Conversely isnt that exactly what; C14E is doing by inflating his prediction so he/she can say it did much worse than expected tomorrow? and exactly what people were complaining about last week with TXF?

Just thaught I'd point that out in the interest of fairness.

Fair enough.

But I found it a bit odd that he said that, yet on the Ratings Game predicted that the programme would get 11.8m viewers.

Having watched SCD tonight, personally I thought Bruce was well on form, given that he is 8o +. After all of the shennanigans of recent weeks I dont think it could have gone much better.
I would have gone for Racheal but you cant have everything. Despite everything this year SCD is still a fabulous watch and will have everyone from Royals to Z lists queuing up for next year.

Usually the ones that think Dancing On Ice is just a bit too dangerous. How many people have broken bones on that show? Where there is a reality show there is a sad desperate celebrity that will go through any indiginity just to get some more work. These shows will be around forever!!

Well their ratings this year suggest theres no sign of them dissappearing any time soon.

Strictly and Dancing on Ice are certainly not going to run out of willing celebrities. All said and done, they seem to have a generally positive effect on peoples careers and paint them in a positive light (even if they're terrible!). They don't carry the same sort of danger to reputations as the conventional reality shows such as Big Brother which rely on conflict and backstabbing.

And if you behave yourself on I'm A Celebrity I've noticed people do well after they've been on that one as well.

On a different note, does anybody think Outnumbered will get a big audience tonight because it followed Strictly and will they hold onto them for future shows?

It should certainly see a boost on previous weeks because its been up almost exclusively against X Factor so far as well. Theres only one more episode left in this series though - but a couple of strong showings might just ensure a re-commission. BBC One need all the comedies they can get, and this ia a well liked one - it would be a shame to see it go because of a difficult slot.

BBC steps in to sex up show

Might be BS. The article doesn't acknowledge that Strictly is getting its highest ever ratings this year, despite being about 1m behind The X Factor.

But if Strictly Results show returns to Saturdays, it's going to dent the ratings of The X Factor because both shows will most likely clash. Or ITV could obviously put TXF Results show on a Sunday and stengthen its Sunday schedule. But I would much prefer it live if it did happen.

Whoever wrote that article really needs to look into the figures a bit deeper. I should think the BBC would be reluctant to move the results show which has helped them towards domination of Sunday nights all autumn. I know later Saturdays have struggled a bit, but is it worth sacrificing all the progress made on Sundays to prop it up?

Its pretty obvious there will be a bit of a review going on into Strictly after this series. They'll be looking to close any loopholes in the voting mechanics and are going to have to give a bit of thought to the issue of older competitors. We probably won't be seeing competitors of 50+ years again but thats really as much to do with the sheer physical demands of the show (if they last beyond a few weeks) as anything else. I think the whole "sexed up" thing is a bit of newspaper spin - they don't want to go to far and alienate their core demographics of middle aged viewers.

And are they suggesting that Lilia Kopylova isnt sexy enough

The fact is there is a perception that Strictly isn't doing well because it gets less viewers than The X Factor even though the reality is that they go out at different times and there's no clash. Put them head to head that's what I say. And the show could do with a revamp, change the set and jazz up the theme for starters.

SCD has largely passed me by until this series. But I have rather got into it during this run, and I thought tonight's shows were brilliant entertainment. The result was a total travesty though. And the scoring system a complete farce. Something needs to be done, but it's a classy production that fits well with the BBC tradition of quality family entertainment on a Saturday night.


What a bizarre piece in the NOTW - almost every "fact" in the report is wrong; indeed, the opposite is actually true of most of what they write.

Yes, because that'll do them both the world of good.

How absurd.

Strictly gets it's best ever ratings when avoiding a clash so why would you want to change that? It serves no purpose and only makes things more difficult for viewers of both.

True but when I was young BBC1 & ITV battled on Saturday nights and they didn't go out of their way to help the other side out they just put their big guns up against each other. I still think that way after all of these years, silly I know but it's what Bill Cotton would have done.

ITV don't think about it when they put Emmerdale opposite EastEnders so BBC1 should do exactly the same on Saturday night.

The NOTW piece is typical sweeping statement but no substance.

SCD is doing better than ever but more people are staying in to watch XF this year rather than spending money they havent got. The fact that SCD and XF have missed getting on for completely has given XF a clear run at engaging new viewers. XF hasnt re-invented itself as its doing the same thing-lots of Karaoke and crying have happened every year.

Change things too much and its a slippery slope-the fate of many shows.

With the exception of the move to Saturday, all the suggestions seem quite likely, I suppose. I'd expect that every year they try to get better celebrities, pair them to create stories and review the existing professional dancers.

I caught Rachel Stevens dancing tonight just before I left and I can safely say that the show doesn't seem to be in need of "sexing up". It's pretty blatant already (Sadly my attention wandered when Tom Chambers came on and I left early, but I could have watched her all night!). If anything, it's X Factor that would be needing sexing up.

It's just that the NOTW has spun it into some kind of crisis talks. Strictly doesn't need saving and it has been doing well this year. The weekly defeats from X Factor will have bruised some ego's and given them something to work towards next year, but the show is hardly in need of saving.


They aren't going out of their way to help each other, they are helping themselves.

Are more people actually staying in, though? It appears to be a fairly standard 22m-24m audience on a Saturday night and I'm sure any significant increase would have been picked up on by Broadcast/MG. X Factor has been increasing its audience share on last year and was already well on its way to being the most watched series before Strictly even started and I can't see why people staying in would benefit ITV more than the BBC.

A show doesn't need to reinvent itself to push up the ratings. It can simply tinker a bit with the format and then look at what it was doing, and do it better. To put it in the context of guests... X Factor used to have "past it" guests like Barry Manilow, Boyz II Men and Julio Iglesias. This year they had Beyonce, Britney and Mariah. That kind of feeling surrounded the series and occasionally went to ridiculous lengths (X Factor 2007 had the judges arriving by flash cars, this year they arrived by helicopters!). So long as Strictly doesn't go wild, a few changes here and there won't hurt it. Lots of people thought Sharon leaving would kill the show because she was such a big part but instead it was a blessing in disguise.

There's definintely been a good 2m increase in the number of people watching television on Saturday nights. Some nights have had upto 26/27m people watching, which hasn't happened on Saturday nights for years. I'm guessing that the people who have decided to stay in this year are relatively young, therefore The X Factor is probably the more appealing show compared to Strictly.

SCD needs to reduce the spin offs, reduce the season length, sort out its voting, treat its audience with more respect and decide whether its a dancing contest or a poularity contest. I dont think more gimmicks will improve its poularity. Its core audience are older, more conservative, Mail & Telegraph readers who wouldnt be impressed by gimmicks.

DS!

Where are these ratings?

BBC website claiming >13m - "more soon"

EDIT: presumably the peak at 10.10pm, that cannot possibly be an average!

The ticker says "More than 13m watched Tom Chambers win SCD, the BBC says. More soon"

BBC WEBSITE...
Figures from the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) showed an average 11.7m viewers watched the first of the two final shows, while the second attracted 12.2m viewers.

The climax hit a peak of 13.3m , equating to a 49.6% of the audience share.

SCD

Show 1: 11.7m
Show 2: 12.2m
* peak: 13.3m (49.6%)

11.7m for show one, 12.2m for show two. Peak of 13.3m (50% share).

About the same as last year then, apart from the peak?

DS's overnights might be different, as I don't think the BBC take the over-run time into account.

Great ratings for Strictly, getting its highest figures ever. But it does confirm that The X Factor was the more popualr show this year.

Both figures up already higher than last years officials.

2007 OFFICIALS for Strictly.

Show 1 - 11.23m

Results - 12.09m