IAC did very well last night, considering it was on for two hours. Eastenders' rating is low but the share seems to be normal and nothing out of the ordinary. Apparitions really has taken a knock because of IAC, but some may use the I Player to catch up.

It seemed the first night last night that IAC actually dented the other terrestrials significantly. Awful for Apparitions, but many of these Thursday dramas don't tend to perform well. It really is amazing me as to how well IAC is performing this year considering BB is down, but it seems to have got the BGT and XF effect-it's also being talked about a lot. None of it seemes as staged this year either, it all feels more natural. Holding 8m for 2 hours is great for IAC and the ratings are well up on last year. It seems the Wednesday break worked well. Also Emmerdale is back up to 7m which ITV will like to see. TBH I'm surprised 3.2m held on for ITV NaT considering the length of the adverts. It's probably better for ITV to show the adverts, but if they weren't there I could see it getting ratings like it started with nearer 4m, because of BBC1's poor performance in the 9pm slot.

None of the ITV2 film repeats seem to be performing well, probably because they're being shown every other week!

It's the programmes that will keep them at ITV if they don't go elsewhere. You can tell, for example, that they absolutely love doing I'm A Celebrity and I think that's the one show, more than any other, that would stop them from leaving the channel.

I'm sure Ant and Dec will renew their contract and ITV would fight tooth and nail to keep them but I wonder whether they will opt for a non golden handcuff deal so they work on other channels. Who else on ITV has a handcuffs deal aside from Cowell and Piers Morgan?

Vernon Kay and Phillip Schofield spring to mind.

I don't think ITV would want anything other than a golden handcuffs deal. With fragmenting audiences you need talent that people will identify with your channel.

I noticed the long ad break at 10pm as well. NaT didnt start till 10.03 I think. I think this is a quirk of the way the Thursday schedule works, in so far as they have a 30 minute ad free show at 7.30pm

Five under Dawn Airey might bid for them as might Sky. Airey wants to take Five away from its current CSI/ FTA National Geographic image and bolster light entertainment.

I very much doubt we'll be seeing Ant and Dec leave ITV.

Bad feeling over the phone vote scandal (and that embarrasing Comedy Award mix-up too) or not, they know where their bread is buttered. They base their career on the really big presenting jobs like Britains Got Talent and I'm a Celebrity. Thats what keeps them popular and in the public eye.

Theres no formats like that on any other channel apart from the BBC which won't be in the bidding unless they fancy a massive pay cut.

They will stay, but probably not on quite as much as they were before (and if they are it will be hushed up). It's worth noting that Ant and Dec aren't just presenters anymore. Their company, Gallowgate TV, co-produces Takeaway and has also made Duel, Pokerface and All Star Cup and in 2009 will make another series of Takeaway, a second series of Beat The Star and The Wish List with Amanda Holden.

Then the 2 biggest shows BGT and IAC, need to be sorted, which I'm sure would go down badly with Simon Cowell... who also happens to be in need of a new contract at the end of next year. And would be even more destructive to IAC as I've heard so many people say that A&D's banter is what makes the show.

No presenters come close to them just now.

Ant and Dec won't have it any better elsewhere, either. They are best sticking with ITV and it's not like they can do what Cowell inevitably will, and tell ITV that they plan to move to LA unless they get paid enough.

I imagine they would put on a film or show repeats of some of ye olde drama's.

I can't see where else they would go! I don't think it would work at the BBC. ITV would never let ant and dec go, under any circumstances they never fail to pull in viewers now a days at the lowest of 7million!

Took him 20 years, though!

Ant and dec have said that IAC and Saturday Night Takeaway are there most favourite shows but there is plenty of reason for them to leave:

1.Saturday Night Takeaway is likely to be axed (ant and dec aren't going to be happy about that!)
2. ITV wouldn't even take on the idea of a new sunday night show hosted by them
3. There was a huge scandal about the phone-ins on most of there shows.
4. This then lead to a huge argument with the boss of ITV.
5. Comedy awards scandal with robbie williams
6. Ant and dec have threatened to leave the channel when there contract runs out because of this.

ITV are going to have to do something special to keep them this year.

The chances are that if another channel can afford to buy ant and dec then they can afford to buy the formats of shows that come with them.

I don't see the BBC bidding for them, to be honest. They did nothing ratings-wise when they moved on from CBBC to Saturday night telly on BBC One.

I think ITV could sign them at a cheaper price this time.

Wasn't it CITV they moved on from Anyway ant and dec aren't going to except a pay cut especially when the shows they present are rating higher than ever before if they recieve a pay cut they will decline. Sell the formats of there currently owned shows like Duel, Takeaway, Beat The Star and Pokerface to other countries. For example last year Takeaway was sold to the chinese and it's very funny. And then they will move to USA to present shows. If the americans can understand there accents.

If Ant and Dec left ITV the only formats they'd have would be Takeaway and Poker Face. What other jobs could they realistically find on Channel 4, Five or Sky?

The only other channel besides ITV with big light entertainment shows (and the kind of funds to finance a series of something like Takeaway) would be BBC One. And as I said earlier - the only way they'd get Ant and Dec is if the lads wanted a pay cut.

ETA: I don't think they'll be fleeing to America either - I don't think Wanna Bet? went down too well on ABC. I saw it when I was over there this summer - they looked a lot more uncomfortable than they do on ITV and just became blank presenters because there wasn't really any opportunity for ad-libbing.

1. ITV are desperate not to lose Saturday Night Takeaway. That's why they've given the show a year's break, to give Ant and Dec more breathing room to think up fresh ideas. Otherwise they'd have axed it immediately, or try to kill it through over exposure.

2. I don't think ITV have a clue what they're doing with Sunday nights at the moment. I'd say that ITV would want either Saturday Night Takeaway or the Sunday night show. I can see why they're quailing considering SNT is short of new ideas, let alone producing another show.

3. Ant and Dec have come through the phone scandals. Neither Brtain's Got Talent or I'm A Celebrity have been unduly affected - indeed they've improved.

4. I believe ITV were not impressed with GMTV either, but they're still there. I doubt no other company would be either willing or able to pay the fee Ant and Dec would require now.

5. I'd forgotten about that. Though I think it's been sorted now.

6. We'll see but because of point 4 I doubt they will. As someone else suggested they may angle for a non-golden handcuffs deal, but ITV'll just threaten to take BGT off them. They can afford too...The X Factor shows that a reality TV show can survive without Ant and Dec as long as Cowell's there.

EDIT: BTW Ant and Dec's attempt to take over America failed miserably earlier in the year, so I doubt they'll be willing to try that anytime soon.

Does anyone know what IT Takes Two got on Wednesday night?

CBBC One, then Saturday nights on BBC One with Friends Like These (they were also doing SMTV at that time), then they moved on to primetime exclusivity with ITV.

ITV owns the Saturday Night Takeaway format. Duel is already an established format originating in France - it was exported to the US as well. Beat the Star is an established format originating in Germany. Gallowgate only produced the UK versions of both - they have no ownership over the format.

OT: But seeing as we're talking about Ant and Dec, I thought I'd ask.

What show was it that really sparked Ant and Dec into Saturday Night Primetime?

The first show I remember seeing them on in Saturday Night Primetime was Pop Idol, but I'm guessing that's wrong.

No, I think you're right. It was the ITV Controller of Entertainment at the time, Claudia Rosencrantz, who decided to make them primetime material and they ended up on Pop Idol and I'm A Celebrity, both of which were commissioned by her.

Pop Idol was their big break. Before then they did children's TV (SMTV was their key show) and early evening programming.

But when Takeaway first started off it got between 2 - 4million viewers so they might give Wanna Bet? another go. I would admit they did look awfully uncomfotable but after time that will get better.

Source: WikiPedia

Saturday Night Takeaway started with 5.5m, and stayed around 4.5m+ for its first series. Then it's ratings rose for subsequent series to a peak of around 8m I think. But in the last couple of years, they've gone down to around 6/7m.

I think Ant and Dec will definitely stay on ITV. They won't have the same opportunities at the BBC or anywhere else. Their US career is not going well, so ITV is really their only option if they want to be at the top of primetime tv.