As long as it's not an excuse to cut investment in that area down to virtually nothing, as when ITV did it.

How many programmes on CBBC/CBeebies are actually new? Will they still do studio stuff?

I said all along that ITV should've gone with Czech Republic v Portugal as the third choice semi final. The figures were bound to be higher because it was a Thursday night rather than a Friday night. They were obviously going to go for France v Spain but I was amazed when ITV didn't pick the Thursday night quarter final.

Apart from the highlights of both semis of course. Plenty of time to brush up on golf (oh sorrry thats the Beeb...........)

Of course the posters on DS are better at predicting the future than a psysic octopus

The small DQF cuts that CBBC face will be covered by not having to pay the BBC ONE CBBC repeat fees.

Maybe because ITV fileted the CITV budget at the same time.
Selective memory much?

US channels generally won't care about international sales when they make the call to axe something though, the channel itself won't be seeing any money from those sales.

Random queston, but does anyone know how all 13 episodes of Mr. Bean rated on their original airings?

Two pieces about one story here...

One has a completely sensationalistic and false headline: http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/view...axe-X-Factor-/

And the other, has a bit more of the truth inside: http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/b...043813.article


Also, interesting note about them looking at Saturday evening drama. Not sure how successful that will be...

I believe its a psychic pig this time around. Perhaps ITV should have asked the pig which matches to broadcast, couldn't have done much worse than what they have actaully chosen.

Doesnt have to be si-fi. Could be the return of Baywatch

Gary Linekar tweeted: "Can't wait for the final and the rare opportunity to go head to head with another channel. Going to need your help. Not that i'm competitive "

On Sunday, the viewing public will have a 50/50 choice between two channels to watch the Euro 2012 Final, both free to air channels with a long history of broadcasting. We will see which one the public prefers for football and by what extent...

I think the ITV coverage has been much superior this time around, which is surprising because I don't think I've ever thought that before.

I don't think it will mean anything on Sunday though - people instinctively go to the BBC for big events and as much as I have enjoyed ITV's coverage I'll watch it on the BBC too.

He goes head to head on Al Jazerra Sports all the time.

And his crisp commercials are on against other ads quite frequently.

Will we see? Don't we already know the result of this little sideshow?

Lineker seems slightly desperate tweeting for viewers considering BBC One tends to beat ITV1 4:1 anyway.

...and most people will watch neither

seems to be over compensating for the criticisms of the quality of the BBCs output.

The golf club bar punditry, and the 3 drones on co-commentry - Bright [sic], Lawrenson and Keown.

Itv have shown lots of good matches the tournament. Itv's matches had 41 goals in 15 games (average of 2.7 per game) while BBC1 matches had 29 in 15 games (average of 1.9 per game). Ratings for BBC semi finals have been excellent but Itv wanted the guaranteed England group matches and this is the pay-off.

Its a straight 50/50 choice. If Itvs coverage has been better this year like what a few people on digitalspy said, then why cant they narrow the gap less than 4 to 1? People at home are savvy and will choose what is best for them.

Cent's earlier post answers your question better than I could.

I know that ITV wanted England group games but that still doesn't excuse the fact that they picked badly with the Ireland games and the quarter finals.

Whay exactly does goals per games have to do with match picks? Do advertisers pay more for high scoring games rather than the number of people watching?

They should bring back Survivor to ITV1 as an entertainment show or I'm A Civilian .. Get Me out of Here.

I used to love The Murder Game which was shown on BBC1. Maybe ITV could produce a similar show like that for Saturday and Sunday nights? And they could cast the show with celebrities if need be.

I think they should do an update of Tales of the Unexpected for a half hour drama slot.

They picked good quarter final games. The Spain v Italy game had best match ratings out of all the QFs and Greece v Germans ratings were good for a Friday night.


You said the matches Itv selected couldnt have been much worse than what they did but from a fans point of view, the games were more entertaining than BBC1 matches. And because they were entertaining, Itv got some surprisingly high ratings for those group games like Poland v Russia getting 6m, almost same as Ireland matches. It was only two Ireland matches which done bad cos everyone thought more people would watch due to Irish population in UK. Who was to know Ireland would be so dire this championship, they normally are surprisingly good, and this time lots of Brits didnt want to watch a rubbish Irish team as much as the fab 2002 one. All others games done good ratings for Itv, well... maybe apart from this Sunday

Does anyone else think UTV had an influence on the Irish games being picked? Saying that I can't see ITV HQ arguing too much. It'll be interesting to see the approach at the next Euros if Ireland and Scotland qualify as I'm sure STV and UTV will want two Scottish/Irish matches.

No. I think everybody expected Ireland to be a bit more competitive than they actually were.