As has happened before on BBC sports programmes the presenter actually advised viewers to ''turn the sound down'' but no mention of the vision which would presumably give the game away. On the Saturday night main news they usually tell MOTD viewers to ''look away now'' rather than turn off or turn over. But experienced MOTD viewers have long become accustomed to this nonsense and are suitably prepared Watching Nine News in Sydney some years ago the presenter said ''We are now going to give the Aussie rules results - if you don't want to know turn over now, but don't complain to us afterwards''

Sam Hodges:
- England V Ireland was watched by an average of 5.7m

Good Six Nations ratings.

Let's Dance for Sport Relief averaged 5.7m, peaking at 6.2m.

Source: Sam Hodges

The provisional schedules for Saturday 31st March are:

BBC1:
18:00- Winter Wipeout
19:00- The Voice UK
20:20- The National Lottery: In It To Win It
21:10- Casualty
22:00- BBC News
22:20- Match of the Day

ITV1:
18:00- You've Been Framed
18:30- Harry Hill's TV Burp [r]
19:00- All Star Family Fortunes
20:00- Britain's Got Talent
21:00- Take Me Out
22:15- ITV News

They're subject to change but for now, it looks like The Voice is going to be 80 minutes for all of their auditions episodes, not just the launch. For ITV, I don't think starting BGT 20 mins before The Voice ends is a good idea, that's surely going to dent its average quite a bit - especially that week with its duration cut from 80mins to 60 mins. They'd be better off shifting its start-time to 8.15pm. I can see why they've put All Star Family Fortunes up against The Voice as it skews pretty old by ITV entertainment standards, so should be quite complementary with the kind of younger audience The Voice is expected to get.

I might be imagining things but hasn't ASFF been 75 minutes in the past anyway? That would lead to 8:15om quite nicely.

ASFF used to be 45 minutes previously but changed to 60 minutes last year. I don't think it's ever been 75 minutes though.

Does that mean we get Sundays Robbie free on Sky F1 weekends then?

Good to see interactive TV making a bit of a comeback for F1, though nothing there that F1 Digital+ didn't do ten years ago.

Hasn't Masterchef rated better than it has recently with the evening shows? Masterchef has faltered due to too many series. The erratic scheduling for the previous series really hurt it.

Ahh that explains it. I knew it had changed length so just assumed it went from 60 to 75 mins.

That is a good rating, especially if it includes the pre and post match stuff - would indicate a very decent peak.

Looking at Applause Store, Keith Lemon's Lemonaid is recording on 6 Saturday nights from 24th March. That could mean that they record the episodes the week before they air, so that show could be starting on 31st March. If so, the schedules could have ASFF at 18:30, Lemonaid at 19:30, BGT at 20:15 and TMO at 21:15. Even if Lemonaid doesn't start that week, they're going to have that sort of schedule pretty soon when it does start, with Mad Mad World instead of Take Me Out (Piers Morgan's Life Stories is apparently airing on Fridays at 9pm this series). If Lemonaid doesn't start that week then I agree that ITV should do what you've suggested if BBC1's schedule remains the same.

I'm not sure if The Voice will remain at 80 mins for all the audition shows though. They're doing 4 audition shows I believe and they only did 4 days of auditions from what I remember, so they might not even have that much footage to do 4x80' shows. Plus 80 minutes without any adverts is quite long for an audition show (XF's 75 minute shows are only around 55 mins without ads, whilst the 90 min launches they've done in the past were around 65 mins without ads). Therefore I won't be surprised if they stick to 60 mins for the remaining audition shows (whether they start at 7pm or 7:15pm is another matter), although they'll probably increase to 80 mins for the battle rounds.

Also, do you know what ITV are going to air on Sundays from 7-9pm from 1st April leading into Titanic? Hopefully they'll have something that can give Titanic a strong lead-in.

The Cube is set to return shortly so I suspect they'll take the 7pm slot as before.

Yeah LemonAid should be starting pretty soon, even perhaps that evening as you've said. I don't think it'll rate well up against The Voice though, it's going to have an uphill battle against it.


80 minutes does seem long, especially without adverts, but recently we've seen BBC entertainment shows like SCD, The Magicians and Let's Dance have their durations extended a little bit so it wouldn't surprise me if it does end up as 80 minutes when the schedules are finalised.


Nope, I'm not sure. I thought perhaps they would have three extra BGT audition episodes on Sundays at 8pm leading into Titanic (with The Cube at 7pm). But if the provisional schedule currently has one 7-9pm block as TBA, it would suggest they're showing something there for 2 hours - perhaps a film or drama? Not sure what though. The following week is Easter Sunday so they'll have to factor in a Corrie special episode then as in recent years there's been an episode of it on Easter Sunday.

Well the pre and post match stuff was barely 5 minutes each way thanks to the match being scheduled after the tournament is over. Why they don't hold back the exact timings of the final day till say after the third round (which gives them three weeks notice - the same as FA Cup games) so you don't end up with a dead rubber as the finale I don't know - though actually being the middle game Wales v France did end up with about 25 minutes each side of the game for the build up and presentation etc.

Any ratings for the Wales v France game yet?

I think it'll do alright. Keith Lemon is very popular just now (imagine how badly Sing If You Can could have done without him) and with a BGT lead-out I reckon it can get c4m, even against The Voice, as long as the show itself is funny.


True they have all been extended a bit so I wouldn't rule 80 mins out for The Voice, but I think 60 would be better. All three of those shows felt slightly too long after being extended (and in Let's Dance's case it was already far too long!).


T Penery's suggestion of The Cube could be right, although maybe they'll save that for when Lewis/Vera takes over the 8-10pm slot. I'd forgotten about Corrie - I guess that could go at 8:30pm leading into Titanic that week. Not really sure what else they've got to go there - I can't see it BGT as if the live week is 7-12 May then they'll already have 7 audition shows and I can't see them having 10. Maybe that Trevor McDonald Mississippi show could go at 8pm (I guess with The Cube at 7pm although that wouldn't exactly be a compatible schedule) - how many weeks is that? Knowing ITV though they'll wheel out Harry Potter for a few weeks again even though they overexposed them last year.

Something worth noting: on Saturday May 26th, BBC One will be showing Eurovision (20.00-23.15) and ITV1 will be showing a pre-Euro 2012 international friendly Norway v England (kick-off 19.45 BST).


4.3m average

Cheers.

Avoids the BGT clash then. With it's early start wouldn't be surprised if they drop the weekend addition of BGT that weekend and have the reveal of the semi-finalists on Sun 20th (Champions League is on Sat 19th) then the live shows from Mon 28th May. Heck, with the Champions League and this game ITV do after all have legitimate reason to bring the show forward two weeks.

Soccer Aid is on Sun 27th May too, so actually they will have to drop BGT that weekend.

I notice too The Voice is down as a 12-part series which takes it to Saturday 9th June - though we know the BBC have a double header from Euro 2012 that day, so it'll have to finish at least a week earlier (head to head with BGT final). If they've got any sense they'll double up the Battle rounds on Saturdays and Sundays as that seems to be the weak link in the format, so getting them over in two weeks rather than four makes sense. Although that would put the final the same night as Eurovision, which I doubt will happen.

Trevor McDonald's show is three episodes. I suppose that could take the Sunday 8pm slot but it'd provide a relatively low lead-in for Titanic.


I suspect BGT will be well over by then. Its final is most likely to be on Saturday 12th May, almost a month earlier than usual because if they were to keep its final in early June like previous years, they'd have to move BGT around a lot due to shows like Champions League, England match, Soccer Aid etc. They might as well get it all done and dusted before then.

With that, the Champions League Final on the 19th and Soccer Aid on the 27th it's pretty obvious that BGT has been moved forwards to avoid the sport rather than anything to do with The Voice. It'd be bounced around all over the place if it stayed in its usual schedule. I think they'll have 7 audition shows running from 24th March-5th May with the live shows running week commencing 7th May (Bank Holiday) with the final on the 12th.


I remember it being posted here a couple of weeks ago that they're only doing 2 battle round shows anyway (and 4 audition shows) so I reckon they'll have 5 weeks of live shows with the final on 2nd June (like you've said, they won't have it during the Euros). The 12 episodes might just be because they're doing a Sunday show somewhere. In fact, they could have a 2 night final, as The Apprentice Final will also be on 3rd June, so they could have The Voice's Final Results running 7:30-9pm with TA Final straight afterwards, giving BBC1 a massive night.

Yeah, it wouldn't be a great lead-in for Titanic, but I'm struggling to think of what else they could show there as they aren't going to run expensive dramas like Vera and Lewis on the same night as Titanic.

Something worth sharing. The latest edition of Schlag den Raab was broadcast in Germany last night. This is the original version of Beat the Star but done live. It started at 8.15pm CET but didn't finish until 2.05am in the morning. Running for nearly six hours. One game had them pulling tablecloths off tables whilst trying not to move any glass tumblers off the table. That lasted for a good 40 minutes.

Which would be up against Silent Witness for those three weeks. So it would seem to hinge on Titanic making an instant impact with its first episode.

LemonAid will be crushed if against The Voice. Especially if The Voice is a hit.

Any data available for Helen's Sport Relief Challenge, Fri 8.30, BBC One, please?

2.27 million