Didn't an episode of Shortland St achieve 8000 on Watch a couple of years ago? Also Richard and Judy stiffed massively on there.

I think the DW special will get a solid 5 million. Tipping Point may well be dented as a result, to about 2m, M&M around the same level. I would like to see Top Gear break 5m for the series finale.

I really don't think we'll see BBC or ITV having American series on in prime time at my point in the near future. I personally think they should, but a lot of people may look at it as, "oh, they can't make any decent programmes of their own, so have to rely on American TV".


It didn't get picked up to series.

The last half-series of Doctor Who managed what, a series average of 7m? I can't see it getting much less than that. With the amount of discussion about it this week I could see a few casual viewers being drawn in, which could push it up towards 8m, but I'll stick with a guess of 7m.

UK TV Ratings ‏@TVRatingsUK 1h
Sat top rated (exc +1): Casualty 4.41m; Mrs Brown 4.16m; Break the Safe 3.75m; Your Face Sounds Familiar 3.70m; Family Fortunes 3.29m.
3:31 PM - 4 Aug 13

I read somewhere that they were working on happy valley in may- so just assumed. Yes, Sherlock will probably be next yr which is a shame- best drama ever. Of the new dramas, I think by any means could rate really well. What remains looks interesting but it will be very grim and dark. Breathless does look promising but now that CTM is an established hit- I just hope ITV didn't immediately jump on the bandwagon because there are so many great period medical dramas they could have done instead of a possible 'CTM rip-off'.
Of the returning dramas- downton abbey (which I adore) could be dangerous territory with some of the central characters gone and something like 12 new characters now- may not be like downton abbey anymore. I think the paradise could also increase its audience more after some inadvertent promotion from mr selfridge and a possible sunday night slot (or that could go to last tango/ripper street).

It does seem the industry looks back on CD:UK as being a much better platform for music than TOTP - and while they were both on air CD:UK felt so much fresher.

I think the bigger problem with music on TV though is not so much lacking a music show, but lacking just general entertainment shows where they can perform.

TOTP's ratings peaked at 14 million in the mid seventies. Apart from being the only chart music show of the time, Pans People attracted millions of male viewers normally hostile to long haired pop stars.

In light of recent revelations the BBC are of course not going to commission a new series of Top of the Pops ever again - and whilst I don't think Operation Yewtree has killed any chance of music shows on the BBC ever again, any show similar to TOTP on the BBC would surely struggle at least at first as folks compare it to "what went before".

two good things about CD:UK (from the POV of record companys)

1) it was being watched by their target demo
2) you could preform on it, prior to your song coming out

2 being important because at that time, songs were promoted, before they charted, and received very little promotion after that.

TOTP was reported on a chart that was already 5 days old, did not fit the cycle of how music was released/promoted, and was being watched by the wrong people.

CD:UK worked because was the first thing viewers saw on a Saturday morning. Hangover TV. As a brand, teens associated it with the "coolest" programme on TV at the time, SM:TV Live.

TOTP on the other hand made the grave error of moving to Friday nights -- the time when teens went out to get themselves hammered. Sure, its ratings held up well for a while but up against Corrie for a sustained period it was always going to get found out.

Plus I'm sure they never did a chart update like CD:UK did with number ones? It was always the number one of that week.

There are so many music channels, downloads and radio stations now it probably wouldn't work. Also sadly this show will always be linked with Jimmy Savile. To me I tend to prefer to remember it for the dancers, the theme music and some great performances.

Peter Capaldi still odds-on with Betfair to be you-know-what, but not as solid, due to late money for Aneurin Bernard (plays the King in The White Queen).

No, it just means nobody in the sample was.

I agree the No1 was correct 99% of the time, but a couple of times it was not, and a couple of times, they said it was too close to call.

May be true that TOTP would be less important than it was, but that doesn't mean there's no need for it. Watching music videos on your laptop is not the same as watching live performances on TOTP. By that logic, we don't need Glastonbury on TV either, or any music at all.

If TOTP had the right person in charge, they put enough money into it and got the biggest acts on week after week, and they put it somewhere it wasn't up against an ITV soap (difficult but Wednesday 8pm would work) I believe it could get 4 million viewers. On a good week IIRC it got 3 million in its last few months on BBC One, and that was when it was against Corrie and the singles chart was in a right mess.

One thing I never understood was how the BBC didn't make enough money out of the TOTP brand to make it not matter about the ratings - it was sold all over the world.

The Jimmy Savile thing could be a problem, but it doesn't stop them doing the Christmas shows and 1978 repeats.

Thanks, Neil. I'm glad I wasn't the only one to spot the 300% thing!
Leary did a lotto quiz a few years ago, and he looked terribly uneasy and uncomfortable, and seemed to manage to suck quite a lot of tension out of what should have been quite an engaging format.

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As for the Factor speculation, are you all absolutely certain ITV are going to bother "rewinding" last year's series? Might they not just forget about it and focus on the changes for this year's series, instead?

If they brought it back, they could now use the midweek "Official Chart Update" they do on Radio 1 on Wednesdays, and they could point out how it's in our hands to change the final result and tune in on Sunday for the official top 40 etc

So YFSF did beat the BBC's new format I Love My Country then!

I don't know why BBC commissioned that rubbish it had flop written all over it from the start that's why David quit he didn't want the embarrassment before its airing.

If it goes up against X Factor in the next couple weeks I can see its rating falling even further.

XFactor must be starting after 17th august as my colleague had an invitation to this series' press launch which is on the 22nd. They wouldnt have the press launch after the first episode's been shown.

I would think Simon Cowell would be keen to revive it. With Cowell in charge, we'd get a big budget show with dancers and an orchestra like in its heyday. Actually this could work as a Saturday evening show.

It's just a recap of the performances, interviews with the contestants & judges, and a little snippet as to what they are up to. Each edition features a preview of the upcoming series.

They have a 'mash-up' advert this year - the above may well be the only way we'll get to see clips from the auditions. And that's what usually does create momentum in the run-up to the series (depends on what they show though). They had the 'punch-up' in 2010.

I think there may well be only partial clashes if X Factor starts at 8pm.

Of course they're "rewinding" last year's series...



Didn't you know this?

I'm assuming you don't want to go with him/her?