...and well scheduled for once at 10pm after the main Olympics programming has finished for the evening.

With an arts show on Two at that time, C4 midway through a film and Mad Mad World showing on ITV, it should do well tonight.

I'm thinking though, is there a general rule of thumb that can help us estimate the official rating after all timeshift figures and whatnot have been brought in?

I'm guessing that the timeshift for 27m is going to be a lot more than an average TV programme isn't it?

I'm now waiting with anticipation to see what the offical is.

Just 'for fun', if you deleted the Olympics ratings, these would be the shares for the other 4 channels:

BBC Two
20:30 - Gardeners' World: 11.5%

ITV1
20:30 - Vera: 17.4%
22:30 - ITV News: 11.3%
23:00 - Sports Quiz: 5.1%

Channel 4
21:00 - MPD: 5.3%

Channel 5
21:00 - Big Brother: 10.5%

I was in the same position as you.
I watched in 3D and was very impressed.

However it would appear that for what we gained we also lost something.
I wish they had more 3D cameras because the 3D was incredible.
Just wish we had more cameras though.

I think both channels had awful commentary over the top we needed to have done without though.

What about when the officials come in?
Could it top it then?

I also believe that the Diana funeral ratings were a combination of both BBC and ITV ratings too though weren't they?

That's the one. I'd been expecting it this summer, but I was starting to think they might even have held it back until January 2013!

Well that combination is okay in my opinion as both were live, it's not like one was live and one was shown later.

Will be fascinating to see the Olympic ratings and breakdowns from today.

I think that if was possible to add up the figures where people watched in public screenings and the like it possibly would be over half the population.

That peak is incredible but the big surprise is that average. To manage that across nearly 4 hours and going way past midnight as well is just exceptional.

40.7m total viewers for NBC's coverage last night. Brilliant rating.


http://www.deadline.com/2012/07/olym...ning-ceremony/

No doubt Auntie will be considering delivering a killer strike by running CTM against DOI again as they know they have something worthwhile to run against this show.
TXF is a tricky one. Ratings fell by 2 million for the last series, but it's still ITV's biggest hitter in the autumn and would still be on 8-9 million if audiences fell by a similar amount as last year. I

Contd
I'll give TXF another two series and if ratings continue to fall, then Cowell will pull it as he can't bear being beaten at anything.
IAC again could run for a long time as there are always enough has beens who need the cash, but the fact the show's 10 years old, the format hasn't changed could count against it and if they hire in a bad bunch of celebs, it could go Pete Tong.

Wonder what Dad's Army will get for BBC2 at 7.30.

The peak for the opening ceremony beat my predictions by 7 million. This has been one excellent year for massive ratings one offs, also helped by a British finalist at Wimbledon, the olympics and the Euros. However, once the summer ends, it's back to our normal discussions on how is TXF faring up, will DA do as well as last year, etc?
Yet one thing that did hold up while the BBC was nuking its rival offerings was BB. Yes 600,000 is a low rating for any show, but it proves that around half the fans stayed loyal and that it has a dedicated fanbase.

I know it was a no-win situation for the other four channels last night, but why in God's name ITV ran sport against sport at 23:00 last night was beyond me and obviously didn't work. They had the right idea with Vera and the like then messed it up later on. They really have to get the hang of complimentary scheduling and stop tackling the BBC head-on in battles they can't win. I suppose this leads back to the DOI discussion - ITV will likely be too bloody-minded to move away from Sunday Q1 and let Call the Midwife rule the slot, but it would be suicide for DOI if it stayed there. They just don't help themselves.

IAC works for one reason only - Ant & Dec. The reality element is old hat but it is the comedy presenting & observation that makes the show. It needs a decent cast but they only need a relatively small amount of footage each day.

TXF is being seen by more & more as contrived. Why it has taken so long for the penny to drop is odd by hey ho. It will increasingly be the kids/teens that buy into the show.

I suspect there is some truth to this

That's two reasons.

IAC has always succeeded in that unlike BB, it doesn't feel like it's been on forever, bad language and aggressive behaviour are considered well out of order and the hosts are likeable. I'd say it could be around for a while.
TXF- people are starting to see it for what it is, a garish, vulgar, rigged talent/reality show that has become a monster. I think this series will see another big drop and then The Sun will do what it did to BB, revel in its misfortune.

Yeah, I think in a way worse slebs for IAC means A&D can take the micky out of them even more, it rarely drops badly, and I think it'll be going on for ages because of them. remember Love Island was done by the same people but with Paddy Kielty instead of the geordie duo.

Great figures for the opening and well deserved. My 86 year old mum wanted to go to bed at 9.15 after her puzzled expression said it all. Well over 3 hours later she was still watching. It was mesmerising in a very British way.

Interesting to read the comments on it from the American audience in the links on here earlier. Some loved it. Others seemed to find it leftie, pretentiousness. There were curious comments that several people posted about how it had nothing to do with the Olympics (I do agree that they maybe should have played up the sporting angles a bit as the cricket and football out there was not obvious from TV and they cut other sporting action to make the programme about the same length as War and Peace it seems). Others waxed on about how it was a good illustration of why Britain has declined into a non entity and there was apparent horror that we would want to celebrate the NHS when everyone in the UK is rushing to America for proper treatment (apparently!)

So there seems like quite a cultural gulf between how we might have 'got it' - as in the mood of this spectacle - and how other nations, even our closest ally, were left with a very different idea of what it was about.

Goodness knows what other countries with less contact with UK culture made of this. Indeed the Mail cites one Chinese journalist coming on bended knee to one of theirs pleading for something coherent to pass on to their own people to explain what they were witnessing. (He maybe should have just said that the big giant monster was the prime minister casting his spell over the many minions waltzing around and who then politely go to bed safe in the knowledge that they can sleep like a giant baby because they are safe from those wicked capitalist nannies-aka nanny states that were chasing them).

The US perspective also suggests the difference between watching this on the BBC with no commercials and minimal commentary trying to tell you what was happening with the apparent reverse on NBC with numerous breaks and two commentators who seem to have got viewers more riled than the actual ceremony did by advising them to go google things if they were confused.

NO, noone is foolish for not watching something. I didnt watch it at all. I cant stand THIS olympics for various reasons which Im not going to spout here because I do not believe in telling people what they should or shouldnt like.

Ok..so fine, glad you enjoyed it....but dont call me foolish because I didnt watch something I dont like.

Has anyone managed to get a five minute breakdown for the opening ceremony?

Certainly not expecting any big ratings for Olympics tomorrow - its been a quiet one - compared to what's to come. Highlights for the next hour, not a lot of any consequence now going on.

Agreed, but I do expect a few peaks here and there, although I'm more looking forward to BBC Three's figures to be honest.