Shaps may have been the one to start it but Peter Fincham has come in, looked at it, and decided it works. Between X Factor and Dancing on Ice they'll have half the Sundays of 2013 covered. Throw in good performances from Catchphrase and Off The Rockers and it's working quite well. A few 2 hour dramas and even the summer entertainment stuff has been doing OK.

Had Shaps not done it, I suspect Fincham would have in 2009 when he had to basically abandon pre-watershed drama.

There's plenty of soap on TV and really no need for it to run 6 days a week. Now, in ITV's key period of the year, they have put together what is very much the broadcasters flagship schedule of X Factor at 8pm and then Downton at 9pm. Meanwhile, weekday schedules are stronger as well with the extra hour of soap.


It's 11 minutes shorter than Goblet of Fire which has been run in a 2h45 slot before. So it shouldn't need the whole 3 hours.

Assuming they don't do it now, it'll be well into December before they have a weekend slot for it.

Given the ratings for the last one, I'm not sure it's that much of a priority - but it could work well as a lead-in and give them a very big night on the 31st. Then they'd still be able to repeat it later on.

Jeez this old hoary story again. You never seem to have issues with the BBC poaching other people's rights, staff or ideas

As for the timings, when you pay £1.5m in rights per week, you have to put it at a time when the revenue will be sufficient to recover that cost plus production, plus hopefully make some profit. Not easy to do at close to midnight featuring some mid table dross - I've watched enough games at stadia to know how few highlights some of these games generate.

One of those guys was who I was on about last night Re EastEnders and Xmas.


I dunno...Paul could do it. He seemed ok doing an hour LIVE on ITV1 once a week. Norton I say give him another go.

Paul O'Grady would not be happy with a show that involves being shoved all over the set from item to item in quick succession, reading the autocue, reading cards, remembering what is going on. He did do a pilot of the Generation Game.

Almost as bonkers as the middle of primetime. Quite often though see kid films scheduled for the middle of the night.

I'm sure the BBC are only commissioning these type of shows now as they need something to fill the afternoon slots now the sport has dried up - TPGS will probablby be at 2pm by the end of the month.

I'm writing to Danny Cohen with an idea.

The puppets hosting I Love My Country : National Lottery Edition

The chase has flopped in the USA. Only 510,000 American households watched the gameshow. Bit of a blow to itv studios.

I don't have a problem with poaching, just with poaching something and then fouling it up. ITV's research clearly told them there was an audience at 19:00 for football highlights, when it turned out there wasn't (not enough of one anyway). An expensive mistake, at £61m/year (a price which hasn't been surpassed since, even with the recent crazy Premiership rights auction).

The Chase not doing well in the US? They don't like the format it seems. We do though.

Maybe the host has something to do with it.

I don't think ITV Studios will mind much.

It has only aired one night so far. The number isn't that bad for the network in that slot and they've already ordered a second series so they must be in it for the long run.

How ironic, on the very day the BBC ballsed up the muppet show!

Poor description of a flop there. ITV is the second major terrestrial channel in the UK. GSN is a digital channel similar to Challenge here. GSN isn't free to watch in America and you have to subscribe to one of cable/satellite networks the country offers.

Worth pointing out they can see the show up to EIGHT times before the next one.

So many hints to tomorrows show!

510k households being about 1.3m individuals of course!

Looks pretty out of place to call it a flop on those merits.

It airs weekly, and it's only been on once. Challenge would die for a rating of 510k.

And its already been renewed for a second season.

Hardly poached though was it? Jim Henson's gang must take some of the blame, if blame is due. Its iPlayer success might suggest it is a sleeper hit.

Neither was the premiership. Highlights rotated between itv and BBC for years and years. And you secure them through a tender process.

Irony? There's nothing ironic about That Puppet Game Show. BBC1 tried something (they weren't to know it wouldn't take off), it didn't work. How would you be reacting if it WAS a hit? Suicidal probably!

Calm down dear. It's only tv. And not very good tv.

I think as others have said if we'd seen the show take itself less seriously with some stronger writing and a bit of a break with the 4th wall that the Puppet Show could be a success.

Just needs a repackaging. Only time I like the US model of the pilot, viewer reaction, pulling it, working on it, re-releasing it.

No, the BBC had them from the Premiership's inception in 1992-93 until the present day (and will have them until at least the end of the 2015-16 season), except for the disastrous ITV interregnum from 2001-02 to 2003-04 which we were just discussing.

http://www.sportingintelligence.com/...-deals-170601/

Yes. It is only TV. It wasn't terrible TV. It wasn't brilliant TV. It needs a few tweaks and some of the jokes were lame, but done properly it could be an eventual hit. iPlayer position suggests it could add a fair few more viewers to the finals yet! Don't write it off just yet will you?

GSN press release:


Full release at tvbythenumbers

It's not exactly a big network although they are making a push with original content. So I'm not really sure what's good and what isn't. But based on the stats in the release (and the fact they want to draw attention to the numbers) I'm guessing it's not bad for them.

Well for you history started in 1992 for others it started before then. The 1st division wasn't that different from the premier league.

Of course it was the BBC sky axis that helped remove FTA live league football from the air, but that's another story.