I was just catching up with the This Morning chat on the show & was open mouthed when I heard this. TBH if the show is now produced that haphazardly then ITV deserve to get a good kicking in the ratings. I could actually understand it if they had got Lady Gaga or another genuinely big star who would have wide appeal but One Direction are popular with some teenage girls & that's it.

People are complaining about the choreography but if all the music was changed late in the day then Jayne & Chris would have had to change choreography last minute too.

A lot of comment were made about the celebs not having enough time to learn their routines, though it was never explained why. But if everything was changed last minute then it makes sense really.

I think the DWTS bug that's come from Strictly, opening routines-wise has made it's way to DOI which is now affection the rating, I also think that Jayne & Chris are starting to run out of ideas, and you can see it in their faces, they're living in denial...

maybe its a lesson they needed.
If thinking Putting One Direction on and basing the show all around that would help pull the viewers back.It failed totally

A few of the stars might think its better having a Waltons type feel about the show but that often turns into boring TV.I cant see any comments the judges make this year have the Daily Fail be screaming for a Mid series Sacking..

Personally, I'm getting a bit bored with it, and the novelty has worn off, irrespective of how good the show may be. I have always thought of DOI as a poor relation of Strictly anyway. The celebrities are interesting this year and the standard of skating high but there is only so much you can do on ice, whereas there are many different dances you can do on Strictly.

Other problems. Far too many adverts and peripheral waffle are the only major ones for me. Some people are fed up with the VTs but I am OK with them, not as silly as some of those that Striclty has started doing. The presenters are OK and the judges pretty good, really like Louie and Katarina.

Like the XFactor, which has been ruined by the judges not doing enough to keep the best singers in the competition. DOI has had its moment and could be put to bed. Still like Strictly and Dancing with the Stars though, they could run for years, better formats and fundamentally more interesting.

I think perhaps lack of interest in the programme is reflected in the lack of activity on this forum.

Quietest it's ever been for any series.

I have stopped watching Dancing on Ice this year. Previously I have gone out of my way to watch it on a Sunday night or at least recorded it, now I do not bother. I am bored by the so-called "celebs", most of whom I do not know. I do not miss Holly but miss Jason and his outrageous comments! Sometimes he was hiliarous when he did not go too far with his comments! Sadly, the group of celebs are really boring this year. Usually after a few weeks I have my favourite and I am plugging away hoping that they do well. This year I could care less!!

If they reduced the advert breaks it would make watching the programme a lot more interesting. I get so frustrated after each skater, when we have been bored to death with rehearsal videos, then we get long, long commercial breaks and I just can't be bothered to keep watching. This yearI have just given up completely and stopped watching. I put a DVD in and say goodbye to commercials!!! I just hate the constant flashing of adverts it spoils the mood.

I don't know why people are lumping the VTs in with the adverts. The VTs are integral to the show. It's not just about the final skating product, I like to see how they learned to do the routine. OK, I could do with less reliance on the "will he pull it off?" stories, and I'd like more focus on the technical side of things, but we also need them to show the personality of each skater and how they learn to skate.

The good news is that this year, week one excepted, the right skater has left. That should make for a better show the next week, but it perhaps takes away from the drama, the same with not having Jason giving more "challenging" critique. It's kind-of nice that the judges are there each week telling each contestant "well done", but that's perhaps best left to Karen. Now we are progressing into the competition, it might be time for the judges to up the ante and be more blunt about telling them they need to do more.

I actually think it would be good for Heidi and Jen to have Robin or Katerina to tell them to get a grip of themselves, and get on with the solo skating they seem to be capable of. If need be, get some knee pads on and spend an hour repeating the set-sequences without holding on to anyone. They need to face their fears, not be pandered to be coaches and judges who are too scared to say what's what. And I say this as a fan of both Jennifer and Heidi.

The ratings really aren't that bad. It's still a major show and doing well by any normal standards. I think it lost its way a bit last year - so some people gave up on it, but some things are better. Unfortunately, we've all been told several times that "this year is the best" and we've become immune to the injury dramas.

I'm not a fan of One Direction, but I didn't mind them being on the show. I think it's good to get performers into the studio, especially for the results show. They won't always be to everyone's tastes, but that's life. Not all of the recorded music used is to my tastes either.

I don't have a problem with the new judges or the change in the presenters. My irritation is the length of the programme not helped by the endless ads. They really break the continuity but then that is always a problem with ITV programmes which are funded by the ads! I also think they had too many contestants at the start.

Agree with all of the above

There are too:sleep: many boring inelegant lady splits :sleep:
Too many lifts and not enough un aided skating
I do not miss Holly

Let this be a lesson to those people who demand "experts" on these judging shows, the fact is personality is everything. I'm still amazed that so many people on SCD thought Darcy Bussell would be a good judge!

I didn't like Jason, but I really miss his presence. I, like the majority of you, am recording, then just watching the performances, and fast-forwarding the waffle.

I'm also avoiding Christine Bleakley's dead eyes. Nice woman, but she bores the pants off me.

Shows like this have a shelf life, they're not going to last forever. Ratings for all the talent shows have been going down for the past year or so because the novelty is quickly wearing off.

No show keeps going forever. Look at Big Brother, it used to have huge ratings- same will happen eventually with Strictly, X factor etc

If people have stopped watching because Jason isn't on it, then it doesn't say much for the viewing public that they prefer hearing personal insults and demoralising put-downs rather than constructive criticism and positive encouragement.

I couldn't watch when Jason was on - didn't like squirming with embarrassment at his remarks - but they've got a new viewer in me now that Louie is giving insightful comments instead.

Wonder how many they gained because Jason's no longer there.

Some of the issues are the same. Overusing the show to fill the schedules for longer means less content spread over longer. Duller players stay longer,. more good ideas are needed. There's more people to get to know so viewers don't become as attached to anyone. As the show lasts longer the production team lose confidence in their product and add twists and gimicks that don't work. Even when they get the casting right, the twists take over and hide the cast. Sometimes the casting becomes stereotyped so it looks repetitive. Ultimately the gimicks take over, and the audience reduces to the point that only the people who liked the new style are left.

This DOI seems to have been cast well and its got a better competition going than most series. Its got Chico in the role of popular favourite, and, for once, he's actually able to skate. The better skaters are about as well known as most past winners - although Hayley, Ray and Suzanne might have been better known to an ITV audience If its got a problem its possibly the added length, certainly the BBC1 opposition, too few good routines to justify the length of the show and a duller panel to fill time.

For me personally

Positives
[LIST][*]Judges who know what they are talking about, even though Louis Spence does babble on a bit too much[*]Competition is a bit more open this year[*]Most of the deadwood is being sifted out early[/LIST]
Negatives
[LIST][*]Same predictable routine when you know at least two who are going to be in the final anyway[*]Show feels a bit flat at the moment, as in lacking a certain zip, and does also feel like its dragging a bit[*]Too much filler and adverts[*]Ratings are showing no signs of improving this series[/LIST]

The fundamental flaw with the show is that Ice Dancing is incredibly difficult to learn if you have no natural aptitude. So either there will be a couple of standout skaters from week one, or there will be a whole cast of people who are very poor. Neither of those make for great TV, but at least if there is a standout skater (I'm think of Ray Quinn etc.) they have something to build their show around, this series they simply have a never-ending parade of mediocrity.

I have really loved the past DOI programs but have to admit to being really irritated and bored during at least half of the show now. Its not worth watching live because of all the adverts and waffle that goes on. As for the result show, I just refuse to watch it all now because of all the repeats from the first show, I just watch the last 5 minutes of the program. I hate all the stupid 'you will have to wait till after the break' moments. Quite frankly my blood is boiling just thinking of it.

What a shame, should be a great program, maybe it would better if it was shorter and avoided all the crap.

Don't see it like that. Chemmy, Chico and Sebastien look better than a lot of people who made quarter and semi finals, and there's been worse finalists. Jorgie looks as if she's about to join the top half dozen girls ever and may do even better. Mathew is getting the comments on his skating that claim he is well up there in the male stakes and , if his back is alright, he ought to be able to do bigger lifts than Ray. Sebastien is already doing some of the more difficult moves that made Ray and Chris stand out. And, for once, there's actually a race between at least two people at the top after Sam, Hayley and Ray had very limited competition.

The cast is well good this year. Last year DOI was a shambles with too many twists. I wish they would go back to doing it straight like series 1-4.

I agree and even think this is one of the strongest sets of competitors DOI's ever had.

Besides, how much lower ARE the ratings?

And how large is the difference compared to past changes in DOI's ratings.

There's no point in trying to figure out why if the change isn't large enough to need an interesting cause.

it all follows though. Longer shows and more of them means more money in adverts - and means more celebs needed.It means spinning out what skating there is - so you get 3/4 of a show with no skating going on - and it means you have to repeat moves and don't have much time to choregraph new routines. Shorter shows, and fewer of them, means they have to spread their basic costs over fewer shows and make less profit. The profit funds iTV doing other things. Less airtime also means you lose money, and have to spend more making something else to fill the gap - which not get as much revenue.

And a bit part of the picture is what is on on BBC1 - which often used to have things like sheepdog racing on on on sunday night - and now has a period drama with a good cast that may be pulling in a Downton audience.