That's a shame - two of my favourite shows, and two programmes that appeal to an upmarket ABC1 demographic. Both will be hit, and I suspect Lewis will suffer unduly as people switch after an hour.

Perhaps ITV just want to kill it off now they have Endeavour and this was reportedly the last series of Lewis, with Whately saying he'd had enough now. Even without the competition, a summer slot says it all - can you imagine brand new Morses ever airing in the summer months in the late 80s/90s?

Demo wise against The Voice last Saturday it could only muster about the same 16-34 audience as In it to Win It against Britain's Got Talent, which is extraordinary when you think about it. Dale's gentle unexciting quiz really isn't geared towards that kind of viewer at all. And only 36% of its audience were ABC1 Adults, the same percentage as teatime flop Lemonaid.

http://i45.tinypic.com/2lm9ixy.jpg (credit to rzt)

6.30pm seems awful early for BGT. 7pm would be best but then they don't get a head-start on The Voice. 7.30pm is the latest they could do it but then they end up with a significant overlap (depends how long The Voice is that night?) and we know how those tend to go.

In terms of splitting it - the X Factor final has seen regular ratings for its Saturday "finale" shows since the split. That's not too big an issue for ITV because they've got 2 hours on Sunday that get huge ratings and I'm not sure BGT could fill a 2 hour results show on the Sunday.


The thing is that I'm not even sure the celebrities get them much press anyway and using "normal folk" would give them a new angle to promote the show.

Obviously if they go with that then there's a whole raft of options in how they could format it and

The main reason I don't think it's a risk is because right now I don't think there's much value in DOI long term. Another year of declines like the last series and it's probably over anyway.

They would have little difficulty explaining that one away either, given ITV's scheduling of BGT. Only question is whether the Lotto can air that early given the draw doesn't close till 7.30pm and they can't draw it before 7.55pm IIRC, so don't know how that fits the inserts left in the pre-recorded lotto show?

Why after a successful series is ITV trying to hit their ratings by moving to a ridiculous time?

/sigh

I hope its sunny as hell. Just daft.

Thaks for that. I never knew The Cube was in that much trouble! It actually had quite a few less 18-49 viewers than In It to Win It, which as you say was opposite BGT. Wow, it's in an absolute mess.

Is Vera in trouble with those figures by the way? That's a staggeringly old skew. Only 33% of its viewers aged under 55.

Countryfile isn't much better, only 34%, but that has a much higher total audience. And crucially the BBC doesn't have to make the programme attractive to advertisers.

Thats a good idea actually. Plus BGT should peak at 9.
BBC have a strong schedule in fact, and 9 isn't too late really - it'll take a hit, but not as big as against BGT. Then again - go against a bad BGT finale and people might shift over during the ads.

Your last point is 100% right, ITV is being ridiculous. Its a daft time to go out at.

Is that really any surprise about Vera? Everything about it, even in the promotion, is centred around what it's like to be an old female detective. Absolutely nothing to attract the masses.

So BGT will be wrapped up and finished and it'll still be daylight in a lot of places. That's probably going to be a bigger factor than they realise, even if it's not sunny. People go home when it's dark.

I doubt the BBC will do it, but it's a great idea, if they promote the timeslot change well and with the BGT audience leftovers it could give it the boost it needs, and help it regain momentum.

Those dramas sell advertising on ABC1's not 18-49. A show can survive with either. Its when your show trends downmarket and old that you have a problem [Heartbeat].

Sam Hodges: #TheVoiceUK confirmed for 6.10pm on Saturday, May 12th #BBC1

Source: Twitter @Sam_Hodges

Seems ridiculously early to me.

Scott & Bailey skewing similar to Vera, VERY surprised by that as I assumed it had a young skew (though I have NO idea why)

Not really thought through imo. They should leapfrog BGT.
Its the reason The Voice/Strictly 'creep' later, they don't jump later as otherwise the other show can jump before them.

BGT has done this. They should have leaped after.

True enough. Seems to be reasonably healthy in that regard.

45% aged 65+ though? Jeez. No wonder ITV1 is less popular than ITV2 amongst young people on Sundays right now.

The age profile of The Voice Uk results V Countryfile is extraordinary. They really don't go together

If 12th May is sunny then The Voice is totally screwed.

Totally agree, beyond stupid imo.I bet ITV will shift to 7.30 -10

Will we get a late change from ITV?

That seems to be what the BBC are hoping. 7pm-9.30pm for BGT with a shorter overlap would provide greater ratings potential.

My guess is that Vera sells ad space on the ABC1 figure which is reasonable enough, I guess. But even then, I'd guess ABC1's are more valuable if they're young ABC1's!

As for The Cube or any other pre-BGT show, it has two problems in one. Firstly, ITV funds entertainment series by 16-34's and The Cube is up against a huge show in that demographic (and all other demographics). I'm not sure if aiming old is really going to work for them.

Secondly, the value of the lead-out becomes somewhat redundant. Because everyone that's watching TV and going to watch BGT is watching The Voice. If you're "early" for BGT and looking for something to watch, another talent show will likely come out on top. Even more so than SCD/XF which are a bit different and have different audience profiles. The Voice and BGT are aiming at the same crowd.

Plus, ITV always do badly against massive BBC shows. I'm not sure they have many options other than to learn to live with it.

I can't see those 20 minutes making a huge difference. Both shows will be.

BBC really should move the results to 9 once BGT is done, in fact they should do it for the final if its ending at 9 afterall.

Yes, but the stupidly early start AND a BGT final to compete with. The Voice is going to take the bigger hit in any case because it's BGT's biggest episode, and that'll only be accentuated if it's sunny.

You would surely have thought so. Depending on how long The Voice is they could even avoid any overlap and be done by 10pm.