Thank you dancc. I thought Eastenders had less than that though? Something like 6.5million.

Apologies - fixed.

4.19 is fantastic for The BakeOff - thoroughly well-deserved though as it was hugely entertaining.

Change of programme...
BBC Two, Friday, 8.15am - Aussie Open semi-final. Andy Murray vs Roger Federer.

Pretty low rating for Eastenders. Emmerdales hour long episode last night hurt EE pretty bad. EE was down 2m (exc bbc3) on last tuesdays episode.

How well do you all think Hollyoaks will do tonight? I've watched the First Look on E4 tonight, and I think it could break 750,000 again.

Good run for Big Brother, for the first time I have started to dip back in to watch it since the channel move. Personally I'd have rathered it took a break but it has clearly paid off for C5 and Endemol, especially with the celebrity series.

The disappointment remains what they do around it. Too many one off docs which aren't really capturing enough of the BB audience anyway let alone giving them reason to think of Channel 5 when BB finishes.


One thing to remember with C4 is that they have by far the best audience profile of the terrestrial channels. Very young and upmarket. It's still not enough of course - with too many shows failing to deliver on any measure. I'd imagine the staffing would be brought down dramatically under private ownership.

Could be a long night at the NTA's if people stick with it. Ropey sound, bad directing, and we've had 1 award in 20 minutes.

That article was published exactly 52 weeks ago, so perhaps we'll get an indication of their 2012 financial performance very soon. I don't have access to commercial impacts, but overall ratings will serve as a reasonable approximation.

Channel 4 Total - performance in 2012
Live + VOSDAL, calendar year


So far in January their share has bounced back fairly strongly year-on-year (overall and in those two demos), so perhaps they're slowly turning things around.

The ITV results presentation gives the numbers for ITV excluding and including regional programming and also ITV digital channels (all £m):

ITV1 (exc Regional / Breakfast) - 783
Regional (news and other) - 69
Breakfast - 38

ITV1 Total - 890

ITV Digital channels - 114

ITV plc Grand Total - 1,004

See slide 33 (34/40) of link which also breaks down the £783m into component parts:

http://www.itvplc.com/sites/itvplc/f...ntation_12.pdf

NB. Above Regional figure of £69m would exclude STV and UTV regional programming costs.

I'm not suggesting that ITV haven't and aren't giving the BBC a free ride on Tuesday night. Regardless of that the point still remains that there isn't a BBC1 equivalent of Tuesday night where ITV could launch a new or returning show without fear of major competition potentially denting it. I would however add that given the problems that exist elsewhere in the ITV schedule I can perfectly understand why Tuesday isn't currently a priority for them and why they're placing their focus elsewhere.


Call the Midwife launched against an ageing and crumbling ITV Sunday night line-up that had undoubtedly seen better days. That's not to detract from its stunning performance but more that I think people tend to overstate the strength of that Dancing on Ice/Wild at Heart combo. Worth remembering that on Christmas Day, the one time it has really faced full strength competition, its numbers weren't as impressive as many expected. Equally worth remembering about Call the Midwife's launch is that it wasn't as if it just self started. I suspect its lead-in was the always reliable Countryfile and its lead out would have been the final episode of Sherlock's second series. That's a pretty nice sandwich to launch a new Sunday night drama in. And lets not forget that the BBC absolutely hammered the promotion of the first series of Call the Midwife at what was a peak time for it. Also whilst people might like to pretend otherwise Call the Midwife isn't a cast of unknowns.

Having said that I'm not disputing that its possible to launch drama in that 9 million range I am however saying that its a completely unrealistic and absurd standard to aim for. In recent years we've seen three dramas hit that kind of level, Downton Abbey (which had the support of a full strength X Factor), Sherlock and Call the Midwife. Compare that to the total number of dramas that have launched and it paints a picture as to what a ridiculous standard 9 million is for successful drama. Also on this note I can just say that there's a good argument to be made here that Ripper Street is dramatically under performing. Much like Sherlock and Call the Midwife Ripper Street has launched Q1 Sunday's on BBC1 following promotion over Christmas and New Year (not to mention the Olympics) and unlike both of those shows its in the 5-6 million range. Surely it should be doing better, no?


I didn't say that 5+ million is what ITV should be aspiring to. I said what they need to be able to do is position themselves and the ITV drama brand so that they're able to consistently launch and maintain drama at 5+ million. That's a group of solid bankable returnable hits. That more than anything else is what ITV needs and not just in drama either. They need a slate of shows that they can safely slot into the schedule and be reasonably sure of a 5 million range rating. In the modern age no network can subsist purely on a diet of mega-hits like X Factor and Downton. It doesn't work.


Are we sure they're going ahead with putting this on Saturday night?

The decision regarding Ben & Kate's future has been taken out of ITV2's hands. Fox have just announced that they're pulling the show from their schedule effective immediately and that it'll wrap production with its 15th episode. That ITV2 comedy block didn't pick the greatest shows to launch with what with Up All Night being pulled from the air and retooled as a multi-cam by NBC. Double episodes of Raising Hope will replace Ben & Kate in the US until Hell's Kitchen takes over the Tuesday 8PM hour March 12. Fox apparently hoping that will boost New Girl and The Mindy Project. Of course Hell's Kitchen will then be forced to contend with The Voice on NBC...

Also we can gleam from this that Fox really doesn't like The Goodwin Games.

Sticking with US comedy ABC have also pulled Don't Trust The Bitch in Apartment 23 from their schedule. Double episodes of Happy Endings will air in that slot until Dancing with the Stars returns.

That is very true. TBF I think Channel 4 should be sold to a private owner.

Not sure it was ever mentioned, but Walk on the Wild Side is back for a new series after a two and a half year absence - except this time it has a more appropriate time slot of Mondays on CBBC.

Sounds like FOX has it's own FlopZone just like ITV1.

Thanks. ITN only cost them £43m in 2011? That doesn't seem a lot, but I remember costs were cut in this area. Regional news and other programming added another £69m though. And I note the -19% drop in sports spending, mainly due to the lack of a World Cup/Euros as I mentioned earlier. Acquisitions also down -19%. I'm pretty sure that would include feature films as well as the likes of Murder, She Wrote. Thinking about it, there do seem to be fewer films on ITV compared with the past, particularly in primetime. Most seem to have been hived off to the digital channels.

At least Easter is early this year, which may induce a few more to view live.

thats a bloody good rating for ITV 3 at 11pm!

Utopia deserves better

I've not seen it yet. It's against CBB. But I'll 4oD it when the series is over.

CBB are having brilliant ratings.

2.4million nearly for last night and 2.6million for Monday.

I think tonight could be lower as NTA Awards are on.

I'm going for 2.3million with +1.

I thought the same.

I think it's excellent but it's a niche show gettting niche ratings.

Credit has to got to C4 though for airing a drama which you wouldn't find in any other terrestrial in a million years.

Do you like to put the negative spin on everything in life? Even in the pub?

Although it seems to be more a case of burning off episodes of Happy Endings rather than a vote of confidence.