Schedules for Saturday 19th, via Elgin on OG:

BBC1

4:55 - Pointless Celebrities
5:45 - BBC News & Weather
6 - My Family (r)
6:30 - The Voice
8:05 - In It To Win It
8:55 - Casualty
9:45 - Comedy Roadshow (r)
10:15 - BBC News & Weather

ITV1

6 - ITV News & Weather
6:15 - Lemonaid
7 - Champions League Final
10:25 - ITV News & Weather

Why do the BBC have such a problem with Pointless Celebrities? It's capable of 4m, even 5m+, if scheduled well, and a great lead in to The Voice.

I don't think BGT could air weekly. I always thought the stripped schedule was a necessity because of Cowell's other commitments. I also don't think the format would work weekly - you only see acts once so people forget them if the show is weekly, and the type of acts wouldn't suit a weekly elimination format a la X Factor. I think the show is fine stripped, it's the split between the performance and the results that is the issue.

There just isn't the hype about the Britain's Got Talent live shows which surrounded last year's final week - remember after Simon's return we had the rumours surrounding Ronan Parke which kept the tabloids going for most of the week and added something to the final which looks to be lacking this time around. Saying that, last night's show would've probably outrated Sunday's programme had it been two hours in length so it's not really losing momentum. Yet. Coronation Street looks a bit low for me; certainly Britain's Got Talent didn't boost it much. Emmerdale did ok.

EastEnders did ok in the 7.30pm and that was a sensible move from the BBC which dented Britain's Got Talent further. The BBC have certainly been more aggressive with their tactics against Britain's Got Talent this year and it's paid off for them. I'm surprised to see Antiques Roadshow to suffer so heavily, though, as I thought the demographics would be very different from Britain's Got Talent. Silent Witness was always going to struggle.

George Dixon deserves a crown for his scheduling genius - what exactly was he hoping to achieve by airing a Celebrity Deal Or No Deal played by a judge of a Syco talent show opposite another Syco talent show?

The snooker performed brilliantly for BBC Two but otherwise the smaller terrestrial channels were unsurprisingly squeezed somewhat.

Remember That Poor old BBC Two does not have a HD simulcast which I believe is starting to make BBC Two look lower than it actually is.

We could add in BBC HD's 0.2% but it is a different channel. I believe a BBC Two HD will perform better than the current BBC HD. We will never know really because they will just add it in.

Next year they may be up with the HD added in. HD Channels are becoming more significant.
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I see Call The Midwife has a Christmas special. Christmas Day do you think? http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/...-confirms.html

Ken

Pointless Celebrities ought be The Voice lead-in, if only to avoid My Family bringing down the mood.

It ought be:
Animated film
News
Pointless Celebrities
The Voice
In It To Win It
Casualty

It would really set up the evening for BBC1

I think it works well with the semi finals over the week. The ratings reflect this

And then they wonder why The Voice's ratings are falling. Why not just put Panorama on before The Voice and have done with it, BBC, you morons.

It used to be a necessity due to his Idol commitments but he doesn't do that show anymore and I'm sure he's been in London all year so he'd have been fine to do it weekly this year (and unless XFUSA moves that presumably won't change next year). They did move it a few weeks earlier this year because of his commitments (XFUSA auditions start next week or the week after) so they'd probably need to keep the final in early-mid May.

I can see your other point but it works weekly in the US and I don't think people would necessarily forget them if it was weekly as they seem to remember them fine from the auditions to the live shows. I think with it being on all week some viewers are put off by it being on so much whilst others dip in and dip out as 2 hours per night (or 2.5 if you watch live as there isn't much people can do in the Corrie half hour) is a commitment, and I think it'd feel like more of an event if it was weekly and people would make more of an effort to watch every episode and it wouldn't be as over-facing.

Though The Voice didn't have the best of lead ins for the audition stage but still performed excellently. IMO the live shows dipping have little to do with the lead in.

I think My Family is (was) a tired midweek middle class comedy, by all means repeat it on a Sunday teatime slot in the Summer. Pointless Celebrities may not be the ideal lead-in, but it is the best programme available. I do think I know why they have the My Family buffer, they don't want quiz, talent show, quiz. Anything but My Family though.

IMO too. I jest. And that's a damn sight funnier joke than any you'll find in any of the repeats of My Family.

Zoe Wanamaker, when the BBC told you they axed My Family because it was too middle-class, they were just being kind. Really they axed it because they'd finally ran out of people who still liked it.

Very pleased that, despite all else going on, the Snooker managed a decent peak. Some great scenes at the end and O'Sullivan produced some of the greatest ever play-watched alot on red button over the two weeks but there was annoyingly less available on Freeview.

Yes, if ever a comedy was going through the motions at the end if was MF. There seems little logic in applying repeats the way they have done.

Hate to agree with Jan Moir but she does have a point. I found too I enjoyed The X Factor more after they stopped making empty promises of the winner becoming a huge star (Shayne Ward is the obvious example - the British Justin Timberlake they said) and just made it simply about winning the show and securing a deal. Obviously they still plug any success story as frequently as possible, but I think the judges expectations of the contestants futures are more realistic now.


Now how many viewers did The Cheryl Cole Show get again?


Wouldn't be surprised to see Doctor Who (if there is a special as it will be mid-series) and Strictly bumped back to 6pm/7pm, with CTM and EastEnders fighting for the 8pm and 9pm slots.


Anyone would think his contract is up for renewal - wasn't there similar stories last time. BGT is safe I suspect, but I think Simon is probably working on a replacement for The X Factor and will be willing to threaten ITV with pitching that elsewhere unless they cough up.


I agree - I think it makes it a real event it being stripped across the week and wouldn't perform anywhere near as well playing out over six weeks or 3-4 weekends.

It's also great that one week every year there is something to watch on weeknights on ITV1 - weeknight TV desperately needs shaking up and a bit of entertainment thrown in the mix and as I've said before rather than crime dramas every single week I'd love to see ITV open up the Wednesday night slot to some entertainment formats which you'd usually get at the weekend. I think something like Superstar could play well there, or even Dancing on Ice if they want to move it from Sunday but didn't want to air it on Saturdays.

Has anyone thought of Sharon Osborne for The Voice Factor? Kate Thornton to present.

Oh for a TV scheduler with an adventurous streak.

.......still waiting for Sharon to appear on Strictly

Well the football has been moved to a Tuesday and anything after 8pm will benefit from a Coronation St lead in, as the end of the dead weight of the Champions League frees up the entire schedule until 10pm for entertainment. Also the end of the 8.30 Thursday Coronation St will free up the schedule for something new and non soap.
Actually going back to the late seventies/early eighties this slot on a Wednesday was frequently occupied by variety shows and Benny Hill specials.
Ideally, though a football hater on the lines of Lew Grade, would be a godsend at ITV.

Somewhere along the way, they've lost interest in Pointless Celebrities.

It was supposed to be a way to showcase Pointless to a Saturday night audience, not afternoon filler. It's now airing earlier than the standard weeknight version does!

Having said all that, the lead in matters very little to a show like The Voice. A lead in only matters when the lead in is the bigger show leading into a smaller show, i.e a Corrie lead in. People won't make the decision to watch the main 'headline act' of the evening based on some throwaway early filler.

BGT is doing perfectly fine, people just keep changing the goal posts of success to keep the constant BGT bashing flowing along. 'Sunday was ok, but it'll be below 9m on Monday' and then 'Monday was ok but it'll be lower on Tuesday' etc.

Pointless Celebrities is completely buried there. I wonder why they're treating it so badly?

Another good BGT show tonight - it was better than last night actually. For two nights in a row now they've had weak starts though, with the show not really getting going until just after 8pm, so they're kind of throwing the bit that clashed with EE away and strengthening the post-EE bit instead, which makes sense I guess. Don't know whether it'll hold up at 9m+ or fall below it, but even if it does, Syco and ITV should at least be pleased that the shows themselves are good and much better than the semi finals in the last couple of series. The scheduling clearly needs work though.

The schedule obviously works for ITV based on the indicators of success that they use that won't be purely ratings.

We've had this debate every night of BGT since they moved to the split show schedule, three years later it's got quite boring now. They aren't going to change it.

What would rate better
7:00 Emmerdale
7:30 BGT
9:00 Corrie
9:30 BGT

or the alternative

7:00 Emmerdale
7:30 Countrywise Kitchen
8:00 BGT

or the second alternative which you have very conviently left out:

7.00 Emmerdale
7.30 BGT
9.30 Corrie

Series in bold have UK channels (I may have missed some!). Anything already cancelled (like Pan Am) isn't included.

Certain:
The River (ABC)
Missing (ABC)
Body of Proof (ABC) - Alibi
A Gifted Man (CBS)
NYC 22 (CBS)
Unforgettable (CBS) - Sky Living
Rob (CBS)
Ringer (CW) - Sky Living
The Finder (FOX)
Alcatraz (FOX) - Watch
Bent (NBC)
Harry's Law (NBC) - Universal
Awake (NBC) - Sky Atlantic

Likely:
Cougar Town (ABC) - Sky Living
GCB (ABC)
CSI: NY (CBS) - Channel 5
NIkita (CW) - Sky Living
Napoleon Dynamite (FOX) - E4
Are You There, Chelsea (NBC)

Possible:
Last Man Standing (ABC)
CSI: Miami (CBS) - Channel 5
Rules of Engagement (CBS) - Comedy Central/E4
Hart of Dixie (CW) - Really
The Secret Circle (CW) - Sky Living
Touch (FOX) - Sky1
Bob's Burgers (FOX) - E4
Up All Night (NBC)
Whitney (NBC)

All taken from Tvbythenumbers predictions - they reckon one of the CSI's is bound to go and one of the freshmen CW series will go but can't agree on which.

Sky Living could have a few gaps to fill.

I'm not sure that would be a good idea, Corrie would be too late. They wouldn't be meeting the 9pm junction meaning Corrie fans who aren't BGT fans might not bother watching if something good starts at 9pm elsewhere.

They'd only need one night where it would be filler at 7.30pm. They could have Corrie in before BGT every night apart from Tuesdays and Thursdays. One hour long Emmerdale. And BGT from 8-10pm each night.

The only likely explanation would seem to be in OFCOM's ridiculous ad rules.