That's not entirely true and it has the potential to become increasingly untrue as we move forward.

Firstly there's the obvious issue that if Dallas crashes and burns on Channel 5 they won't want to keep airing it regardless of whether TNT are renewing it in the US. Secondly international sales are becoming and will continue to become an increasingly important part of financing television shows. Production companies are already starting to look at international sales to off set the cost to US networks to keep shows on the air. The reason Fox had such a hard time deciding whether to cancel Terra Nova and why it was shopped to other networks and outlets is because it was so popular internationally that international sales for a second season were being used to offset the cost to a US broadcaster. Universal did the same thing with Heroes a few years ago which is part of why it lasted a season longer than it probably should have in the US. CSI is now increasingly subsidised by domestic syndication and international sales which is why CBS had such a tough time trying to cancel one of them last season.

As much as networks want massive hits they also want stuff that makes money for them and we're entering an age where production companies are using international sales revenue to lower domestic license fees.

I remember this Friday night line-up from 1992:

7.00pm Eldorado
7.30 Waiting For God
8.00 Challenge Anneka
9.00 BBC Nine O Clock News
9.35 Friday Night Wogan
10.20 FILM: The River

^This^
A number of shows of recent have had their fees slashed just to stay on the in the states.
It does still add a financial burden to the international buyers though.

Speaking of Miracle Day again - its a real shame it went so wrong (in every way possible) cause it could of sparked something really interesting if successful.

Isn't that the whole point. It never was a whodunit. The title told you what is was about - A Mothers Son

Not bad, but not particularly good either, with highlights being Wogan and the film. Of course, BBC1 was likely to be badly hit by Corrie at 7.30 and whatever big budget entertainment or drama LWT was showing at 8.00.

That's what I'm saying, part of the reason shows that get 16-34s are preferred is because they don't watch as much TV as those who aren't 16-34, the majority, who do watch a lot of TV and are likely to watch Dallas.

I've stuck with it but it is a bit grim. I do think this type of drama has its place but I don't see it attracting huge nos. It's not going to appeal to a segment of the BBC drama audience who prefer the more gentile - George Gently!! I have seen others saying that Silent Witness is getting too grim now as well.

I personally would love them to bring back Judge John Deed. Time has moved on & I'm sure there are a no. of 'issues' which could do with Deed delving into!!

I think Martin Shaw has moved on from the Judge and sees IGG as his new challenge, which is doing very well for him.

It should be noted that RTD heavily rewrote everyone's scripts on Miracle Day (and it shows). It should also be noted that in general its not uncommon practice for a show runner/head writer to heavily rewrite people's scripts like that.


Two and Half Men used to be number 1.

In terms of selling to US networks the problem is that they like known quantities. You'll never go wrong in US pitching a drama about a flawed but brilliant detective (or lawyer) who solves crimes every week. In fact that sums up far too many shows on US television and far too many shows that will get development deals at the broadcast networks this cycle. Equally with just a couple of exceptions if you look at any drama or comedy on broadcast in particular from the past 5 years (and you can go back a lot further than that if you have the knowledge) you can pinpoint the 'imagine show x meets show y' pitch that was used. Its also why reboots and revivals are so popular with networks lately. The problem is there's only so many times you can go back to the well and US television has hit saturation point I think. I just don't know how many more spins you can put on the flawed but brilliant crime solver.


Indeed.

Going back to my Heroes example it ultimately died because international broadcasters bulked at the price Universal wanted them to pay for an additional season. FlashForward died a painful death for similar reasons. International broadcasters simply weren't prepared to pay the price asked to keep it going. Whether they would have been had it been successful internationally could have made for an interesting situation.

That rings a few bells. I think Wales and England had repeats of 1980s sitcom Don't Wait Up at 7.30pm, but it wouldn't surprise me if Scotland moved Waiting For God from the Thursday 8.30pm slot it had in England and Wales. I think Wogan was at about 10.20pm, with Between the Lines at 9.30pm.

Yes you are right. There was Between The Lines and also Love Hurts at 9.30 on Fridays. It's all coming back to me now! And I recall a sitcom starring Hannah Gordon called Joint Account but I forget what year and what day!

I think Martin Shaw did well to turn Gordon Newman's ludicrous Judge John Deed scripts into something watchable, but I suspect he's happy doing Inspector George Gently now.

Thursdays at 8.30pm for six weeks in early 1989, and Mondays at 8.30pm for ten weeks in spring 1990. Repeats on Fridays at 7.40pm in early 1991.

Those were the network slots, anyway. In Wales we got the first series of Joint Account at about 5.40 on Saturday evenings.

im guessing the ones who watched alot of TV, are the ones who dont have as much disposal incoming, so are worthless to advertisers.

Ah, The Two of Us - loved that too.


I guess Christine is another example to be fair of someone coming from the regions.


Spot on. They were arguably successful in bringing in the audience GMTV didn't - but then decided they preferred GMTV viewers instead.


A great game to kick off coverage, but really the only glamour tie in the group stages involving UK teams. So ironic too that the Premier League Champions were amongst the second seeds and the three teams they beat to the titles in the top seeds.


It should have been, or at least scheduled on E4 from the start with just the 7pm showing. Difficult to judge really with them airing it twice - not too bad combined at around 1m an episode though.


I don't buy that excuse (and didn't buy it for the Olympics or Euros either). Firstly Hollyoaks is always refilming episodes at last minute, moving scenes around from episode to episode to fit in extra scenes - so even if the Paralympics were fairly last minute they could accomodate it.

Secondly though C4 have had the Paralympic rights since January 2010 - Hollyoaks is commissioned annually, and lucky to still be on air, so producing 7 less episodes wouldn't cause them an issue at all - production would be adjusted accordingly, just as in any walk of life where production has to be increased or decreased to meet the demand.

Apologies if this has already been asked, but could I please have the 1-minute peak for the BGT 2009 & 2012 final + the shares?

BBC America Doctor Who ratings for those interested:
Doctor Who (BBC America)
-9 PM: 1.555 million viewers, 0.60 A18-49

I'm going for 3.2 million for Dallas tonight, with a 3.8 million peak..

Is that good? How does it compare to previous series?

All confirmed except Comedy World Cup moves..... to 20:20. Madness.

I don't know. If it's bad, maybe it'll timeshift well.

sounds good to me.


yes that is my thinking as well.

Interesting read for Countdown viewers.

Uh oh. Don't open that can of worms again!

Very good, I think its the highest, certainly looking at the numbers I managed to get for series 6:

Ep. 6-1 — 1.268 million
Ep. 6-2 — 1.001 million
Ep. 6-3 — 0.760 million
Ep. 6-4 — 0.719 million
Ep. 6-5 — 0.604 million
Ep. 6-6 — 0.581 million
Ep. 6-8 — 0.961 million
Ep. 6-11— 0.579 million
Ep. 6-12— 0.512 million
Ep. 6-13 — 0.787 million
Ep. 6-14 — 0.933 million

Quick google confirms that Episode 1 was their highest rating ever rating (for BBC America entirely!)
http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/201...st-ever/90505/

So yeah - that beats it, and is a big increase on series 6 overall. Important to note - BBC America HD reached a wider audience than it has in the past; possibly meaning less torrents? Am not sure. It is a brilliant rating anyway.

BBC America is also running a show called Copper - its their own original drama:
Copper
-10 PM: 0.901 million viewers, 0.27 A18-49

Which is a strong rating in itself. Note these are all strong ratings for - BBC America; in fact the DW one is extremely strong for a channel with low reach and is lets be honest pretty niche.


Its the US, its all itunes and netflix over there

I wonder if they're trying to pick up Doctor Who fans by starting it when that ends, clearly isn't going to work and will most likely flop but at least there's a reason behind the madness.