You can say that about any of the terrestrial channels though. Its quite difficult to describe what each channel specifically does because all the terrestrial channels cover so many different genres. US drama, factual and films are, I believe, a good short one-sentence description of what Channel5 (it's no longer called Five, but I think you already know that ) primarily offers. If you want a bit more detail, US drama tends to be crime solvers, factual shows are normally male-oriented and a lot films are action movies.


The building blocks have already started by Chanel5 to have younger skewing shows around Big Brother with stuff like Bachelor, Celeb Wedding Planner, Benidorm ER, celebrity documentaries. They will continue to expand on those this summer with further young-skewing commissions. Its perhaps a fair criticism that theyve been slow to do this but theyre making improvements and Im sure theyll be more on the ball this summer than last summer.


The strategy Channel5 has is that during the BB season, they'll try and keep the younger viewers on the channel before and after BB in the schedule with other the young-skewing programmes. During BB off-season, they'll revert back to what they traditionally do for older viewers. This is a decent strategy as its effective in pleasing both the older and younger viewers. Previously it was normally just the older viewers who were served by the channel. Now, I feel the balance is almost spot-on.


CSI New York just returned on the weekend to 2.3 million which is excellent. Even with CBB being on 3 weeks straight didnt put off CSI viewers from tuning in. NCIS repeats was on over the weekend and got fantastic ratings. When BB is on anyway, viewers don't have to dodge Channel5 completely, they have the option to tune into 5USA for their NCIS or CSI fix. Thats what I do sometimes !

Factual hasnt been squeezed out by celeb focussed formats. All of the celeb focussed shows have been airing at 10pm. Channel5 didnt normally show factual stuff at 10pm anyway, it's 8pm and 9pm when factual programmes airs.


There seems to be an obsession here that a channel needs to be really distinctive. Why? BBC One or ITV1 are hardly distinctive, nor is BBC2 nor is Channel 4 really? BBC3 or E4 might be distinctive but thats not what Channel5 should be doing. Being distinctive might get a channel a loyal niche audience, which is good when youre competing for 2 or 3 percent of share, but being diverse is what gets channels a good reach which is important for day to day ratings. At the moment 30 million people watch Channel5 per week, if they start becoming obsessed about going for a certain demograph, the 30 million would drop to 25 million. That would mean a normal filler program on Channel5 would get 15percent fewer viewers than at the moment. In the long run, diversity >> distinctiveness. This is most aptly demonstrated by ITV who have had an increasing amount of soap opera in their schedules in recent years, they've decreased their programme diversity, therefore fewer people have tuned into their channel per week. The soap operas might have loyal audiences but because fewer people tune into ITV per week now, the other shows and normal filler rate worse than what they used to and impacted their weekly shares. Alienating large parts of the public is in no way a good idea.


Channel5 is the 5th most watched channel so I regard it as a major network, not on BBC1 or ITV1 levels, but not far off BBC2 or Channel4. Channel4 might have lost their sense of identity in the last few years but didnt they recently announce their audience share for 2011 actually went up? Proof perhaps that being diverse > being distinct .

OK, so using the DS soap round up these are the FACTS about the ratings for Corrie (20.30) and EE last night:

Corrie 20.30: 10.13m
EE: 8.69m

So EE is 1.44m "adrift".

With repeat added in:
Corrie 20.30: 10.32m
EE: 9.50m

So EE is 0.82m "adrift".

Either way, with or without +1/BBC3 repeat, that's a big gap for a Monday. So it's 1m+ "adrift" or close to 1m "adrift".

EastEnders biggest problem is not the ratings, its the creative unease, and how the fans are turning against it.

This week will see some poor ratings, and at a time of year when they should be higher.

Thanks Charnham - and completely agree regarding the "Bad Girls" format.


Rubbish - it wasn't a deal for an event with the dates set in stone - C5 could have (and should have) delayed airing the series to get their house in order first as the ball was pretty much in their court.

And I do (with the possible exception of BBC2 which I think has a slightly clearer identity although not much so). What every other terrestrial channel has over Five is that they've already built up their brand and awareness - although as I alluded to I think Channel 4 have done a brilliant job of destroying that as of late.


I think its a terrible strategy. Admittedly it sounds good and clever but its setting them up for disaster because they're telling half their audience to go somewhere every month of the year whilst they cater for someone else. What happens when, inevitably, those viewers find something else they like elsewhere and don't come back? Five is propped up by ageing franchises and there's only so long that the lure of Big Brother will work for younger viewers and CSI etc. for older viewers. Hell its not even entirely clear that the CSI franchises have that many more episodes coming.

If they want younger viewers they need to target younger viewers and if they want older viewers they need to target older viewers. This weird balancing act between the two is only inviting trouble.


I didn't mean they aren't making it any more (poor choice of words on my part). My point was more along the lines of the celebrity centric content undermines the audience for the factual content who become alienated by it. It takes a lot of good-great shows to build up audience faith, trust and awareness but it just takes one or two bad ones to destroy it.


BBC1 and ITV1 also had the advantage of being the first of their kind which allowed them to dominate and build an 'in house audience'. The same is somewhat true of BBC2 whilst Channel 4 had the advantage of launching with a fairly focused audience remit and in an age where there weren't x amount of digital alternatives and the internet fragmenting the audience. It is however now suffering from the complete lack of identity and direction that has built up over the past few years.


It matters less how many people are watching and more who those people are. Five isn't even close to being in a position where it can command huge audiences so what it needs to be doing is chasing desirable audiences. Its more than possible that they can make a lot more money with a reach of 25 million vs. a reach of 30 million if its the right 25 million and that's the key.


I don't class BBC2 or Channel 4 as major networks either.


I have no idea.

EastEnders is not hitting the heights it should considering the viewers the Coronation Street crossover sandwich could be supplying. Mrs Brown's Boys, on the other hand, picked up a brilliant figure despite starting halfway through a natural junction - I hope they schedule it with a better show next time round. The Royal Bodyguard is at least not slipping any further, and The One Show is a consistent performer.

The 7pm and 9pm hours really lost the boosts supplied by the 6pm and 8pm hours for BBC Two; I'm surprised Mock The Week retained much of the audience from Protecting Our Children - they hardly seem ideal partners!

Yet again it'll be a case of from the sublime to the ridiculous for ITV1 with a very strong night last night. Whitechapel held up well considering STV would've pulled it's share back somewhat. Emmerdale's share is very strong for it, as is Coronation Street's - but again it's bound to lose momentum through the two day break. Cornwall is becoming an effective soap filler and I wonder if ITV1 will commission more of these based on other counties? Probably hour longs for flop zone knowing them!

Coppers did well for Channel 4 last night but nothing else hit the 2m mark which is slightly disappointing. Hollyoaks is at least holding up above the 1m mark and The Simpsons does a very good job for the broadcaster in the 6pm slot.

Channel 5 are missing Celebrity Big Brother, though Police Interceptors performed respectably in the 8pm hour and Royal Marines at least held on to the audience. I bet the demos were good for the broadcaster in terms in terms of a male audience.

Because it's been dreadful.

Yeah, Supercasino's current deal for 23.5 hours a week on 5 doesn't run out till October 2016.

The Daily Mail at the time also reported MLB offered the rights to the BBC for nothing if they were willing to show 2 games a week, but apparently they weren't.

Endemol needed Big Brother on their balance sheet for 2011. That was a significant factor in reducing the price enough for Desmond to agree. In return though they required a full run that year.

HBO's new drama Luck premiered to just 1.1m but has been renewed for a second season already, my guess is HBO wants to see if it can grow and also the critical acclaim but it was beaten by Shameless on Showtime which is less homes than HBO. I dread to think how it'll do on Sky Atlantic/

The problem is though that C5 is not a major network or anywhere near that level. They dont have a core audience big enough that will watch C5 every night so thats why they get ratings of 300,000 or less for news bulletins and the filler shows at 7:30pm. A channel the size of C5 needs to define what it is so it knows what its audience likes and makes shows knowing that the audience will watch. At the moment C5 is a bit like ITV1, its schedule is perceived to be dominated by a narrow range of programming (soaps and reality/talent shows), so when it makes a show that appeals to a different audience it often gets underwhelming figures because viewers are only expecting a certain type of show, dont bother looking to see whats on as they its the same old rubbish and miss out. BBC1 is the only channel that can put out shows like Thats Britain, DIY:SOS, Fake Britain etc which are basically cheap, daytime fodder but in primetime and get respectable, often pretty good ratings for them. They achieve it because they know they have an audience that will watch that stuff.

Its all very well getting young viewers watching the channel through Big Brother for a few weeks in January but what have C5 got to keep them watching the channel until the summer series starts? If older viewers see that C5 is flooding the summer and January with youth orientated programming they are likely to watch another channel and the chances are they wont come back. An example of this would be the Royal Marines Afghanistan doc, I think that underperformed in some peoples eyes because the public still has this perception (whether right or wrong is up for debate) that C5 just shows low brow, celeb shows, a branding issue. So a lot of viewers who would have been interested in such a documentary dont even bother looking to see whats on the channel.

I think C5 needs to get a clear picture of what its typical viewer likes and make shows that will cater to them and stick to that strategy. It simply doesnt have the resources or core audience to be all things to all men.

C4's doc about the sinking of the Concordia drew an impressive 2.87m (12%) / 332k (1.4%) - beating ITV1's Exit List

ITV1 game show The Exit List dropped to a new low of 1.68m / 123k +1 - beaten by BBC1, BBC2 and C4.

3.2m watch Match of the Day

Geordie Shore returns with 278,000

Prisoners Wives launches with 4.9m

Sources: Michael Rosser, John Williams

Ouch for The Exit List!

Quick exit for the Exit List ?

Probably not (in terms of being pulled from the schedule). Knowing ITV, they'll stick with it right to the bitter end. I think that 1.68m might be ITV1's lowest ever rating in the 8pm slot - I really can't remember anything sinking that low before. High Stakes had 1.71m last December but I don't think anything's fallen below that at 8pm before from what I can remember.

4.9m for Prisoners' Wives.

Not a good start for Prisoners' Wives, really. Doesn't give it much room to drop over the course of the series, especially as the competition is going to get much tougher in a couple of weeks' time when Big Fat Gypsy Weddings returns.

Poor-ish debut then for Prisoners' Wives against megaflop competition.

I have to say the concept sounded old hat, dated and uninspiring, and I couldn't be bothered to even try it out, which is rare for me when it comes to something new on BBC1.

Seems the viewers agreed.

1.7m for The Exit List, beaten by the other 3 main terrestrials - wow! I still don't understand why Tuesdays are so toxic for ITV.

Thats a shame about Prisoners Wives. Everyone seems to have enjoyed it and all the critics have praised it. I hope it gets given a chance to grow and return for a second season.

I thought Prisoners' Wives was good but that launch is more like the usual weak ratings for most Tuesday dramas on BBC1. They are going to be owned when the gypsies return. The recently axed The Body Farm launched with more. It should have launched higher with that ITV competition.

the sinking of the Concordia was the only thing I watched live last night.

Here's how previous new BBC One Tuesday night dramas have launched in recent years (overnights):

6.8m - Bonekickers (2008)
6.6m - Great Expectations (2011)
5.8m - Luther (2010)
5.8m - Death in Paradise (2011)
5.5m - Candy Cabs (2011)
5.3m - The Body Farm (2011)
5.3m - The Deep (2010)
4.9m - Mistresses (2008)
4.9m - Prisoners' Wives (2012)
4.6m - Accidental Farmer (2010)
4.6m - All The Small Things (2009)
4.6m - Mutual Friends (2008)
4.4m - Occupation (2009)
4.1m - Paradox (2009)
3.7m - Sunshine (2008)

im sure MLB did, but the BBC would struggle to justify US sports as PSB, well they would certain struggle to justify 2, yet alone 2 games a week.

As for The Exit List, its about time one of them dropped below 2 million, not sure I would call it a quick exit.

Still want more paradox me.

I suppose we shouldn't too hastily write off Prisoners' Wives in ratings terms, as it might timeshift by 1m for all we know.

As I keep saying - overnights are increasingly irrelevant....

Excellent for Concordia last night - brilliant result for C4. I thought PW would be higher considering the weak 9pm competition. Geordie Shore seems low. What did it launch with last year? Also at The Exit List rating! That's a total nightmare for ITV. I can't believe there letting these ratings continue. They would be better off with repeats on a Tuesday of Benidorm or Doc Martin.

Anyone know how many more episodes of The Exit List are still due to be shown?