Surprised this tripe gets any viewers at all.

CBB Launch inc +1 - 5.456 Million
BB9 Launch inc +1 - 5.357 Million

Slight increase from BB9 I see

First of all thanks to DS for the update which I wasn't expecting today!

Pretty much as I expected for CBB...5.3m is an excellent figure for CH4 and they will be glad it won its slot. 6.4m is a great peak aswell. Also strong figures for the E4 shows afterwards.

Midsomer is a little high isn't it for a Friday night??! People seem to watch this show however many times it is repeated which continues to amaze. Though it was really surprising to see repeats getting 6m last year! Also interesting that Corrie increased its audience for the second episode, most likely due to weak competition from BBC1.

Who said Emmerdale couldn't reach 8m again? That episode is almost certain to make 8m in officials. However I think that is the most interesting rating of the night, because it was only 1 million and 2 share points behind Corrie's first episode and 1 share point behind EE. I think this week has proven Emmerdale can get a high audience if it isn't scheduled against The One Show. I think the output just needs to be reduced for it to increase its ratings and I also think an 8pm soap hour could work, though it would get tougher competition. Next week will be interesting to see how Anne Frank rates against Emmerdale...

That is a very decent rating for EE, considering Friday is usually a weak day for the soap. A little lower than expected for the Morcambe & Wise show. And regarding BBC2, that's pretty much as expected for Around The World In 80 Faiths, because religion isn't a topic which rates highly. In general I think BBC1 will be glad to see The One Show back soon!

A good rating for CBB - it may be down on the last CBB launch show, but it pulled in the big figure for Channel 4 and an excellent peak too. Also it won its slot, so they will be pleased. I do agree though that its a show I just watch now and I don't really get too excited about it - I wonder if other viewers feel the same way?

Interesting that Corrie did better for its second episode and Emmerdale had a decent figure. I do think Emmerdale could widen the gap between them and the One Show. If there is a big storyline in 2009 and good promotion for it, I can see it topping 8 million or just over. They just need to work hard to get in some extra viewers.

Good ratings for CBB. Around what we all expected I think so no big surprises there at least.

Great ratings for CBB which is on par with what BB9 got, not sure how it will fare during the week as everyone has their big shows out next week.

Will be interesting how CBB fares next Friday with QI, T&R and new NCIS next week.

Good ratings for CBB.

mmmm I think BBC1 did well enough on New Year's Day anyway - they obliterated ITV1 as it was! I dont JOnathan Creek would have been a good idea at 8.30pm anyway - some of the content was a little risque to say the least!

We've certainly learnt a lot about Emmerdale over the past week. Its been comfortably over 7 million unless its had strong opposition such as Wallace and Gromit on New Years Day. It seems to be a time of day when theres lots of people in search of something to watch, and who are quite happy to settle down with Emmerdale if theres nothing else to provide a suitable kind of background noise.

Its definately going to be interesting how it does next week with some drama opposite it, and then if it can hold onto its boost as the One Show begins the week after.

Interesting observations for ITV to look at I'd imagine - and more evidence that a soap hour at 8pm could do well for them. Thing is, they'd need the BBC to agree to enable this to happen - and I don't think BBC One would ever be happy with it or let it happen.

I'm thinking something along these lines...

Trial & Retribution-4.8m
QI-4.7m
Vicar Of Dibley-3.7m
Big Brother-3.3m
NCIS-2.2m
Around The World In 80 Faiths-1.0m

That sounds about right though I think NCIS will do a little higher between 2.5-3m with Numb3rs getting 1.4m.

I'd say QI will get around 5.5m with BB around 0.5m higher. Agree with the rest.

Anybody got the primetime shares for Wed/Thurs please.

NCIS is a funny one and I'm not too sure by how much it will be dented by T&R. Numb3rs is also interesting because it rated at about 1 million at 10.30pm on ITV1, but it's an earlier timeslot on FIVE and FIVE tends to do well with the US crime imports.


QI is unfortunately in the middle of a poor schedule with a 2 million lead in and a poorly scheduled VoD repeat after it. I think HIGNFY suffered a little for some episodes late last year when it was getting 4.5-5m, when earlier in the year it seemed to manage 5-6m up against Benidorm IIRC.

I would have liked 6m but 5m is not bad at all really.

I also really hate it when DS report peak figures on the homepage.

This'll be interesting when tomorrow's ratings come out. Here are the parallel ratings for FA Cup Round 3 - Saturday evening match last year when it was on BBC One:

BBC-1
Match Of The Day Live (17:05) - 7.41m (37.1%)
The One And Only (19:20) - 6.19m (26.8%)
The National Lottery Draws (20:25) - 6.72m (28.9%)
Casualty (20:35) - 7.26m (29.5%)
The One And Only (21:25) - 4.55m (19.8%)
BBC News (22:25) - 4.81m (24.6%)
Match Of The Day (22:45) - 3.28m (22.3%)

ITV-1
Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory (17:00) - 3.67m (17.1%)
You've Been Framed! (18:50) - 5.39m (22.4%)
When Britain First Had Talent (19:20) - 4.84m (20.5%)
All Star Family Fortunes (20:20) - 5.25m (21.5%)
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? (21:05) - 5.32m (23.1%)

Me too.

Thanks for those figures - it will be very interesting to compare tomorrow. I would expect the football to be slightly down - last years tie was Man United v Villa, while this years is a slightly less attractive Preston v Liverpool. That said, if last year is anything to go by, ITV can look forward to a boost for the entire evening. BBC certainly benefitted last year.

I guess, with a strong lead in and relatively weak opposition, Demons should manage 7 million on debut. Whether it sustains that will depend really on how good it is! Family Fortunes and Millionaire should be reliable enough - if hardly spectacular - after it.

Total Wipeout and Eurovision might have fairly difficult debuts up against the football and Demons. Eurovision will probably be a solid-but-nothing special 5 million or so. As for Wipeout - I have honestly no idea.

Great figures for the CBB launch show- pretty much as I expected. With officials the BB9 launch show went from 5.4m to 5.8m, so hopefully this can make 5.9m, perhaps even 6m. It also didn't do too badly considering it won its slot and it was the most watched show yesterday aside from the soaps. Even though the figures aren't what they once were they are still more successful than people give them credit for. I think its definitely going to beat the average for BB9 but its going to struggle on Tuesday by having an eviction show at 11.05pm.

I'm not really holding out for great figures tonight- Saturdays traditionally rate poorly, well for the show anyway. It will probably get around 3m because its the first highlights show.

Anyone else think DWC will run into Wipeout's slot to boost Wipeout's figures?

I've seen a copy of the Daily Mail today. They're going with Paterson Joseph. Other media are too. As you say, they all know who it really is, under embargo, so won't want to look stupid by calling it wrong. The fact he's the bookies' favourite too seems to suggest it's a cert, and make it easier for the press to say that they didn't leak anything, they simply reported who the smart money was on.

I'm surprised the bookies are actually taking bets on this, given that it's something that a number of people will already know the result of and will have known for weeks now.

On the subject of the Daily Mail's anti-BBC bile, I was amused to see a copy the other day with a full page spread on their outrage at only just realising that the families and one other character in Gavin & Stacey are named after serial killers - a joke that most people who watch the show twigged 2 years ago, but some Mail staffer has only just noticed.


Not sure how well the '3D porn' storyline would have played in the 30 mins before the watershed.


Perhaps BBC1 will stop flogging Morecambe & Wise retrospectives now for a bit?

They might also reflect on the fact that 9pm comedy has flopped again on Fridays and think about whether to persist with wasting promising comedy output in a slot which just doesn't win ratings.

Over Christmas, they had great success with comedy on Mondays, Wednesdays and Sundays. Will QI manage 5m on Friday nights over the next few weeks? - no. It's good to see Life of Riley and GGG airing on Thursdays. I hope that experiment works, because all the evidence from 2008 showed that everything apart from HIGNFY no longer really works in ratings terms in the Friday 9pm hour, and that takes a knock when there are competitive offerings elsewhere.


I think the corresponding FA Cup fixture last year was Man Utd v Liverpool. Can't see PNE v Liverpool having quite the same appeal. Also, ITV1 has 20 mins more build-up, and it's an ITV Sport production, so both those factors will deplete the average still further.

At least they shouldn't need their lens cloths today...

It was Villa/Man U at the same point last year.

I thought BBC1 had timed it all perfectly so that the Dr Who reveal and the start of Total Wipe Out would be at the start of half time in the football. But the match appears to kick off at 5.25 not 5.15 (I was certain it was a 5.15 k-o) so that will mean the half time whistle won't go until about 6.13 assuming it starts on the dot and there are 3 mins of injury time. It may be later than that of course.

Have ITV shifted the k-o time on by 10 mins because they caught wind of what the BBC were up to?

Either way, Total Wipe Out should benefit because it will only just have come on when the first of the half time ads comes on.

And the Eurovision thing is more likely to appeal to a mainstream audience than ITV's Buffy the Vampire Slayer rip-off, something that was only a niche cult hit anyway. It also has the benefit of starting just as the final match analysis and ad breaks come on.

Not that there'll be much time (again...) for ITV to do any wrap-up given the tight scheduling and 5.25 kick off....

Well yeah but JC would never of been allowed to start pre-watershed, it showed someones throat being slit for a start. And Celeb Mastermind wouldn't of done nearly so well.

I laugh at all those who think Total Wipeout will benefit because of what precedes it, as if Doctor Who fans will be rendered senseless and unable to change channels because of the announcement. In reality we know that they will all be on the interenet discussing what it all means for the future of the galaxy.