Slightly off topic regarding ratings, but the possible prospect of a Channel 4/Five merger had passed me by.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/orga...urnham-purnell

Looks like the licence fee is safe-and Im sure I read recently that the government had effectively guaranteed the licence fee system till 2030.

The deal is to 2033-

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle5337621.ece

Media Guardian:

Interesting that Antiques Roadshow drops 3m viewers without SCD around the schedule, and still poor competition. It may have got the same effect as TV Burp on Saturday, but AR didn't have 12m viewers to contend with! Interesting...

Also a very decent performance for the recently axed After You've Gone (4.3m).

Alan Titchmarsh actually did OK considering he only picks up around 1 million in the afternoon and his show was hardly advertised at all. I think it could work with his chatshow airing at 6pm every Sunday providing a nice lead in to the soaps. He could easily build on that 3m audience.

Regarding the top ten shows of the week BBC1 takes 8 of them with ITV only left with Emmerdale & Corrie!!

Antiques Roadshow is back at the 6m it was getting before Britannia High started (which is what I think propelled Roadshow). Titchmarsh may have flopped (as expected, what were ITV thinking putting a 3pm show in primetime?) but it would have got a similar audience profile (older) as Roadshow.

Is there anything on last nights Gladiators?

I can see BBC1 reversing that decision tbh.

I think everyone was shocked at Antiques Roadshow's surge and for it to beat the soaps was amazing and for the reason you state above I think it won't be reaching 8/9m figures hardly ever again.

So can I, considering the recent performance of Parents Of The Band and AYG managing almost double in the same slot against Corrie.

Yep, although it should still get a solid 6-7m against Dancing on Ice.

It was undoubtedly boosted by BH but there was a noticeable surge in the weeks leading up to the 1 million "find" also. The subsequent let down may have lost a few viewers too.

Yes, Alan Titchmarsh could build an audience on Sunday.

Although BBC1 scheduled everything quite well, the pleasing thing was: ITV built an audience as the night went on: 2.9m, 3.9m, 4.5m, 5,4m throughout primetime.

That's nice and steady at least, and might give ITV some indication on how to schedule next year:-

5:00pm Alan Titchmarsh on Sunday
6:30pm Dancing on Ice
8:30pm Coronation Street [missing episode from Wednesday's football]
9:00pm Dancing on Ice: The Story of Bolero
10:00pm The South Bank Show

5:15pm The Big Match Live [24 January 4th Round Special]
8:00pm Dancing on Ice
9:30pm Coronation Street
10:00pm Dancing on Ice: The Skate-Off
10:30pm The Late News

Then later in the year...

6:00pm Alan Titchmarsh on Sunday
7:00pm Heartbeat
8:00pm An Englishman in New York
10:00pm News at Ten
10:15pm Regional News & Weather
10:30pm Tarrant on TV
11:00pm The South Bank Show

Yes, that would work very well, I think.

Also, The Royal is performing poorly, and I think it might be an idea to air the next series in a new slot in the Spring, as part of an older skewing, entertainment and drama line up, like this:

5.00pm Alan Titchmarsh on Sunday
6.00pm The Royal
7.00pm The Wish List
8.00pm An Englishman In New York
10.00pm Piers
11.00pm The Late News

ITV have really messed up with a good format in The Royal and Heartbeat this year.

Suggestion: Don't begin airing a series until all episodes have been filmed!

I agree completely. Also, how many episodes of The Royal are there in the current series, as Wild at Heart returns on Sunday 11 January, so ITV will only have aired 4 episodes of The Royal, taking the total number of episodes in the series aired to 9, but doesn't The Royal usually have 12?

Also, the next series of The Royal is already being filmed, even though this series is nowhere near finishing!

Not bad for After You've Gone, hopefully the BBC will change thier minds and go ahead with the 4th series as planned.

Another five left to air

The Royal is one of the weirdiest dramas when it comes to airing episodes.

Series 1 - January to March 2003
Series 2 - May to June 2003
Series 3 - November 2003 to February 2004
Series 4 - December 2004 to March 2005
Series 5 - March 2006; April 2006; September 2006; October 2006
Series 6 - March 2007; April 2007; September 2007; October 2007
Series 7 - June 2008; July 2008; November 2008; December 2008; January 2009; ???

That is the strangest way of airing a series I've ever seen. It's ridiculous.

A very bold statement - the dip last night could be down to it being the Sunday evening before Christmas, the earlier start than in recent weeks, it not being on last week breaking the continuity - etc. It could well be back at 7m+ next Sunday, and it's a bit early I think to write off its recent strong performances as an aberration.

So-so ratings all round last night - ITV will be pleased to see the awful Santa thing get past 5m, but probably also a bit disappointed, as they seem to think the Robson/Benton double act is a massive hit with viewers. It did get 10m only 4 years ago and they seem to have forgotten that subsequent spin offs haven't quite hit those heights. It was also one of their few highlights this Christmas. For the Beeb, Candleford and Casualty hardly set the world alight - I expect the BBC were hoping for something nearer the 7m mark for both, with little competition.

I've seen that QI is making its BBC1 debut tonight at 9pm, against The Bill on ITV. I don't know if QI is a big enough show to be on BBC1, and it may get a beating tonight, but I hope not.

Neither QI or Gavin & Stacey are ready to make the step up to BBC1. If they get more than 5 million I'll be surprised.

Sunday 22nd December 2008
BBC One
15:25 - FILM: Dustbin Baby - 2.3m (15.4%)
18:05 - After You've Gone - 4.3m (~22.1%)
18:45 - Antiques Roadshow - 6.2m (26%)
19:45 - Lark Rise to Candleford - 6.4m (25.3%)
21:00 - Casualty - 6.1m (24.5%)
22:00 - BBC News - 4.7m (~22.7%)
22:20 - Match of the Day 2 - 2.7m (~13%)

BBC Two
20:00 - UK Snooker Championship: Final - 1.7m (??%)
*Peak: 2.3m from 21:00 to 21:15
*Ended with 1.8m "just after midnight"

ITV1
13:55 - FILM: Casper - 1.9m (15.6%)
15:45 - FILM: E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial - 2.5m (14.4%)
18:30 - Alan Titchmarsh at Christmas - 2.9m (13%)
19:30 - New You've Been Framed Christmas Special - 3.9m (~15.4%)
20:00 - The Royal - 4.5m (17.9%)
21:00 - Clash of the Santas - 5.4m (23.9%)

Channel 4
18:00 to 19:30 - 1.21m (6.4%)
21:00 - The Sunday Night Christmas Project - 1.4m (~5.6%) [+1: 256,000]
22:00 - The Charlotte Church Nutcracking Christmas Special - 1.5m (~7.25%) [+1: 197,000]

five
18:00 to 19:30 - 964,000 (5.1%)
21:00 - Greatest Christmas Comedy Moments - 1.3m (7%)

Sky1
18:00 - Noel's Christmas Presents - 1.4m (7.4%) [+MS: 78,000]
*Peak: 1.7m between 19:20 and 19:25.
*Last Year: 1.1m (5.77%)

Source: Broadcast (1), (2), MG

George, should events go according to plan, you "should" be able to take off your tin-hat tonight.

I Agree .

And if they insist moving QI from its perfect home on BBC2, then they should atleast give it a decent lead in

I can't see Gavin and Stacey's ratings being any more than 3m, I predict QI around 4.0m-4.5m

Yep I go along with that thinking, Gavin & Stacey has shown me nothing on Friday nights to suggest that ratings will dramatically shoot up for the Christmas special. It hasn't connected yet with large numbers of the British public. QI just suits BBC2 at 10pm, I can see it getting exactly the same size BBC2 audience on BBC1.

Tomorrow will be interesting though, Survivors v The Bill.

No brilliant ratings last night, Sky 1 will be most pleased with Noel's Christmas Presents doing very well
Good for Casualty too, I think it should move from Saturday to Sunday nights

Certainly not until October 09 anyway but if AR's recent ratings prove anything to us its that we cant forecast its performance.