Missed The Games did you?

They could try another ALW show as 3 million is acceptable for ITV1 in summer. I do think if this was promoted hard in BGT week and started immediately afterwards, then ratings could be 5 million.

Just saying.

possibly

ok so Superstar has put a massive blemish on the only slightly tarnished name of Mel C.

She broke her leg in a judo contest, so she won't forget that in a hurry.

I suppose so, but I have a feeling ITV wanted a hit in it's own right here, not just some show that could do well on something's coat-tails.

I missed that however.

Yeah, I quite liked the Games, it had a competitive-ness about it, wonder if they thought about bringing it back with the Olympics.

It was a good show and Mel C, who has some martial arts background, was doing really well in the judo until she was thrown badly and was injured.
It does seem like a good idea to have kept this show up for Olympic years.

I think we are agreeing that the rating expected for a primetime entertainment show, means that Superstar is a flop, 4m+ each night would be adequate, 5m would be a success, 6m would be very impressive.


I think that comparison makes it clearer how disappointing Superstar is rating, 90,000 less viewers than a tea-time quiz made on a comparably shoestring budget.

Than a tea-time quiz repeat.

It is a shame about Superstar because it is a decent show. ITV have actually taken the BBC format and improved on it.

Similarly, look at the figures for Primeval, though this has been the best series of that show and it is actually more watchable than a lot of recent Doctor Who has been.

So expectation of what ITV on Summer Saturday means has to be a factor. Not quality, per se.

I don't think Superstar's that bad, Jaycee, and maybe the soap lead ins could help it. Also I agree with you on Doctor Who, the last series was awful.

In a sense, ITV only have themselves to blame. They abandoned quality for cheap shoddy programming in the mid 2000s and the viewers voted with their remotes. Now they're going to have to do more than just air 'quality' programming to get viewers back. People don't trust them anymore to not air rubbish - and frankly last summer did not help with this image. Superstar is not really losing any viewers; it didn't have anyone watching to start off with.

And which prat thought airing a Sports Quiz against the Olympics was the way to go???

BBC One had a very steady night with a set of decent ratings considering they aired an old film, a cheap quiz show, a never ending hospital drama and a comedy repeat. dad's Army is relatively consistent performer for BBC Two and ITV3's figures boosted ITV as a network. The Million Pound Drop did well but it must be in danger of over exposure by now - Davina's popping up more than she used to while presenting Big Brother. Talking of Big Brother, that's a poor rating but the Saturday night ratings have always fluctuated and with such a big episode tonight it could well bounce back.

Not only is he a massive Wycombe fan, he also commentates on them every week for the club website.

Does anybody have the figures for The Hollow Crown and Twilight from last night, please?

Oh Glenn. We know by now that you and various others in here hate Big Brother. You don't have to tell us every day. Can't we keep it ratings related please?

The difference between the two shows is, Big Brother is still rating above average for C5 whilst Superstar is below average for ITV1. C5 has no other successful entertainment programmes whilst ITV1 has several, albeit now showing signs of age.

Also in BB's core demographic, data for which we rarely get but is crucial for advertising, it compares more favourably with the other channels.

Simple problem here: The Olympic Opening Ceremony (and all that leads up to it) is as much a news event as it is a sports one. Brekkie, I know you hate that and simply won't accept it - but it's an undeniable fact of the modern Olympics.

Think about the content of these countdown shows: interviewing crowds, commentating on the people carrying the torch, discussing last minute preparations, and asking how ready London is for one of the biggest logistical challenges it's ever faced. In what way would John Inverdale (much as I like him) be more qualified to cover these issues than news presenters? If they were going to spend these countdown shows previewing the actual sport, then I'd agree with you - but that blatantly won't be the case.

Presenters shouldn't be chosen based on how much they love the Olympics, or how much they just couldn't wait for them to arrive - it should be based on the expected content of the show. And the content of this show is news heavy. Sport faces will I'm sure, be involved as appropriate - but there's way more to this than sport. Remember how out of his depth Paul Dickinson was on the Jubilee Pageant...?

--

Rather obvious failure to make any ratings related comment with any of the above... Not a whole lot to say about Saturday night other than to wince at what Superstar is going to do to ITV's numbers. Really not sure why a decent established format is failing so badly. I never thought it would be a big hit (it never was) but I expected it to be reasonable and stable. It can only be to do with the channel more broadly at this time of year.

886,000 is nothing to crow about. Even Geordie Shore, behind a paywall, gets 800,000 now.

Good point about Mel C. She was on the front of The Sun's new-look TV magazine yesterday, and probably the Mirror equivalent too. There was also a 2 page spread in one of the tabloids today.

So it's managing to secure a fair amount of press, but it's not helping the numbers.

You're comparing a series high official rating to a series low overnight rating. Got to be one of the most ludicrous comparisons ever made in here.

I'd love to see what the overnight series low for Geordie Shore would be if it was broadcasting every single night of the week for 9 and a half weeks, including Saturday nights when a lot of its target audience are out on the town. Maybe then your tedious little comparison might just might have an ounce of credibility.

ITV 3 and 4 are quite good, Fudd, and are steadily growing, but I do agree the main channel is a mess and ratings in single figures are a disgrace. But rather like Rover found out, if you're selling a bad product, no one wants to know.
However, tonight the soaps should pull in 6-7 million viewers, but it is worrying they are overdependent on these.

Although I agree ITV's scheduling has done the show no favours it isn't so much about them poaching ALW - it's more that they had already poached the people ALW worked with at the BBC, so he moved with them.

I also think Mel C might be the only one to come out of this with any credit - definately the front running Spice girl now next to be linked to The X Factor panel.


It worked because for once the celebs had to compete and it wasn't a popularity contest. It ultimately got axed I think when Celeb BB became an annual fixture on C4 but I do think it had life in it - I'd have liked to have seen a Winter version, and I think it is a show C4 could do weekly rather than stripped across the week.


It's all to do with knowledge - the likes of Inverdale, Balding and Irvine aren't having to fake their knowledge in the games, and though I agree the content isn't sport specific it isn't news specific either. You all know my opinion on this and others will completely disagree but I really think the build up to the games has been very low key on the BBC, with special programmes restricted to the fringes of primetime at best and key moments in the torch relay getting nothing more than a glorified News Channel special.

I would rather she didnt

That's just a blip for Big Brother, it will recover, you don't go from 1.51m for an eviction to 870k for no reason. It will be at 1.4m tonight or over anyway. Either that, or people are annoyed that a certain someone is still in that ****ing house.