would help if I could get my mind off the snow long enough to spell show.

A few people on my Facebook saying their Sky dishes aren't working with the snow. Could effect ratings.

Snow deflated ratings more like......


Yep, nothing getting through to me on FreeSat or Sky.

Ah, modern technology. It's a load of shit, isn't it?


On the other hand, Freeview getting through via that brilliant new invention, the TV aerial (Well, it was new in 1922)


<Shakes head and tuts>

As much as ABC would like to get back in the Super Bowl rotation the NFL aren't going to budge on it. Disney would have to move Monday Night Football back to ABC which they absolutely won't do.

On the subject of NBC's Olympics deal. That was a bad deal. Not even the sums of money throw around for the NFL can make that Olympics deal look better. How on earth that bid was allowed to go ahead is beyond me.


Undoubtedly it rates well but when you sit and work it out as of 2014 the broadcast networks are going to be paying around $50 million per game. Its a staggering amount. ESPN's average probably works out even higher than that.


Of the new deal? NBC without doubt.

Seems like most people's Sky dishes have stopped working. Might boost the freeview channels a tad.

Mine's working fine. Hopefully MBB will do well tonight in its new slot, it's the best comedy on BBC1 by a long shot (can't stand Miranda).

Take Me Out seems to have generated a bit of discussion tonight too - mainly about that last guy! Can see it being up a bit tonight.

another escort? a wife beater? this is an ITV show after all.

as for Sky not working due to the snow, people have accused me of being a Sky basher in the past, so im just going to take my opinion from a Sky leaflet I have in my kitchen.

"Believe in Better"

I doubt a few people with snow on their dishes will have a major effect on the national ratings. Bit of an over reaction worthy of the Daily Express!

I don't think TV Burp will do that well, the last Winter series was only getting ratings of about 4.5m.

I didn't realise MBB was on tonight rather than Monday, brilliant scheduling as always.

The Super Bowl estimates are bollocks. The US PR machine quote 'potential audience'. 99% of the world couldn't give a **** about it.

I think the bump caused to the weather will more likely to be felt the day after it arrives.So Sunday might see everything go up. Jonathan Ross will have done well tonight as David Beckham was a guest. Will Casualty and Mrs Brown's Boys hold up?

this may be rehashing old territory, however having had a brief look at this.

Given the failure of The Royal Bodyguard, can David Jason really continue to trot out this line? Some point hes going to have to prove that is the case.

Is it too easy to speculate that David Jason has reached the point where he is too old for "edgy", and now seems to want to parade around the media doing a grumpy old men routine, whilst not being able to back up what he is saying?

You cant get more twee comedy wise than a bumbling but loveable older guy, working for the "beloved by Grannys" royal family. I just hope David Jason hasnt spent any money on The Royal Bodyguard branded tea towels, tea cosies or wallets designed for the OAPs free bus passes.

Maybe he should work with ITV 1 to produce a daytime comedy, which can air after The Alan Titmarsh Show, and be beamed straight into nations nursing homes. He can make it as twee and as non edgy (circular ? ) as he wants then.

I don't think its fair to simply dismiss this as a grumpy old man act. Ultimately I find it very difficult to disagree with anything David Jason actually says in that interview. I think comedy as a whole has been poorly treated by British broadcasters in recent times (unless its a comedy panel show which have become ridiculously overexposed) and there is a huge gap for a big family friendly comedy. The Royal Bodyguard might not have been it (although scheduled at 9PM it was never going to be it) but that doesn't mean there's not an audience for these shows. And I still maintain that The Royal Bodyguard would have performed a little better in a pre-watershed slot.

For all the talk there's been about pre-watershed drama in this thread recently I think there's a much bigger issue regarding pre-watershed comedy or the complete lack of it.

I think people are getting carried away with the inflated predictions for tonight. Yes, there has been snow in northern England, the Midlands and parts of the east, but the West Country, Wales and Scotland have escaped as far as I know, as has NI, and I don't believe London and the far SE have borne the brunt.

Compare with the infamous ratings-spectacular Snow Day in 2010 (i think), where London and the SE bore the worst of it, and being a bunch of wet southern jessies were less capable of coping than us more resilient types in the north and west.

I can see things going up a couple of hundred thou here and there, but I can't see Take Me Out going up by a million for example.

And if Ross gets a boost tonight, it will be down to the massively trailed Beckham appearance.

I suspect Mrs Brown will be down tonight on the previous episode due to the change of night, even if it was well trailed (for once).

Miranda proved prewatershed comedy can work and BBC One have been airing comedy at 8.30pm on Wednesday and Friday with mixed degrees of success, BBC Comedy recently did a showcase where they essential staged pilots in front of an audience with Citizen Khan being commisioned for a series.

I do wonder whether we could ever see a British equivalent of How I Met Your Mother or 2 Broke Girls, think the last BBC comedy like that was 2 Pints and Coupling and they were not on BBC One. Even Channel 4 doesn't try and create a new sitcom that could bring in a young mass audience.

American Idol remains the #1 show on US TV, at least for now. Nothing is beating that Wednesday episode yet. If FOX were to cancel it (and they won't) then ABC or even The CW would be in there in a flash. Plus, cancelling Idol for X Factor (the lower rated of the two) would be foolish.

FOX had little choice in the end. Their dream would have been that Cowell & Fuller put their heads together and came to an arrangement that suited them both - basically Cowell contributing X Factor US rights in exchange for a stake in American Idol and thus allowing them to use aspects of both formats to bring longevity to Idol. But that was always unlikely to happen and even less so when Fuller sold his company.

They had to buy them both. They could certainly have managed them better over the past 12 months. But maybe they'll live and learn.

They knew in 2004/05 that they had a problem and it took the personal involvement of Rupert Murdoch and lots of cash to try and resolve that problem. But it was only for a few years. In fairness, the kind of declines Idol has had this year have been predicted for many years now. The length of its dominance has been quite remarkable.

Hey guys how do you all think 'The Voice' will do?

it's a tough one. It's basically down to the panel interaction, the level of talent, the feeling of freshness in comparison to the aging X Factor and how ITV1 decides to counter it. I think (and I've said this before) that the BBC have made a big mistake not getting the show ready to air in January. Leaving it until March leaves it open to attack from Britain's Got Talent and ITV will want to strangle The Voice at birth.

The key will be word of mouth. I think the first episode should be good for 6m - it's a shame they weren't able to hold Merlin back to pair with it and give it a lead in; I can't see Doctor Who (if there are episodes ready to air, that is - I have no idea what's happening with Doctor Who's scheduling this year) offering the right kind of lead in and I'm not sure what else the BBC have other than the usual Wipeout fair. But people will want to see what the fuss is about so they'll need a Susan Boyle like audition to drum out interest and hope it can build.

Of course, it doesn't need to hit the 15m mark. As long as it keeps at arespectable level it'll be fine, and I think it'll manage that with ease. I'll go with 6m to start with maybe 8m for the final. If the panel isn't great or the talent lacking it may not do that well; but if they're exceptional it could do better.

The BBC promo for Super Bowl says the global audience will be ''twice the population of the UK'' which would be about 120 million. I think that is more realistic rather than the billions being talked about, quite ludicrous.

The audience for the Superbowl is going to be almost all american. I think it's around 100m/120m who will watch at some time during the event.

Worldwide it's going to be not much more. Maybe they can scrape together another 40m

Really the Superbowl is the US equivalent of the FA Cup on a good day.

David Beckham on Jonathan Ross peaks at 5m (includes +1)

Take Me Out peaks at 6m (includes +1)

MOTD averaged 4.5m on BBC1 last night. Peak of 5.6m.

Source: John Williams

According to the Mail on Sunday (I know) tonight's Super Bowl is likely to attract the biggest audience in US TV history. Last year's Super Bowl had 111 million viewers in the States and viewing figures for the recent AFC and NFC Championship games have reachest their highest for 30 years. Advertising rates have risen from $3 million for a 30-second slot last year to a maximum $4 million this year. The UK audience is put at about a million.Super Bowl is on NBC this year.

As expected boosts for Jonathan Ross and Take Me Out it seems, will be interesting to see both show's averages.

Great for Match of the Day as well with a great scoreline to start the show too.

Mrs Brown's Boys averaged 6.4m.

Presumably JW has singled out TMO because it won the night? BBC1 must have had a poor/ordinary one if there was nothing stand out for him to tweet other than MOTD?

[EDIT, no he obviously failed to spot MBB going up by a million! Is this the slot it should have had all series (like I constantly pushed for... Fantastic figure]