Yet again Robbie thinks the only reason for the BBC & their schedules is to dent ITV.

Funny how you want the BBC to air a drama up against Downton Abbey to keep it in check, yet only a few days ago were complaining about ITV daring to air an episode of Coronation Street around a single showing of Strictly.

Well I disagree. Just because something is supported and promoted doesn't mean it'll be a hit. Quite a few people in the BBC, the actors, crew and writer Heidi Thomas were very surprised by the whole thing. If shows are groomed to be hits and follow the same template with massive support, loads of trailers and press why aren't those shows hits?



The Mentalist was getting 20m viewers following NCIS. In fact NCIS: LA hasn't been close to what The Mentalist got in that timeslot. It should have stayed there a second season before moving to Thursdays. The ratings momentum has been ruined due to crap scheduling.

You should watch five minutes of Andrew Marr's History of the World. It's laughably bad. It's like a spoof!

What's on ITV1 at the same time is irrelevant. BBC One should be serving up better than this on Sundays at 9pm.

BBC1 would do better to air Sherlock repeats (all 6 episodes) from 8.30pm to 10pm on Sunday nights. This would probably get 3-4 million viewers against the tedious ITV schedule. People keep saying BBC1 is tedious on Sunday.......it is. But likewise so is ITV. And once these two big shows are over, what will ITV have in their place?

I think that may well be the highest ever non-football rating on Sky Sports.

From memory the highest Ashes peak was between 1.9m and 2.0m and I can't think of anything else that would have gone higher.

A little surprised that The X Factor didn't make 10m last night. I know it was only 0.2m off but it makes all the difference for perception if it hits double figures.

What I'm struggling slightly with are the adjustments to last week's numbers. For last Sunday's episode to have got 10.2m (inc +1) and then to come down last night is bizarre. Even stranger is the Saturday rating, which if the official rating is anything to go by appears to have got an overnight of about 9.5m (inc +1), which seems very high considering the auditions got 8.5-9.0m and then it got 8.7m this week for judges houses. The 'wrong' numbers seem much more realistic and in line with the usual trends! To the point where I'm wondering if this week's figures are correct, or if the initially reported bootcamp numbers were more accurate? The numbers just look odd.

Terrific rating for Downton last night (and last week!) - 10m is superb. Andrew Marr is really struggling and Dragons Den's woes just got deeper - it sank to 1.6m (inc HD) last night. Think it might be time to give this one a rest. Another good rating for Celebrity Chase too.

Just a thought: Are people watching X-Factor and DA on Sundays's because there genuinely IS nothing else to watch?

Did Call The Midwife become a hit because it was good or because, after years of the same old, same as, there genuinely was something fresh and new to watch? Remember, people only watch what broadcasters enable us to. Even if people are fed up with shows they will keep watching until something better comes along!

What if BBC1 did this:

6.15pm Countryfile
7.15 Strictly Come Dancing
8.00 EastEnders
8.30 Last Tango in Halifax
9.30 Michael Palin's Brazil

Would that make any difference?

Dancing On Ice and...Mr. Selfridge?

I don't think ITV1 would be wise to keep to the same schedule as last year and let a weak Dancing On Ice be flattened by Call The Midwife but they'll probably do just that.

It's a serious concern that The X Factor dropped back week on week. This is usually the highest rating show of the series outside the final few live shows and doesn't bode well. Last year, the first live show lost 1.2m on the reveal last year; if it does it again this year (which is possible if not probable considering Merlin has a 15 minute headstart and The X Factor is going to run until 22.20) then it's going to be down in the mid 8's.

Still, even a mid 8 rating is nothing to be sniffed at; just relatively speaking it's poor for the show. Downton Abbey is an excellent performer and Andrew Marr's History of the World is struggling against it though BBC One had a good evening otherwise. Dragon's Den looks low; wasn't it nearer 2m last week yet it's back down to the mid 1's? Spider-man 2 was squeezed by ITV1 and Channel 4 had a quiet night.

But how much were the terrestrial figures weakened by the golf? Sky Sports 1 taking third in primetime is very impressive and the viewers must have come from somewhere.

Absolutely amazing for the Ryder Cup and it deserved it. For 10 hours of coverage the average is excellent.

The figures would have been huge if the BBC had the rights. Everyone seemed to be talking about it today, even those who don't like the sport.

It was incredible tv viewing

Does the 'there's nothing else to watch' argument REALLY hold much water considering it's 2012? The endless pitiful ratings we've seen across the main networks over recent months would put that one to bed I think. Gone are the days of a default 15m audience watching something because there genuinely was nothing else to watch on the only other two channels available. In this age of Sky+, iPlayer, DVDs, Netflix, catch up, video on demand etc, I think the idea of 10 million people watching something solely because there's nothing else on seems a little archaic to me.

I know it's difficult for some to believe that Downton genuinely IS that popular, but it kinda is...

Downton abbey got 12million consolidated last year against mighty EastEnders on Christmas day, which is normally beebs best day of the year. Its a bona fide hit, any show getting 12million consolidated against Eastenders must be.

XFactor on the other hand, dear oh dear, down from last weeks ratings even though the ratings should be going up. No buzz at all and going from one problem to another.

I realise what you are saying is kinda true, but nevertheless, why did so many people just watch CTM from episode 1 last January considering there had been no solid review, not a particularly great trailer and on a Sunday against a successful reality show.

I genuinely believe the low ratings that the main channels are getting IS because people don't like what they are being offered. Huge numbers flock back to shows they like which sort of discredits your point. If Broadcasters made much more effort in sprucing up and refreshing schedules I think the ratings on all main channels would improve.

Out of interest, are the digital/satellite channels getting much bigger audiences at the main channels expense? Not really are they?

Not for the first time a singing show has slipped back when it should be pushing forward this year. I think over-exposure of the genre is partly to blame for this. Reality is taking over the schedules and people are starting to tire of it; the last thing British TV needed this year was another singing show.

... or speak to anybody who might possibly watch ITV.

Comparing like for like though got round to watching The Paradise last week - just about made it through the episode then deleted the series link. God, it's dull!

The Mentalist was moved to give NCIS Los Angeles a leg up and it does make me wonder why CBS haven't moved it as it would probably do fine in another slot and give a new show a lead in. I would be tempted to switch it with Hawaii Five-0 to give Mondays a better flow, given it hit 100 episodes this season and I imagine WB and cast contracts are up for renewal, it may not get automatically renewed for another season but it really depend on CBS' 2013-2014 development slate.

The Voices auition ratings suggest different and that viewers do like to see new fresh formats of singing shows. The ratings for the live shows werent as good but they picked up to 8million for the final in the heat of summer which is good. Also changes are being made next season, the spinning chairs will be in all episodes and certain stages will be revamped. I wouldnt write off the Voice just yet.

Interesting and possibly can make a difference in renewing certain shows..

http://www.deadline.com/2012/10/niel...nternet-video/

Hard to tell. With PVR's now holding 100's of hours of TV, there's loads being watched outside BARB's seven day window that's not shown in the figures we see.

Thanks for the clarification. No doubt Murdoch's cronies lobbied hard for this clause. What's to stop Sky signing a deal to show an unlisted event for 50 or 100 years, or even a lifetime contract? If I ruled the world, there would be a grace period of 2 years. Any contracted period after that would be void, with Sky receiving a mandatory pro-rata refund from the rights-awarding body (NOT the taxpayer, Fudd!). I know that the principle is that you shouldn't retrospectively legislate, but it's ridiculous that whole new Act would need to be passed from scratch to put something on the list that was under contract.

Anyway, I'm way off topic.

I'm surprised they didn't keep the chairs rotated in the first series to be honest - considering they're meant to be rating The Voice it would make sense. It'll have to be a big enough lure to make up for the staging unless they 'X Factor' the live show stages.

But I'll maintain that the genre is suffering burn out; for all the statements coming that the shows can live side by side I think they are hurting each other. Look at how The Voice US and The X Factor US are rating across the Atlantic; they're not exactly doing brilliantly - decently, maybe, but not brilliantly.

Pretty weak for TXF at a point where you usually see the numbers come to life. In a way, the approx. 20% year-on-year falls for the shows thus far were relatively expected - given how well those stages rated last year before the live shows failed to spark. The failure to close up year-on-year from here on (now that comparison essentially becomes less challenging) would be more concerning. All relative, of course, and the figures are still fabulous - but it'll be monitored closely.

Brilliant numbers for Downton Abbey for last week and this week. It's still a show at the peak of its powers and appears rather impervious to its lead in at this stage.


Yes - they are. It's just spread around dozens of different channels.

And Call the Midwife was hardly something revolutionary. It took the same spot Larkrise had occupied for years - and the first episode only rated about 1.5m more than the old show in the overnights. It's not like 8-10m people suddenly appeared from nowhere.

You are!! But with the Ryder Cup it was the PGA who lobbied to keep it off the A list as it was with the ECB and cricket and no doubt the same with other sporting governing bodies.

Biggest timeshift yet (this series) for Who: +2.18m (+40%), assuming no adjustments for tapechecking were made. Who knows what the timeshift will be for future episodes once BARB start counting iPlayer properly?


Pure greed on their part, damaging their sports' long-term future, in my view.

Wrong choice by the PDA in my view, Sky coverage was a disgrace

ITV Media's multichannel top 10's

Friday 28th September
Rank Channel Time Programme 000s Share %
1 ITV2 21:00 The X Factor USA 818 3.8
2 SkSp1 18:30 Live Golf: Ryder Cup 2012 681 4
3 E4 18:30 The Big Bang Theory 632 3.7
4 E4 21:00 Mr & Mrs Smith 580 3.1
5 E4 19:00 Hollyoaks 571 3.1
6 E4 20:00 The Big Bang Theory 560 2.6
7 ITV3 19:55 Agatha Christie's Poirot 545 2.5
8 ITV2 14:35 The Jeremy Kyle Show 532 8.1
9 More4 21:00 Double Jeopardy 513 2.6
10 E4 18:00 The Big Bang Theory 510 3.1

Saturday 29th September
Channel Time Programme 000s Share %
ITV3 18:50 Foyle's War 940 4.4
Sky Sports 2 12:00 Live ford football special 869 10.5
ITV2 17:40 The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor 720 4.1
BBC4 21:00 Inspector Montalbano 710 3.3
ITV2 21:50 The Xtra Factor 696 3.6
BBC3 22:00 Russell Howard's Good News Extra 633 3.3
SkSp1 18:30 Live Golf: Ryder Cup 2012 553 3
ITV3 17:50 Murder, She Wrote 544 3.5
ESPN 16:30 Live: Manchester United v Tottenham - Barclays Premier League 543 3.4
ITV3 21:00 Vera 530 2.5

Sunday 30th September
Rank Channel Time Programme 000s Share %
1 SkySp1 16:00 Live Golf: Ryder Cup 2012 1,276 6.8
2 ITV2 22:00 The Only Way Is Essex 1,027 5.2
3 ITV2 21:00 The Xtra Factor 846 3.2
4 BBC3 22:20 Family Guy 791 4.4
5 BBC3 22:00 Family Guy 760 3.4
6 ITV3 19:00 Lewis 658 2.6
7 ITV2 17:30 The Xtra Factor 597 3.4
8 ITV2 15:40 The X Factor 570 4
9 BBC3 20:00 National Treasure: Book of Secrets 565 2.1
10 Sky1 18:00 The Simpsons 548 3