It wouldn't win, it would get mediocre ratings like always

TV Burp would end up with about 3m opposite EastEnders or something, at least one Corrie would be low against Doctor Who and BGT would get 5m at best. Midsomer would be starting too late

ITV could do the nation a service and have a soap free Christmas Day. It would be a master PR stroke on BBC1 and make them look grubby in comparison. ITV should focus on light entertainment, films & quality drama on Christmas Day IMO.

Best scheduling for that would be either Sunday 21st or Monday 22nd where it could get 8m+

Christmas Day it would end up getting half of that as it goes against programmes that are much more the main part of Christmas Day

It's also the same reason why any christmas highlights BBC2 or Channel 4 have will always be scheduled on the 27th, 28th etc where people are more likey to tune in when they are not in 'all the family sat on the sofa' mode

Actually they could do that easily...

6.00 Celebrity Who Wants to Be A Millionnaire?
7.00 Christmas Night Takeaway
8.00 Britain's Got Talent: Special
9.30 Midsomer Murders

Quiz, light entertainment, talent and a drama. Good mix, but no soaps. Don't like how late Midsomer Murder's would finish though.

I don't think ITV should put shows like Dancing on Ice Xmas Special or similar on Xmas Day, because they wouldn't rate that well against the BBC's shows no matter what. Might as well show them on the Saturday/Sunday, where it'd get a lovely high audience. The BBC pretty much rules Xmas Day every year anyways, and the BBC's schedule this year looks too strong to compete with. ITV should just put It's a Wonderful Life for 3 hours from 7-10pm . Something like:

18.00 Millionaire Xmas Special
19.00 It's A Wonderful Life
22.00 Film

Or the UK equivalent............ Pretty Woman

You're not the real ITV1 scheduler are you???

I just think if ITV want to improve their brand they need to try harder on Christmas Day. It's very likely they'll lose out, but at least they'll gain more respectability than they have currently for giving it a good go.

With ITV1's "packed" Christmas Day schedule I'm struggling to see where on earth The Grinch will fit in amongst their treats.

The ITV website has it that Emmerdale is on at 7 pm and Coronation Street 8pm Christmas day.

Ah no- my cover's been blown!


That's most likely going to change depending on the BBC's schedule. If Corrie was on at 8pm, it would be up against Doctor Who/EastEnders - which ITV wouldn't let happen. One thing, though: last year ITV had Emmerdale against Doctor Who and it got thrashed. I wonder if they'll schedule it up against Doctor Who again? If it does, I reckon it'll rate even worse than last year's 5.8m. Problem is it'll be difficult for ITV to schedule Emmerdale around EE and DW.

The "brand" arguement doesn't stand up. People watch the big shows regardless of channels. The come to ITV for sport, BGT, X Factor, Celebrity, high quality drama and soaps & they choose BBC1 for big national events and Christmas Day amongst other things.

In the face of such realities, ITV should try something different. It wont beat the BBC, but it will give people who arent into what the BBC are offering, a genuine alternative.

Whatever they put up against Doctor Who and EastEnders are basically sacrifical lambs. Coronation Street holds it's own against Strictly Come Dancing so that won't change.

Maybe they'll just put up an end of a film against Doctor Who. I'd risk Millionnaire personally, because ire presents something different from Doctor Who and should appeal to the non-sci fi/soap opear households.

I think ITV are seriously struggling on promoting consistent good programming, however. I mean, since when as ITV1 been known as the home for high quality drama? In recent times their attempts have failed miserably at their attempts. Christmas is the final big day of the year - I'd argue they should give it their all, and present a new image of ITV1 ready for 2009.

I agree ITV1 will lose Christmas Day even if they have Britain's Got Talent final followed by Dancing On Ice final followed by The X Factor results. But as you say, giving it a go won't hurt them. Trying something different will attract a different audience. And it may improve the channel's image for the new year, giving people more impetus to try new stuff out.

It's a long shot, but may just work.

to what end - the only ad revenue you have is for government info films, Nicorette, indigestion tablets and DFS sofas. Why blow all your budget on that?

Who says they should?

Just saying they should give it slightly more of an effort than they have previous years. Celebrity Millionnaire and Christmas Takeaway isn't exactly going to break the bank; Britain's Got Talent: Special can just be something filmed on tour, and they have the ticket revenue to support that, and Midsomer Murders is usual Christmas Day fare anyway.

It's not breaking the bank - certainly they're not blowing their budget on it, doubt it'd even cost 1% of their yearly budget. Yet it's light entertainment for all the family. And the soaps haven't been touched yet either with the programmes I mentioned above.

Take away BGT, "Wet Tits" and X-Factor and what's left isn't even close to the dizzy heights of "mediocre".

Anyone remember Moving Wallpaper?

I love all the speculation about ITV1's festive schedule. So much time and effort going into predicting a dead cert lost cause.

Got to admire your spirit..

I have to say I agree. There's more to ITV's turnaround than budgeting for profit, they need to make the nation love the channel again. Shows like The X Factor make us love the channel - it's one of the few things they do right.

ITV should operate not on how much money it makes but how it will please mass audiences. And to please them, they should try for them. Who cares if there's no revenue, sometimes you've got to take a fall to get the lift you need.

From October:


Any idea who's presenting HIGNFY tonight, George?

It's on the BBC, by the way...

I wonder if ITV will employ the tactic they have used in the last few years during the festive season of airing Coronation Street at 8.30pm in the week to prop up the 9pm offerings. They certainly did this last year and the year before.

The Bill's scheduling is weird though 9pm on Monday and Tuesday? Then back to 8pm? Barmy.

My Xmas Day ITV1 Schedule
06:00 - GMTV
09:25 - ITV Morningscreen
12:00 - ITV News
12:30 - ITV Afternoonscreen
18:00 - ITV News
18:30 to 06:00 - ITV Nightscreen

Or rather, to try and prise viewers away from the great films and new drama the BBC had scheduled at 8.30pm after EastEnders. It's not as if they had anything good to "prop up" at 9pm - eg, a repeat showing of The Queen that premiered just 3 months earlier, or 5 year old Touch of Frosts.

Might push their share up a percentage point or two....

Shouldn't ITV be putting Mr &Mrs up against Dr.Who considering
it performed better than anything else against it ?

I was trying to think of what ITV scheduled against Doctor Who.

Yeah, maybe that would work best for them. Least they know it holds it's own against Doctor Who.

As for these great new dramas that Robbie is professing about...you mean they're not sticking on a New Tricks repeat for Christmas???

EDIT: D.M.N - you missed off 'Eveningscreen'.

stop stalking me. He's olny doing it to lend a hand. like Fern Brittan did. plus its recorded in ITVs studios