45 Mins episodes would suit me fine because unlike the other soaps it has Daily storylines which sometimes carries through to other episodes.

I wonder if the Budget for Doctors has gone up?
A couple of weeks back they had their biggest stunt todate (A Car smash) and in a couple of weeks time (18th June) they air a firestoryline which sounds like it sees anumber of explosions and the roof falling in. (it ends on a cliffhanger and back 3 weeks later) i can't remember a time when we had 1 stunt in a year let alone 2 big ones in the space of a month

Well if Doctors moved from 1.45pm then the BBC could just run 45 minute shows at 1.45, 2.30, 3.15 and 4.00, removing the problem.

Regarding Big Brother, I noticed on Zeebox that alot of the buzz is coming from people who haven't watched scince the launch or were still unaware the series has started but have decided tonight to watch before work tomorrow...


Although I hated the show, it is great to see they are addressing problems and trying to make it work.. Some shows don't get this chance, so I hope they use it wisely...

A bog-standard game show set to get bog-standard ratings.

Not really what you would expect from King Of Television Simon Cowell, but if it's making him money I'm sure he'll be satisfied.

I expect they want to sleep tonight

True, it doesnt require much effort to watch, perfect to watch tucked up in bed, like myself

Easy viewing for you to Nod off too
Seems like you got the idea

I think its share was around the 40-42% mark in the late 80s/early 90s, and it's just declined ever since, while BBC1 has experienced a less sharp decline, considering its share was somewhere around the 33-36% mark in the same period. And as you say, as ITV1's share dropped, Channel 4's share increased to around 10% by the late 90s.

I am pretty sure they have never switched around games for TV for the euros/ world cup.Whenever the draws are made, they seem to announce who is playing when afterwards, so the slots must be decided beforehand. The World Cup is worse though, I remember last year Netherlands started their campaign at midday on a tuesday.

They do switch time slots around, but not days. I think England v Sweden on Friday was orginally supposed to be at 5pm.

DSBB forums is loving BB, very good comments about the show from people who usually just moan about it! Ratings hopefully going up next week for BB on Channel5.

It's amazing how quickly the dramas have developed. I personally can't remember a series where this much has happened this fast.

But, numbers wise, I'm not expecting much of a lift. What will be will be anyway. Channel 5 were reportedly happy with the ratings for BB12 and this seems to be more or less doing the same sort of numbers at the moment, so the show looks safe. If it can pick up a bit more steam, then great.

The +1 figure will be interesting to see tonight; not just because of people switching over from the football but also because of word of mouth via Twitter etc. about the show.

10pm was quite busy looking tonight I thought, especially in BB's core demo. I quite wanted to watch Louis Theroux but couldn't resist Bit On The Side. On scanning the EPG there seemed to be a fair amount going on, least not the last ever Desperate Housewives on E4 and Mark Wright's new show on ITV2.

Saturday 9th June Overnights
BBC One
16:30- Match of the Day Live: Netherlands v Denmark: 5.62m (36.2%)
* match average: 6.29m (38.9%)
* peak: 7.59m (41.0%) at 18.45
19:10- BBC News: 6.08m (32.7%)
19:20- BBC Regional News: 6.25m (32.8%)
19:30- Match of the Day Live: Germany v Portugal: 7.69m (35.1%)
* match average: 8.48m (38.2%)
* peak: 9.30m (39.8%) at 21.35
22:30- F1 Grand Prix Qualifying: 2.05m (13.9%)

BBC Two
19:05- Victoria Wood's Short Term Memories: 1.51m (7.9%)
19:55- Victoria Wood: A Bafta Tribute: 1.81m (8.3%)
21:00- Jools Holland: London Calling: 1.19m (5.3%)

ITV1
19:00- You Cannot Be Serious!: 1.91m (10.3%) , +1: 38k (0.2%)
19:30- You've Been Framed!: 2.47m (12.4%) , +1: 91k (0.4%)
20:00- Agatha Christie's Poirot: 2.21m (9.9%) , +1: 140k (0.7%)

Channel 4
19:30- Definitely, Maybe: 842k (3.9%) , +1: 202k (0.9%)
21:40- 8 Out of 10 Cats: 1.31m (6.2%) , +1: 198k (1.3%)

Channel 5
19:00- Cricket on 5: 598k (3.1%)
20:00- NCIS: 680k (3.1%)
21:00- Law and Order: Special Victims Unit: 1.12m (4.9%)
22:00- Big Brother: 1.19m (6.3%) , +1: 38k (0.5%)

Ratings include HD and are tape-checked where necessary

Euro 2012 Update:

seriously is ITV trying to set some sort of ratings record?

Hmmmm... So it is just me or have they kind of ditched the whole "Red or Black" idea? I can't help but feel that it got such a kicking that it might be up against it from the start. On the other hand, the ratings for the last shows around X Factor were OK so who knows. I'm guessing they'll scale back the stunts and that being pre-recorded is more to do with saving money than records checks. I'm also not convinced they need to be offering £500k prize money. They could get away with £100k, IMO. And Ant & Dec aren't best used on this show, probably cost a lot and it's unlikely that they're too attached to it so they could have saved some money there.

The main thing they need to sort is the bulk of the gameplay. The roulette wheel was actually the best part of it. They need to actually give the contestants meaningful roles on the show. I do remember watching it and because the first few people all picked the same colour, the last few got the decision made for them. As if picking between Red or Black isn't dull enough, they're not even allowed to do that. You do wonder how that particular flaw made it through the development process with nobody actually saying "hold on a second..." People kept comparing it to Deal or No Deal because you had people choosing random numbers/colours. Except DOND is all about the deal - take it or leave it. If it was just people picking numbered boxes it would never have worked.

The final episodes got 4.4m and 5.7m (4.8m over the 90 minutes). I'm guessing if it can pull those numbers across the series this year on a lower budget then it'll get a third series. And ITV Studios/Syco will try again to sell it internationally, which is the real aim here.

Big Brother is certainly shaping up nicely. I just hope the drama doesn't peak too soon. It is very compelling at the moment though.

Oh and I hope the Desperate Housewives finale rated well for E4. I think it was trending worldwide on Twitter. It was a wonderful ending. I'm just gutted it didn't get a more prominent slot on C4 considering how well it performed for them back in the day.

I was surprised C4 didn't give the finale a more prominent slot - indeed it's pushed back even later than usual.


I don't see why they would though. People reading DSBB or comments on Twitter are likely those still interested in the show, while those who have given up on it since it moved to C5 aren't likely to be swayed by reports of a good episode here and there because for people like myself that isn't their problem with the show. Fire Brian Dowling, gag Marcus Bentley and bring back the live feed and only then will some of us former BB-faithful even consider the possibility of watching the show again.


P.S. Notice Pick TV is showing Spartacus: Blood and Sand on Thursdays and Fridays from this week - be interesting to see how that rates. Sky seem to be putting a bit of effort into the channel again now - quite a few new to Freeview shows lately.

BBC1 had a big fightback under Michael Grade, as the channel went into a slump around 1983 and I do recall Alasdair Milne saying in his autobiog that ITV's audience share was down to 35 pc when he was dismissed as DG. ITV's problem always was a class thing. For all they have made some fantastic programmes, the middle class never took to them totally as I always recall middle class families saying they always preferred the BBC. Unfortunately this must have struck a chord with some ITV executives in the noughties who decided to move the whole network totally downmarket and even alienated a lot of working class viewers like me who were big fans of Granada and Tyne Tees.

EastEnders could be classed as one of the symbols of this fightback, with a new gritty soap to rival the likes of Corrie and Brookside. And the creation of more populist drama from the BBC during this time like Casualty. BBC1 was on fire in the mid 80s. Didn't Grade go to Channel 4?

Moving away from Grade, I'll always remember Yentob as the one who axed Eldorado, when it was actually improving a lot. Big disappointment considering it could have become a juggernaut in the BBC1 schedule, seeing how much it was improving under Corinne Hollingworth's stewardship. Wasn't Yentob's time during the mid 90s when they continued to close the gap to ITV?

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/...day-night.html

Not that I'm being picky but didn't BBC Three finish fourth, behind BBC One, ITV1 and BBC Two?

I'm very glad that You Cannot Be Serious has flopped majorly in the ratings. It's an absolutely appalling programme for a number of reasons - a few really, really terrible impressions (Louie Spence), bad writing, confused format, obscure impressions almost nobody can recognise like Robbie Savage (!?), a title that bears no relation to the programme, and a has-been presenter whose career died for good reason. It really deserved to sink. Upon watching last night's episode, the title became very apt.

More ratings...

Friday 9th June 2012
20:00 - ITV3 - Midsomer Murders: 1.03m (4.5%)
22:35 - BBC1 - The Graham Norton Show: 4.19m (25.6%)
* all-time high on BBC1

Primetime Shares
BBC One - 24.1%
ITV1 - 17.8% (+1: 0.4%)
BBC Two - 7.6%
Channel 4 - 5.7% (+1: 0.8%)
ITV3 - 3.7%
Channel 5 - 3.6% (+1: 0.2%)

Saturday 10th June 2012
BBC Three
19:00 - Doctor Who: 419k (2.2%)
19:50 - FILM: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End: 1.22m (5.6%)
22:25 - Russell Howard's Good News: 665k (3.9%)

Primetime Shares
BBC One - 31.2%
ITV1 - 8.6%
BBC Two - 6.8%
BBC Three - 4.5%
Channel 4 - 4.4% (+1: 0.9%)
Channel 5 - 4.3% (+1: 0.4%)

Ratings include HD and are tape-checked where necessary. Source: DS (1, 2)

Very good rating for Norton.