Huh?

The Katherine Jenkins show was a weird and the scheduling by ITV absurd.

It was clearly meant as a Christmas show (big tree, lots of Christmas songs/carols etc) yet aired 3 weeks early. Why?

It was in no way an ITV audience show - way too up market. Probably even BBC 2 not BBC 1.

Katherine - fresh from her stint on Dancing With the Stars - was aiming to create a new career as a Saturday night icon with not just less operatic singing but major dance routines and fairly feeble comedy routines starring Mark Benton as a janitor who turned into the MC then won her as a date????

Seemed like it was trying to be the Morecambe and Wise show - but without Morecambe or Wise and presented by the TV newsreader Angela Rippon who was guest star.

Looks like a few changes to BBC One schedule on Christmas Day. Doctor Who & Strictly are 10 minutes earlier, with Strictly 10 minutes longer.

It now looks like

15:00 The Queen
15:10 Film: Shrek Forever After
16:40 Room on the Broom
17:05 BBC News
17:20 Doctor Who
18:20 Strictly Come Dancing
19:45 Call the Midwife
21:00 Eastenders
22:00 The Royle Family
23:00 BBC News
23:15 The Vicar of Dibley

Pathetic if a 13 year old Dibley repeat gets that slot, when it could have been Mrs Brown getting 10m post Downton.

Royle Family on far too late, and makes it reliant on EE doing the business.

A shut-up shop early Christmas Day then from BBC1, and what could have been a fantastic line up looks like it's all gone tits up.

There it is... the ratings thread Christmas tradition. Your response to the BBC One Christmas Day schedule is about as predictable as the Queen being on at 3pm.

But for me it's too few shows running for too long. Strictly 15-20 minutes too long and Midwife 15 minutes too long. It feels like it's missing a show.

But nothing to worry about, especially as ITV look intent on showing Paul O Grady's dogs.

I have no problem with them showing a classic comedy before bed. They have done it many times with surprisingly positive results. In 1990, Yes Minister was repeated late night and proved popular. The Christmas day schedule is what it is. There are some real gems in the line up and frankly, people were moaning when every year the schedule was the same. Now it is looking different to normal and people still moan! I bet that The Vicar of Dibley repeats get more than 3 and a half million viewers and it's also good that Mrs Browns Boys is being used to sandwich Christmas day by being shown on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day.

Indeed, too few shows airing for too long. You've basically got 2 shows covering almost 3 hours on BBC1.

I would suggest ITV amend their schedule to be like this

15:10 Tangled
17:05 ITV News & Weather
17:20 All Star Family Fortunes
18:20 Emmerdale
19:20 Paul O'Grady Dogs
19:50 Coronation Street
20:50 ITV News & Weather
21:00 Downton Abbey

Five minute breakdown for X Factor last night:

20:00 - 7.81m (29.33%)
20:05 - 8.75m (31.99%)
20:10 - 8.48m (31.78%)
20:15 - 7.76m (29.33%)
20:20 - 9.19m (33.24%)
20:25 - 8.18m (30.64%)
20:30 - 9.13m (33.30%)
20:35 - 9.39m (33.88%)
20:40 - 8.31m (31.00%)
20:45 - 9,84m (34.99%)
20:50 - 10.20m (35.64%)
20:55 - 7.92m (28.56%)

The same night in 2010:

20:00 - 13.29m (44.76%)
20:05 - 14.45m (47.44%)
20:10 - 14.21m (47.18%)
20:15 - 15.26m (48.83%)
20:20 - 13.45m (44.80%)
20:25 - 15.54m (49.74%)
20:30 - 14.67m (47.62%)
20:35 - 15.47m (49.20%)
20:40 - 14.36m (46.79%)
20:45 - 16.46m (51.25%)
20:50 - 17.51m (53.34%)
20:55 - 16.35m (51.43%)

cant help but think the Queen should have kept the baby a secret, told us their would be big news in her speech, and then told her in the speech, you know like in a results show.

Think of the ratings, the nation on tender hooks to hear something important from its Queen*

*and me watching last years Doctor Who Christmas special.

ITV's schedule on Saturday 29th December:

18:30 30 Years of CITV
19:30 I Love You've Been Framed!
20:30 Panto!
22:00 Love Actually

That looks like a pretty finalized schedule to me, can't see it changing much from that. Agree with others that more than an hour of Strictly is unnecessary especially when the Strictly series final is only 2 days beforehand. Also why put the news on at 11pm when Dibley (preferably something else) could go at 11pm and the news at 11:30pm.

Arrow on Sky1 in the latest officials got a series high and is the 3rd most watched multichannel rating of the week. Very impressive. Does this make the show one of the best raters on the channel in a very long time?

Top 3 multichannel ratings:

Big Bang Theory- 2.67m incl +1 (E4)
UEFA Europa League (Liverpool vs. Bsc Youn)- 1.94m (ITV4)
Arrow- 1.86m (Sky1)

the 26th not much better

20:00, That Dog Can Dance
21:00, Dale's Great Getaway
22:00, News
22:15, FILM: The Holiday

Channel 5 have a special tomorrow.

May I remind that you have 30 channels on free-view and more on Sky/Freesat/cable so you don't need to worry what is on the main channels

since when has this thread, been about the OTHER channels? this thread is nearly as bad as two groups of football fans, talking about which team of millionaires, owned by someone from the gulf coast, is better.

It's probably actually good news for ITV!!!!

The group stage is often very pedestrian with it blindingly obvious which teams will go through. This sets up an incredibly interesting group with 3 really huge matches, all of which will be absolutely vital.

But with England at home it's pretty unlikely England will actually be knocked out in the group.

So ITV gets the bonus of a very interesting group with the downside of only a pretty small chance that England go out in the group.

(And if England win the group then England's route to the final contains NONE of the Southern Hemisphere big 3).

Well Panto is a new comedy-drama to be fair. Can't really complain about a 10pm screening of Love Actually either although the first 2 shows are absolutely dreadful, I agree.

I see the King of Saturday Night Telly (and Sunday for that matter) is on ITV right now.

Are they trying to win him back?

What are you doing watching ITV??

I echo this sentiment, is your telly broke or something?

To be fair, there isn't anything of much worth on BBC1 at this time on a Monday night

I usually tune into ITV at this time on Monday for something comforting and light after a busy day in the office.

When did the RVP become "BGT's Greatest Hits"?

Less said about the audition today the better. The ratings handouts and the tap dance went down a storm, but then Benji got stage fright and had a little accident on stage. I knew I should have left him at home.

You went to a BGT audition?

And I don't mind the BGT input, they need the promotion after the catastrophic ratings for X Factor this year

I see from the latest draft schedules that the Call the Midwife repeat on Sunday afternoon has a 1h 20m slot.

Stopwatches at the ready for Christmas Day I think...