as good as before.

by 8 series I take it you mean all 48 episodes? Doctor Who had that in just over 3 series.

EE deserves to do badly, it is so miserable, the acting is pathetic and the sets look like something out of an old daytime soap. As I've said before, I'd feel much more comfortable in a taxi with Bill Roache than Leslie Grantham.
AI seems to be faltering. Maybe the show has run its course now. However, Cowell must be getting worried as his big American show seems to be on the way out, Red or Black stiffed big time and TXF and BGT are losing viewers. Maybe viewers are tired of Cowell now.

48 episodes is good for a British drama. Not many series get that many episodes. Last years series was supposed to be the last one according to Kelly Adams but got brought back because ratings were so high. But she admits now would be the best time to finish the series off instead of being a show which keeps going on and on and ending on a whimper.


Simon Cowell doesnt work on American Idol, he hasn't for two years!

What are you talking about. I think Cowell only has one Big American show and that isn't on the way out.

I guess you are right, but I would not be against more episodes.

As for FOX, im not sure why a direct swap of Idol for X-Factor is not the best solution.

I'm sure American Idol was his creation.

No American Idol was created by Simon Fuller. Cowell doesn't have anything to do with it

I'm not even going to go into ITV1's daft soap scheduling; I've said more than once I'd take a risk and overhaul the whole lot but it just creates dispute. Certainly I think it's wrong that they're losing the 8.30pm lead in as it can support dramas; of course dramas then sink and swim on their own merits but it does other support.


24 and I should know better!


Mickey just needs a balancing partner; the series is weak with Mickey but without Danny and vice versa for me. After Danny left they needed another strong male to compete with Mickey and keep him on the ground IMO.

ITV1 will benefit in the summer when the football goes to Tuesday and will save Tuesdays from being a write off after 7.30. Also moving Coronation St back to 7.30 on a Wednesday will prove an excellent lead in to something like Lewis and will keep people tuned to the channel after Emmerdale. I think these long gaps have led to a loss of momentum between Monday and Thursday and the end of the Wednesday CS episode was a massive break with tradition.

I think "favourite" underplays the strength of ITV's affection for United-its like MUTV +1. I reckon ITV will still turn up at Old Trafford come fifth round day and broadcast an empty stadium for two hours. Or Jim Rosenthal may try and secrete an extra ball in the bag tomorrow!

With Arsenal and Chelsea facing tough Champions League ties and Channel 5 ahead of them in the Europa League it is a strange looking end of season for ITV.

EDIT:
Rooney is playing very well...............for Birmingham!

American Idol is boring this series, they've turned it into Nashville Star. It's all about country music, country music and did I mention...country music! The hardcore Idol fans living in the Southern states might enjoy it but to the rest of us, it's as dull as dish water :sleep:.

Re EE. It was only a week or so ago it was getting 9 and 10 million wasnt it? It is a low figure but maybe we need a few more weeks before we start talking about terminal declines. And Coronation street has discarded getting on for a couple of million since Monday.