What does Holby get compared with Casualty?

It's easy to say that about the latter in hindsight but I remember on the Ratings Prediction Game many were predicting around the 4-5m mark!

I always knew it would be a turkey on BBC One however, not sure what the schedulers were thinking. BBC Three should be allowed to have hits of its own and likewise Two and Four without the BBC lazily and predictably shifting them over once they gain a certain audience.

You can't just jump from BBC3 to BBC1 and expect viewers to tune in, it should have established itself on BBC2 and then move to BBC1. At the moment I think it has cult hit status.

I think traditionally Casualty gets about 1m more than Holby. So about 7m-6m or 6m-5m depending on the time of the year.

But in recent weeks Casualty has clashed with The X Factor, denting its ratings to about 5m. And Holby has rated higher, near the 6m mark. Casualty is getting back on ratings form now that TXF has finished.

Things have to move.

BBC3 doesnt have the budget to keep every hit its makes.

Can you imagine how much they would have to shell out for a third series - this show is so huge round the world now - it has to come out of BBC1's budget.

Same happened with Little Britain.

I'm sure the money generated from DVD sales and exporting it to other countries would help cover the increased budgetary demands so this is a feeble excuse in the grand scheme of things.

Its made by an indepedant production company, Baby Cow, who will get all those sales from other countries and from DVDs.

They can demand a lot of money for Gavin and Stacey. Nothing stopping them taking it to Channel 4 for example. Even if the BBC gets first option on a new series, if they dont offer enough they wont get it.

Of course the BBC will offer enough, because they dont want to loose it.

Very few comedies could get 5m viewers (BBC3 + BBC1) and all those awards.

<OT>

Seriously, who would call a production company "Baby Cow"?

</OT>

I would expect ITV1 to win tonight but then from Tuesday BBC1 will win the day every day (some significantly) until next year

BBC1 is in 5th gear at this time of year, ITV1 are now dropping back into 3rd until January

Perhaps you should use Top Gear rather than 5th Gear when talking about good ratings?

Perhaps, but not when referring to BBC1!

K

For anyone wondering what a BARB Box looks like and just some other ratings related stuff (such as future of ratings measurement), here's some videos: http://www.tnsglobal.com/research/audience-measurement/

Eurgh, indeed, that old chestnut. Don't start me off again!

Yes I've always wondered what a black box looked like and rest assured the video did not disappoint.

BBC3 took most of BBC2's budget and is just a pointless channel. Shows don't always have to move. The amount of money Top Gear generates for the BBC is nearly as much as Doctor Who and yet it's still on BBC2. The fact that the show is moving is down to BBC1 being incapable of coming up with new comedy hits of their own. Gavin & Stacey isn't a mainstream hit yet and won't deliver big ratings yet as figures for the repeats on BBC1 have shown. Also it's going up against Midsomer Murders on Christmas Eve so I can't see it doing well.

Hehe . I was expecting some big kind futureistic machine .

I'm not so sure about Tuesday as I completely forgot that 9pm not only sees The Bill and Survivors going up against each other, but there's a brand new Rab C Nesbitt Christmas episode. Rab might just dent BBC1 & ITV.

Hard to say, really. I would say that almost without exception a transferring BBC2 to BBC1 show has seen an increase in viewers, and sometimes very sizeable - Changing Rooms and Ground Force went from 5-6m minority hits on BBC2 to 10-12m mainstream monsters on BBC1. HIGNFY went from 3-4m on BBC2 to 6-7m (at first) on BBC1. The Apprentice went from a 2-3m niche hit on BBC2 to something that now pulls 7-10m on BBC1. The Office and Extras both transferred to BBC1 for Christmas shows and found new audiences, although not massively so (Office - 4/5m up to 6/7m, Extras 4m to 5.5m?)

I can't think of anything that has stood still (Who Do You Think You Are possibly was getting 5-6m on BBC2 and 6m on BBC1??), but if anyone can think of a concrete example, do say.

The Children in Need specials of QI in 2007 and 2008 saw its usual 2.5-3m audience climb to 4.8m because of the big audience on BBC1 who were told that there was a special of QI "on BBC2 now". So, I think QI should do a fair bit better than its BBC2 figures tonight, but not anything earth shattering.

Gav & Stacey may mop up some new viewers with its two shows tonight (neither of which will rate massively), but by going out on Christmas Eve on BBC1 in a strong schedule of EE, My Family and HIGNFY, it may do OK with a captive 10pm audience who are hardly going to switch to ITV for the last 30 mins of Midsomer. It has also had lots of publicity, and is regarded as one of the top highlights this Christmas.


Wow - any ideas on Saturday's lottery numbers?

Steve Coogan

Yeah, that's it Robbie, take something I said out of context, come back with a predictable cliché, and whack on an eye rolling smilie for good measure, because that makes a real worthwhile post, honest!

FWIW, what I meant by that was, I never expected it to do well and so I (unlike others such as yourself ) predicted lower accordingly. I'm not right often, so might as well make the most of it.

Tuesday is a tough one with 3 popular dramas going against each other.

Survivors V The Bill V CSI:Miami

Either The Bill or Survivors could edge it imo.

Also I think ITV have got the better schedule in terms of ratings for Christmas Eve, but apart from that I agree that ITV1 will be playing 2nd fiddle to BBC1 until 3rd January at least as BBC1 have many guaranteed hits. However as far as I can see ITV still have good schedules with no apparent flops over the next week.

Ben Shephard just slipped up mentioning DOI:

"...Christmas Special, airing this Sunday...."

Luckily Richard sort of corrected him a minute or so later.

I agree with this, as BBC1 will win most nights, although ITV should still hold up OK, although I can see It'll Be Alright On The Night on Christmas Day and the Nigel Marvin show on Sunday tanking badly.

I'm sure its already confirmed to be back on a Sunday.

Jayne and Chris were on Loose Women and said the series started Jan 11th (Sunday).

Monday 22nd December 2008
Channel 4
18:00 - Hollyoaks - 1.71m
20:00 - The Ascent of Money - 920,000
21:00 - Catastrophe: Survival Earth - 1.72m
22:00 - Father Ted - 1.73m

E4
21:00 - FILM: The Nutty Professor - 490,000

Film4
18:30 - FILM: The Parent Trap - 270,000
21:00 - FILM: Pan's Labyrinth - 240,000

More4
21:00 - Willie's Perfect Chocolate... - 15,000
22:00 - Grand Designs - 13,000

All-Day Shares
BBC One - 20.2%
ITV1 - 18.8%
BBC Two - 8%
Channel 4 (inc +1) - 7.9%
five - 3.4%

Source: Channel 4 Sales

OK night for Channel 4, I guess, despite the disaster in the 8pm hour with The Ascent of Money. Although we haven't got any ratings yet, looks like a sold night for both the main two as well.