Considering Hamilton never really had a good Brazilian GP last year (he had a mechanical problem early on and dropped to the back of the pack), it still rated highly, I think it was the highest rated programme of the day. It was on from 16:00 to 19:00 like this will be. Last year's figures for the race:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007...ngs.bendowell1

Whole Show: 7.44m [Overnight: 7.3m (41%)]
Race (17:00 onwards) : 9m (47%)
Peak: 10.4m (50%)

I think with more hype this year surrounding Hamilton, we could see the Whole Show figure about 8m, hence my prediction in the thread a few doors down. The peak could well be begging on 11m.

I suggest they stick in an extra repeat of episode 1 in the You've Been Framed slot next Saturday to pick up any word of mouth there may be

I don't think the scheduling was that bad.

In between the 2 X Factors after 9pm would be slated for being too late for younger viewers

Before The X Factor would be in direct competition with SCD which again would be seen as crazy scheduling and a pre-built reason to explain poor ratings

It isn't weeknights at 9pm material

Sunday evening is traditionally old folks TV, but 6.15 isn't. This slot traditionally is filled with the news, regional programmes and fillers. BBC1 have been known to air repeats of family dramas around 5pm on a Sunday so this isn't much different

Right, Britannia High has flopped & there are unfortunately no signs of the show improving. Here is what I propose ITV should do:

1. Produce a lengthy 2 minute advert showcasing the show (in a different way to which it has been advertised already and showing more footage). This will be shown directly in the middle of the XF next Saturday.
2. Move the show back to 6.15pm in 2 weeks time which will make it follow the XF repeat and only have competition in the form of a Little Dorrit repeat.
3. Put a repeat in YBF's Saturday slot moving YBF an hour before. This would only be done for one week, because it would damage both YBF and TV Burp's ratings. (As per Andy23's idea).

If ITV decide to move its slot I can just see it moving earlier on Sunday.

The BH rating is laughable.

I hope Dead Set breaks 1m Although now I've jinxed it.

Arguably you can't com[are the two though. By splitting the results show SCD will always have the upper hand over X Factor who, because of aggressive scheduling from BBC1, have to air the result show pretty late. Maybe they should think about doing a Britain's Got Talent and air it all in one show? Though that's only for one upmanship with BBC1. I'm sure ITV aren't too depressed with X Factor being beaten really, considering it's the number one Saturday night show.


But...

1. Hasn't the show been promoted enough already? Whatever programme's been on on ITV, a Brittania High trailer has popped up during the breaks.

2. If they're going to continue with the ludicrous Sunday night position, then I fully agree. However, if they want it aired so early, I don't see why they don't put it on early Saturday (remember, SCD doesn't start until around 6.45 nowadays anyway):

6.00 Brittania High
7.00 Harry Hill's TV Burp
7.30 The X Factor

Saying that...hasn't SCD been moved to 5.50 this week? In that case...

5.15 You've Been Framed
5.45 The X Factor (risky, admittedly, but trying to go aggressive. I think X Factor is rated higher than SCD this year so it should work)
7.15 Brittania High
8.15 Harry Hill's TV Burp
8.45 The X Factor: Results
9.30 All Star Family Fortunes

Risky, but what do you think?

3. I don't think two You've Been Framed's will help TBH. It seems the show struggled last night. Weird, considering the strong ratings it gets on Saturdays. Maybe people thought it was a repeat? I think a TV Burp repeat may do better in that slot, as it has a bigger following, and some love it but miss it due to SCD, so a repeat should get decent ratings.

I don't think XF should be used as a sacrificial lamb to help a show which barely broke 3m despite a great wave of promotion.

Maybe putting it on Saturday would help, but really, in the long run, it wouldn't help the Saturday schedule as a whole, which is doing brilliantly at the moment.

BH may benefit due to a later slot and a huge lead in next week. If it doesn't benefit from that, it's pointless moving everything to accomodate it.

True...though I don't think The X Factor would be a sacrificial lamb. Indeed, maybe it'd help it, because the Results show would be on at a more decent hour. Plus it's have a lead in against SCD. Also, X Factor has been holding it's own against SCD despite the lead ins, so it'll be interesting to see what it'd do with the lead in itself.

As for Brittania High...I think it needs to be given a chance. Everybody stated the early evening slot would be a disaster for it, and so it's been proved. It wasn't a bad show IMO, and didn't deserve the drubbing it got. I think little changes (well, ok in this case it's a massive change ) would help it enormously.

Agreed. Don't dent The X Factor's average for the sake of an extra couple of million viewers for BH.

1. I think the show has been marketed wrongly and someone else mentioned on a thread somewhere that this is a family drama, not just a childrens drama and it has been advertised as a childrens/teen drama really. It needs to show some clips with make it look more like Fame rather than High School Musical to make it appeal to the entire family.

2. That first Saturday schedule works well with it at 6pm and even if SCD aired there it could work there, because both YBF and TV Burp work well against SCD. However risking the XF in your second schedule is not good imo, because XF is ITV's top rated show atm and it isn't worth sacrificing for BH, as much as ITV want it to be a success.

3. This does go back to a point that nothing really works in the 6pm Sunday ITV1 slot and YBF is a good example of something working on Sat but not Sun. Maybe your idea of airing BH early on Saturday would work really well?

1. Let's just have the new ads every so often, and not every single ad break.

2. I'm concerned about BH against SCD to be honest. If it gets thrashed by Antiques Roadshow I dread to think what SCD would do to it, hence the possible change. I agree, I prefer the first schedule though. It makes more sense and everything is in a clear slot. The second one looked messy from the moment I typed it.

3. I saw earlier in the day people mention that in the New Year Corrie may well be moved back to Sunday's to accomodate the football. I don't see why they don't do this now and cut their losses. Move Friday's second episode for now, though, not Wednesday's.

AFAIK Britannia High was always meant to be a Sunday night show - was this done with the possibility of the XF results airing on a Sunday in mind?

Can't help thinking that was the original intention - BH just looks so out of place in that schedule otherwise.

ITV have such a strong line-up of programming, but need to use it in the right way, and that means taking Britannia High out of Sunday night primetime in favour of a new slot.

Saturday afternoons, from now on, should be a whole feast of entertainment, and I think that it could attract a host of younger viewers to the channel:-

3:00pm Family movies [set for a family audience]
5:00pm Britannia High
6:00pm Weekend News
6:15pm You've Been Framed
6:45pm Harry Hill's TV Burp
7:15pm The X Factor
8:45pm All Star Family Fortunes
9:30pm The X Factor: The Result
10:00pm News at Ten (Special 5 week stint)
10:30pm The Best of Happy Hour (6 part series / FA Cup Highlights

This leaves a schedule like this for Sunday nights:-

6:00pm Comedy Classics
7:00pm Heartbeat
8:00pm 2 hour dramas
10:00pm Greatest Cities in the World (the 3 part documentary re-scheduled for a repeat season with a view of extending the series in the same slot) / The South Bank Show
11:00pm The Late News

With this 'classic' schedule for Sunday nights on ITV, it gives ITV2 an opportunity to repeat Britannia High to hopefully about 500,000 and also an opportunity to premiere other programming.

What does everyone think?

The best weekend schedule I've seen. The only issue I have is News at Ten on Saturday, as the Saturday schedule needs to be flexible to shift so that it's in sync with BBC1.

I love the idea of repeating Greatest Cities in that slot, as I think it could become a ratings banker there, and it's in the unusual position for a travelogue, in that it could (and should) be recommissioned.

I agree with you, I thought maybe News at Ten could get some extra viewers, but then I remembered it should really be kept for weekdays, and it should be given lead ins from dramas and documentaries.

So, a slight alteration to that schedule:-

9:30pm The X Factor: Result Show
10:00pm Afterlife (repeats would do well as it was a successful show and if it can draw a reasonable audience for this time, I would commission a few more series. This is the perfect slot for horror shows)
11:00pm The Late News
11:15pm Late night movie OR FA Cup Highlights

That sounds good. Horror shows never seem to do well at 9pm, but I think they would work there.

How do you think the new family drama, Demons, will do, as that is more horror than other Saturday dramas like Doctor Who and Primeval?

I can't believe NBC aired the 40 y/o Virgin! That must've been ripped to shreads!

If ITV really wanted BH to get decent ratings they should have got the cast to do the theme song during The X Factor Results rather than that awful army charity song they had the finalists do.

I don't think Brittania High is good in the 5pm slot on a Saturday. Far too early considering that it's aimed at family's, and most people go out for the day on Saturday's. Considering the amount of money ITV have spent, I don't consider 5pm any better a slot for it than 6.15pm Sunday.

The rest of your schedule is great, though, so what I'd for late afternoon is:

3.00 Family Film
5.00 ITV News and Weather
5.15 You've Been Framed (it's a clip show - it doesn't have CDs/DVDs/albums going with it)
5.45 Brittania High

and then carry on as you had it.

Sunday's are good, though I'm concerned how many comedy classics ITV actually have up their sleeve to fill that slot with. Darling Buds of May, of course, but that won't bring in great ratings. Also, it'd appeal more to an older audience who'll already be tuning in to Antiques Roadshow, so that'll affect it.

I might be tempted to say ITV should air a repeat in that slot - one that's got healthy ratings in the past. The obvious choice would be moving Saturday's The X Factor to a later position and use it as a lead in:

4.30 The X Factor
6.00 ITV News and Weather
6.20 The X Factor Results
7.00 Heartbeat
8.00 Sharpe
10.00 Greatest Cities of the World

I just think having the X Factor later is a bit lazy from ITV, surely the point of ITV2 and ITV Catch Up is for this. I just think ITV need more variety.

So, at 6pm on a Sunday, this is my idea...

6:00pm Who Wants to be a Millionaire? 10 Years of Changing Lives

For its 10th anniversiary, Who Wants to be a Millionaire will be showcasing its best ever shows (including the Major Fraud) to celebrate its milestone, along with behind the scene comments from family & friends on how it changed their life. 10 new shows from 10 changed people. Perfect for early evening viewing.

Also,

6:00pm Harry Hill's TV Burp Special (the one they didn't air)

Yep, that'd work. Amanda Holden's The Wish List should also air here.

Sorry but that sounds terrible, basically airing a repeat of Millionaire just because in the last 15 mins it starts getting exciting, plus who cares that someone won £500k and bought a nice car and went on holiday that they would want to see this?

This sounds like the type of show they would have aired at 5pm weekdays in the era when this slot was in crisis

It wouldn't set the world on fire, but it is 6pm, and the Dragons Den spin off did well last night, so I think it would do reasonably.

3.3m for Britannia High?



Please, someone tell me what the breakdown was for 7-7.15pm when 10.4m "pensioners" were watching Antiques Roadshow? I'm itching to know...

This could be an even bigger flop for ITV than Echo Beach/Moving Wallpaper and Rock Rivals. And despite it being probably the most over-promoted show in recent TV history.

How many more flops can ITV come up with in one year - it's still only October, folks...

For me, this is what ITV should have done (regardless of what Mr. Simon Cowell said! ):

Saturdays
17:30 - News
18:00 - You've Been Framed!
18:30 - Britannia High
19:30 - Harry Hill's TV Burp
20:00 - The X Factor
22:00 - News at Ten

Sundays
17:30 - News
18:15 - Family Fortunes
19:00 - Heartbeat
20:00 - The X Factor Results
20:45 - Drama (Midsomer; Foyles War).
22:45 - The Late News

IMO, like this, the schedule is easily transparent for when DOI comes in. Apart from the possible *spoiler* thing, I don't think there was another reason as to why X Factor results couldn't have been on Sunday...


Ah, of course instead of News at Ten it's instead News at Seven!

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...4&postcount=10
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...3&postcount=12

Simon Cowell wouldn't allow them to put the results on Sunday night because a) he wanted it to be live b) that said, he didnt want to work a Sunday c) too expensive to do another live show on a Sunday and also as you said, the spoiler factor.. although SCD manages it ok.

I too watched Britannia High last night and enjoyed it.. suprisingly so too. ITV are going to kill it on a Sunday night.. sticking it on before XF would be best but they won't listen.

The countless rubbish 3 part dramas they've created this year have tarnished their reputation. Soon as you see an ad for an ITV drama now, you make sure your out at that time lol.

What does everyone think Dead Set will get?