To me I was expecting a peak of 20m. So I'm starting to wonder if it might be more towards 15m.

Well that is just a man carrying a flame in the drizzle. Wait until you witness the spectacular OC - even non sports fans love a bit of theatre..then they can moan about the cost later, oh and EastEnders getting moved.

That's Londoners for you - thankfully they are 200 miles away.

Why don't you find out the full facts on the matter before commenting instead of taking this suicide watch thing and running with it when there's more to the story than that?

This is a total non-story. Someone made a passing comment about having been on suicide watch at one point in their past. Daily Star put it on front page to sensationalise. The truth is no-one is particularly interested.

Except on here, interest in BB is almost nil. I never hear anyone mention it at work any more and someone was surprised it was still going. Even the Daily Star doesn't feature it much on the front cover.
I'm sure Channel 5 would be better off burying this rubbish when its contract ends and investing more in films and imported drama, which does well for them. Also bidding for something like the FA Cup when the rights are up would be a real coup.

How many people thought the Jubilee Concert would get a peak of 17m two weeks before it happened would be my question.

The answer being no one.

I went for 13 million, but was surprised when it went as high as 17 million. Royal Pageant apart, this summer has been very kind to the BBC: England/ Italy pulling in a massive 20.34m, England/ Sweden getting a peak of 15 million, Wimbledon peaking at 16.9 m, the Euros final pulling in over 10m, and some huge ratings to come for the Olympics. Even the much maligned Royal Pageant still managed to pull in 11 m.

This is going to be a real party atmosphere, as a nation we are a bit shy and clumsy - but people enjoy watching, if not joining in. Even cynics will feel some pride that GB is hosting a worldwide event to 200 countries - even though they won't ever admit it.

Not sure about all this anecdotal stuff myself, depends in the circles you move in. I don't really know anyone who gave a stuff about the Jubilee, but clearly millions did.

I think the Olympics will go beyond sport though, as an event, and never forget the British capacity to have a good ol whinge, I'm sure many people watch these events to complain about them at the time and after.

All that suggests is that it could possibly happen, but I'm doubtful. I think a 12m average is the sort of figure we'll be looking at. A lot of the opening ceremony is pretty boring - the country parade thing especially. I think it'll struggle to hold on to the audience throughout the 4 hour period. As for peaks, that's anyone's guess but again it's quite difficult to know which 5 mins of the broadcast viewers will most want to see.

Don't get me wrong, I am very pro-Olympics (I've got tickets for loads of things in the second week which I am very excited about) but I just can't see it out-rating an England quarter final.

Nice rating of 725,000 and 3.7 pc share for Le Tour. While Wimbledon and the Euros have dominated sports talk this summer, Le Tour has been a quiet success for ITV4. I actually quite like ITV4 for sport as it has none of the tedious hype and pundits employed on ITV1 for football and has an understated and enthusiastic team of presenters.

They are the Nation's #1 and quite rightly so - viewers may love/loathe the BBC, but if we had to suffer ITV/4/5/Sky and no alternative, overall viewing figures would drop for sure.

'Le Tour' final day faces German F1 and the last day of Open Golf a week on Sunday - I can see the rating getting squashed somewhat. For ITV4 the highlights ratings have been good in primetime, the demo's particularly attractive.

Just you mentioning golf and ITV4 got me thinking - golf would, I think, be a perfect fit for the channel. The TdF and French Open ratings and shares have been particularly good this summer and, with excellent demos, it would probably be good business. Maybe ITV could be contenders for the Open?

Sorry the last the couple were on at nine, so the +1's were higher... I got a bit confused...

Some disappointing ratings for Emmerdale, EastEnders and Coronation St last night.

Channel 5 are going to be showing some pre-season football friendlies it seems, beginning with Southampton v Ajax on Saturday 28th July. Kick-off is at 3pm. Jim Rosenthal returns to present, with Sunset+Vine also back to produce.

Unless the BBC's funds were given to these broadcasters to develop quality drama and PSB, but I don't think viewers would take kindly to Wimbledon being interrupted by adverts.
The past 10 years have proved one thing, as ITV and Channel 4's quality has slumped, people are turning more and more to the BBC. Ok the BBC shows some absolute rubbish at times, but I doubt they would ever show such garbage as Jeremy Kyle or Hollyoaks.

I would have thought tennis would be perfect for adverts...regular breaks every few minutes. More so than soccer.

I wonder if Channel 5 is planning on a new contract for football after losing the Europa League. I'm still of the opinion they might bid for the FA Cup next year.
Just imagine, the possibility of 7 million viewers for a big tie, loads of advertising money flowing in, Channel 5 would be stupid not to bid and this is from someone who'd sooner watch paint dry than football.

ITV did televise Wimbledon for a while back in the 60s, sharing with the BBC, but I have no recollection of how they worked the advertising.Presumably most of it was for a well-known brand of barley water

Football does rate well on C5 and it also fits the brand well so I can imagine them going for a contract like the FA Cup. They bid for the Premier League rights so clearly they are not done with football, but opportunities are few and far between. Not sure when the next major rights auction will be but I'd be surprised if they were not at least involved.

I think the England and FA Cup rights are due for renewal in 2014. Either of these contracts is a possibility and I'm sure C5 would be interested. It's really a case of how far the budget would stretch: would Des sacrifice BB for a contract that could deliver him at least three times the audience and has massive advertising potential?

I think they should go after the FA Cup or if they not successful, maybe Rugby League or Union.

By the way, Person of Interest isn't launching on 1st August as I thought it might, probably due to the Olympics. Instead when NCIS ends Big Brother will move up to 9pm on Wednesday evenings and at 10pm there will be more BBC Three-esque reality docs, beginning with Fatima Whitbread: Growing Up in Care.