My argument would be that the BBC shouldn't have even put in a bid.

I caught 30 seconds or so as someone else in the house was watching - and they employed one of my pet hates. Trying to force a Twitter trend by flashing up something lame like #oohlala when some guys performing on stage took their shirts off.

I can forgive it when it's just the programme name, as it's a case of having to these days with even one of my favourite programmes Question Time doing it. But telling people exactly what to tweet at various points during the show (assuming there were other examples) is a step too far. Have the confidence in your content to allow that kind of response to develop naturally, otherwise you end up looking a bit desperate frankly.

But if they hadn't, it would have only gone to ITV :yawn:, they chose BBC One because it's the biggest channel, they'd have chosen ITV over Channel 4 or Channel 4 over Channel 5 if it had been between them.

I'm not sure if they would've chosen ITV. The only reason I say this is because I think they feared The Voice would be used as a weapon against Simon Cowell by ITV rather than being treated well in it's own right, hence they didn't accept ITV's bid. I don't think was anything due to BBC One being bigger - in terms of light entertainment there isn't much difference, if any, between the two.

Was that the act name though? Because they've been flashing up the act's name or the song for the others.

I wonder if The Voice will stay at this time of year next year, or move to Winter, where there is a gap on Saturdays?

Or alternatively as BGT should be running 3 weeks later due to Spring Bank being back at the end of May, will The Voice also move 3 weeks later

I'm pretty sure it was said that the reason they turned down ITV is simply because the BBC bid.

Surely more reason to choose the BBC?

Even so, that's a bit tacky isn't it? Since they flash the name of the act on screen anyway, do they really need to recommend a suitable Twitter hashtag as well?

Here's what the act's called... and here's what the name looks like with a # in front of it. Now get on Twitter and start talking about us already!

DS threads (I know that they don't mean anything ratings wise but still):

BGT - 26 pages
The Voice - 71 pages

But Channel 4 and Channel 5 wouldn't be able to play off one side against the other. I'm also unsure whether ITV would've made a bid had the threat of it being bought by the BBC not been there. Neither Channel 4 or 5 would've risked throwing it directly against Britain's Got Talent.

It is, it's not working though. The act's name trending doesn't get people on twitter not watching watching like just #bgt would.

The point though is that the BBC has singularly failed to come up with anything other than Strictly in 15 years that entertains licence fee payers in these kind of numbers.

I suspect that another Totally Saturday/Dont Scare The Hare/SYTYCD variant would have drawn limitless scorn from this thread(me included), 3 million viewers and more bragging rights for the Cowell empire.

Did they throw The Voice against BGT? I thought it was the other way round?

Well Stephen Mulhern said that Britain's Got Talent was returning in March back in January (during the audition show on Youtube) so...

But I meant Channel 4 or 5 would've more likely tried to keep it clear completely of Saturday nights if Britain's Got Talent suddenly appeared on the horizon - giving it a Sunday or midweek slot instead.

Mind you, Channel 4 has George Dixon as scheduler so goodness knows what he would've done!

Wow. How could there possibly be that much to say about a singing show not even in the live stages yet?

Not as many as a typical BB/CBB launch though.

Remember though: the hashtag #bgt does not trend because since last year Twitter's algorithm has prevented it from trending regardless of how many people tweet it. If it was allowed to trend, it would be amongst the top trends worldwide during the show every week as there are lots of people who tweet it. #BGMT (the spin-off show) was even trending so obviously the main show would be right up there among the trending topics if it was allowed to trend.

Why not? People see a trending topic, click on it to see what it's about, and the tweets tell them it's related to BGT.

Chances are if they're not watching the show in the first place then hashtag #bgt isn't going to make a blind bit of difference.

And that's without a More show.


(or some evictions, if the BARB panel was a selection of DS members, it'd beat the talent shows in the ratings easily)

Do we know that's definitely down to the algorithm?/

BGMT's on later so there's less competition (UK wise).

The Ratings Thread stopwatches have reminded me about something tonight. A few years ago, on a Griff Rhys Jones BBC One programme called Mountain, he visited a power station or National Grid HQ (I can't remember which), and the people working there explained how the Grid receives advance warning of exact finish times for popular recorded TV shows, such as EastEnders, Coronation St etc. So, presumably, they'd have had one for tonight's Voice, too. Makes me suspect that info might be widely available in TV circles, too.

Incidentally, the night Griff was there, EastEnders finished a few seconds early, due to a minor edit, and the Grid nearly collapsed with the early kettle boiling.

BBC4's The Bridge was great stuff, and I wouldn't be surprised if an overnight of a million or so is in order.

Made me wonder when the British Wallenders return, must be soon. I see the series 3 DVD is out in June, so presumably it will follow Silent Witness?

America will be tense watching the baseball for the next few minutes as pitcher Philip Humber of the Chicago White Sox attempts to throw a "perfect game" (retire 27 batters without them reaching 1st base).
24 down, 3 to go. It's on ESPN America now here.

But they wouldn't have to click it to see what it was if #bgt was trending. Less people will click than will see the list.

When Mr Marky got Charlie Sheen trending worldwide by claiming he was going to be on Big Brother, most the tweets about the topic in the UK were that they weren't going to watch it but will now that he's going in. So twitter can get people watching.

I think that BGT will be fine longterm. It is The X-Factor that may ultimately be axed. Not yet definetely, but now we have The Voice, how many will genuinely question the relevance of The X-Factor?

The Voice is a show looking for genuinely awesome vocalists. Tonights battles contained some stunning performances. The judges were constructive and pleasant, even to the ones that lost the rounds. The winners all had great singing voices and interesting personalities. The overall winner will get a contract with a major record company and not just become a Cowell brand. With this all packaged into a slick, fast moving show, will the viewers who love The Voice finally realise that The X-Factor is more about Cowell cashing in rather than genuinely trying to find a star? Time will tell.

Good job we don't have electric BBQs....