Ratings just in for the latest episode of Dancing on Ice: it got its WORST EVER ratings for a performance show with only 6.7million viewers. Even worse, the results show got only 5.4million.

Both episodes were beaten by the BBC. Farming show Countryfile got 6.9million while BBC1's drama Call the Midwife got 9.2million, much higher rating than Dancing on Ice.

Dancing on Ice has lost viewers 4 weeks in a row and is now in the middle of a ratings crisis as this series currently is the worst rating one ever in the history of the show.

Why do you think people have been switching off in such large numbers this year? Itv were hoping that a revamped schedule, a new judge and Jason Gardiners return would help boost ratings but in reality the ratings have gone in the wrong direction.

I think its simply the show is boring and format has been exhausted. Viewers have already seen skates from 7 previous series, the whole "will they skate due to the injury" angle has been done umpteenth times before, the whole "headbanger" thing is no longer a major deal, Chris and Jayne's skating is not as good as it used to be and the production values are still shoddy.

Every show has a peak, those ratings are still good compared to everything else on ITV right now. Should really be on Saturdays though, there's barely anything else on then.

see other thread for more usually information on this topic from this is idiotic man and his friends in broadcating the thread isd called itv ratings crisis whats going wrong and the answer in brief is that there isnt a crisis as there is now more of a reliannce upon demography than on bums and seats as well as +1 services which the poster doesnt understand come and join us in that thread thanks

The resuts show undoubtedly suffers by being up against Call The Midwife. I don't watch it live for that reason. CTM has been a huge hit and to schedule the two together is bound to have an effect.

I adore skating and have watched it for years but I must admit to being very :yawn: about DOI now. I think it's run its course; people are finding it very samey and the routines that the celebs are able to do look very simple for the most part. Every so often along comes a Ray Quinn but most of them can never aspire to that standard and just look very plodding, sadly. Skating well is phenomenally difficult; maybe we are expecting too much of total novices.

They desperately need to retire Jayne and Chris, or at least bring in new choreographers. There's very little variation from one performance to the next, and from week to week, because it's all choreographed by Chris. Also you don't have the different dance styles that you do on Strictly for example so that again reduces the variety. They could pick a number of styles at the start of the series that all couples have to do during the course, but they don't all have to do it the same week. That would help I think.
Another thing is the overemphasis on lifts - in Strictly the restriction to a certain number of lifts in certain dances only means that they have to focus on dancing. People want to see skating, not loads of lifts - and personally I hate seeing all the ridiculous injuries that arise because of them trying lifts that are far too advanced. It's just too dangerous. The ensuing injury porn afterwards also makes a mockery of how dangerous it is - it's almost like they ask people to do these stupid stunts in the hope that they get hurt and can film it for the VT. Bonus points if they're injured live on the show. It makes the whole thing look really cheap.

Also the designation of Torville and Dean as demi-gods stops the viewers investing in the partnership, and doesn't give the pro partners much of a chance to shine. I think they need to look at why people become so invested in Strictly, but not DOI.

The fact that the ratings are dropping shouldn't be a surprise. There aren't many long running shows on TV where ratings increase year on year - most of the popular shows have gradually lost viewers and hit a point every year where their ratings are the lowest ever. There are more and more competing TV channels and similar shows like Got to Dance etc and other options to view such as On Demand and i player. Even ratings juggernauts such as American Idol in the US and Corrie and EastEnders in the UK have gradually lost viewers over the years. As others have said 9 million for Corrie a few years ago would have been a disappointment. Now it is a huge figure. It's like the opposite of petrol prices - they may go up and down but in the long term they go gradually up. Occasionally some shows return with much higher viewing figures - eg Downton and Walking Dead in the US - but eventually they will trend down!

Another poster made the comments about T&D and totally agree.
its all stale and very dated.Styles seem to repeat themselves year on year
Last night I watched for 20 mins and had to switch over.

I tuned back in for the Results show.Jayne really cant hide the fact shes bored with this

Strictly had its best ever series in its 10th year. Why is it that Strictly can reinvigorate itself and make itself fresh even after a decade but Dancing on Ice struggles to do so after 7 years?

Agree. Its run its course. There isn't as much variety as in Strictly and novices learning ice skating can't reach much of a standard compared to trainee dancers. Sacking Chris and Jayne won't make any difference. DOI has been good but put it to bed now, at least for a few years.

I think it's a bit condescending to say DOI is in trouble because it gets lower ratings than "a farming show". Countryfile is a very popular and successful show.

Call the Midwife is down on last year, and I don't think anyone is calling that a crisis - albeit ratings are still remarkable for a drama.

Ratings are still good, but I think they are suffering from people having seen much of it before, and previous series being too long with too many celebs, but the decision to make this series shorter was still a wise one that I think will help the show in the long run.

I've said it before, but they could make more of the results show. Bringing in the save me skate was a step in the right direction, but there's just not enough happening to justify the show's length or making it appointment to view - especially in the earlier stages. They need more guest singers to give it original content.

If they stopped having so many ad breaks it would help. I know they have to have them but surely the number of breaks in this show could be cut. After the team skate last night one competitor and partner danced then we had an ad break! I think they need to shake up the judges. I know we all disagree over who we like and dislike but on SCD they have Bruno who is so passionate about dance and so OTT he can't sit down whenever he's giving his comments on the dancers and then there's Craig who you either love or hate. But on DOI there's only Jason who people love or hate, and good as he may be Robin's got a bit boring I think. I quite like Ashley but she doesn't engender much feeling either way with viewers. I like Karen but she's just nice. We need some judges with personality - bring back Louie I say and Katarina.

I don't want to bump this thread up but I feel that a few points should be clarified. The OP did not post figures for +1 and did not mention that the results show did better than last week when it was beaten by Top Gear and Call the Midwife. In reality it is holding up well against such opposition and due to the fact that it has an earlier slot and is on air for an hour and 30 minutes Countryfile has an established audience and always does well. The Voice had nine million viewers at one stage and then fell under 5 million in one season despite extension promotion and high profile judges and presenters. Should it not be back for a second series? Everything is relative.

Perhaps because it is a popularity show and people are turning off because of jokers being saved. IMO there is nothing less entertaining than a couple of celebs who cant master the dancing or skating skills trying their luck. I love watching Beth, I thought Shane was improving, Oona skated on her own, Pamela OK wasnt excellent but was better than Joe. Anthea was elegant and had good lines. As a woman I found it hard to accept that so many female contestants were voted off in the first few weeks.

In the first few weeks perhaps the two with the lowest scores should be against each other. This should go to the public vote, just a thought and an opinion.

I have always watched DOI but over the years the very fact that to make the show entertaining they always have to put jokers who always get saved for one reason or another.

The show really should be on Saturday's rather than Sunday's because there would be less competition for it. The only thing up against DOI on Saturdays would be tired old Casualty and the National Lottery.

I think what's happened is the viewers tastes have changed in be the last couple of years, people are moving away from shows like DOI and back towards dramas like Downton and CTM.

Countryfile is a very good quality show, with mostly newsy articles, there is nothing of the gimmick about it, and every week is completely different. There are no adverts and there is no irrelevant padding.

The Voice was ok for the first few programmes then completely lost its way, got boring and lost viewers in droves. It was rubbish by the end, yet another programme that I watched on the iPlayer which got shorter and shorter for me as I fast forwarded through the crap. I won't be bothering with it again.

Perhaps they should try getting the celebs to actually dance on the ice, maybe teach them a nice Westminster Waltz or other official dance, and leave the lifting behind. Just for one week and see what happens.

I'm not surprised so few watch the results show, its crap! Nothing at all happens in the first half - either it should be cut down to 15 minutes, or the first part used for pro routines and/or live music performances. What's the point in reminding us what happened earlier?

That is a good idea about a set pattern dance for the week. I have watched ice dancing for years and I can think of some cracking set pattern dances.

They could have

Blues
Rumba
Rock and Roll
Paso Doble
Viennese Waltz

Please let that happen.
The lifts are soooooooooo overdone now.:yawn:

Call The Midwife isn't down on last year.

These ratings are a calamity for DOI. It can hardly muster 5 million for the results show - and theyre continuing to slide.

Maybe the poor ratings are down to folks recording the programme and watching later to avoid the tedious and far too frequent ad breaks. They really need to rethink the whole programme and results show.

There must be hundreds of thousands of people like me who wouldn't dream of struggling to watch all that LIVE.

I couldn't imagine watching DOI without a fast forward button.

I think it's more down to seeing the joke acts being saved every Series and it's gotten to the point of complete boredom!

SamuelW - do you actually have a breakdown of Countryfile v Dancing on Ice head-to-head? Only Dancing On Ice often picks up as it goes on so the overall average may have been dragged down by 6.15-7pm and it actually beat Countryfile in the 7pm hour. Plus Countryfile may have been boosted by the final fifteen minutes when Dancing On Ice wasn't on.


Strictly can change it's style and approach much easier than Dancing on Ice - there is a lot more scope in quality on the ballroom floor than on an ice rink.

I actually prefer Dancing on Ice 2013 to Strictly Come Dancing 2012 but I think that's just me!

Unfortunately most of the celebs wouldn't be able to manage those dances on ice. They'd need to be able to hold an edge and turn properly and apart from Beth and possibly Matt this year none of them come close. Bad pattern dances would be even more appalling to watch than some of the poor routines we get now.

Shouty smug Philip Schofield and that closet bald Australian judge put me off watching it. Scofield is very 'day time' TV anyway, they need a better host.

Choice of celebs is painful too. They just seem to be ones deemed not good enough for Strictly.