Far too many!

Scotland can keep Waterloo Road. Makes you pray for devolution!

Im not really a fan, but it was a great show and made what is a big event feel even bigger. Great idea to wrap the show around the standout fireworks.

The BBC should look at showing fireworks on November 5th.

GB did plug Hootenanny at the end of his show.

Would we class the second part of Gary Barlow's concert as a 2013 or 2014 show? Purely for the "league tables"

Thanks D.M.N, I've added in the timeshifts. Impressive for Last Tango and Midsomer Murders. Good for the soaps too. Not Going Out and Holby City affected by a different schedule for Scotland, although NGO still managed to increase.

Sorry to hear about Granny Fanny's sudden bowel movmement before midnight . But yes, she will be able to watch it on the iplayer.

Writing as a long-term fan, Casualty desperately needs to come down in the number of episodes produced each year. It would be great to return to a 24 episode run, as it was from 1992 and for a large part of the 1990s, or better still, a 15 episode run each year, as it was when it began in 1986.

The BBC have really bled Casualty dry. Less is more. (Which also applies to EastEnders and Holby)

Yes, I think they've stumbled across a general format that will be repeated in years to come. I'm not sure why we're getting into arguments of the "effort" put in to shows - as if that ever means anything. The programme of the old lady talking into a camera on Christmas Day does well, and that doesn't exactly require Hitchcock in the directors chair, either! So lets all make a resolution to stop trying to goad Samuel into arguments that he (and plenty of others!) love so much.

What we can say with assurance is that the British public like some big bongs and some big bangs () and that New Year is getting more popular by the year. I'm sure one of our resident experts has better numbers than these somewhere, but just looking back through this thread at the overnight peaks (seen as programme length makes averages variable), we get:

2006/7 - 10.71m (63.1%)
2008/9 - 9.20m (???.?%)
2009/10 - No peak posted
2010/11 - 11.20m (???.?%)
2011/12 - 12.82m (64.4%)
2012/13 - 13.34m (67.6%)
2013/14 - 14.51m (70.1%)

I think all these are 5 minute peaks - but don't crucify me if they're not. I've just used what was here. Also, worth noting that 08/09 was the last time ITV put up serious opposition, in the (ironic) form of a Take That concert at the O2.

Otherwise the general trend is pretty startling. People seem to be embracing it as a big national event and as someone whose always a big fan of those unifying moment, I say amen to that. It is telling that even in my parents household, a few years ago the older folks might well have wanted to turn to Radio 4 for the 'bongs' - now, there's no question we'll be on BBC One. I'd suggest that those who dislike fireworks topping yearly charts get used to it pretty soon, cause it looks like only a matter of time if trends continue!

Why wait that long? There are Burns night fireworks, st Patricks day fireworks, 4th of July, etc

Why not just open a 24 hour rolling fireworks channel too?

Edited your post to include the 2009/10 peak I think that's the correct peak.

Well here is New Year's Eve 2012. Looks like early evening ratings suffer on the day and bounce back when midnight approaches.

New Year's Eve 2012
BBC One
20:00 - EastEnders: 6.32m (31.4%)

ITV1
19:00 - Emmerdale: 5.98m (28.9%)
19:30 - Coronation Street: 6.85m (33.2%)

The main issue is costs,

These shows Holby and Casualty are for drama cheap to make and schedule fillers they can pick up give million viewers and in Casualitys case prove to be a reasonable programme to hold up against X FActir.

The cost is low maybe 60% of the normal drama budget.

This is one reason why they will remain.

Next if you cut them down what do you replace them with?

If you cut Casualty to say 15 episodes a run the cost goes up the permanent sets are under used, the actors might be less available going off to do other projects, and loyal viewers drift.

Then let's say Casualty has a 48 week run and you cut it to 15, then you have 33 50 minute holes to fill, you would have to increase commissioning drama, the management to read scripts if there is that talent there, and built sets, get actors, and then after all that effort schedule it against I am a celebrity and get canceled..

So the budget, isn't there, the talent isn't there, the actors would cost more the studio and sets under used and or hard to convert, and that means one thing, more repeats

Being a BBC1 controller is not just about scheduling, and ratings, it's value for money. They have a set budget

Also there are only a few dramas you can out out before 9pm, these fill those slots.

When posters put on fantasy schedules the first thing they forget, is cost and then spreading out available programmes within the schedule and within budget.

These on going medicated soaps bring in a reasonable number if people through the tut styles, I read a number if posts saying EE scheduling in different slots looses viewers, well the same argument is for these long running series, people expect them in set slots.

They have hoped that Waterloo road will do the same but it's lost viewers a relaunch next week might help, but I would put on Saturdsy tea time at 5.30

I don't really want to prolong this argument, but I have zero belief that NYF will topple IAC's 13.05m, not given the stellar number of Scots who were inflating the figures and who will be stripped out. I cannot imagine more than a handful of oddballs would record the NYE fireworks to watch today (or perhaps folk who were there and want to see if they got on telly). Guests could certainly add in a bit and the fact it started at 11.57 will help as you say - but I bet it will come out at 12.6-12.8m tops.

Clearly if the Scots had "opted back in" at 23.57 then we would have had no debate, NYF would have topped the year by over a million.

What is unquestionably true is that the year's largest television audience in the UK was won by BBC1 at around midnight last night - it just won't count in the charts because it was made up of two separate programmes broadcast in different parts of the UK.

Of course, it's possible that we'll find out tomorrow that 3.66m 7 day timeshifted Mrs Brown's Boys from Xmas Day....


These deserve some comment I think.

Stunning figure for Norton and particularly the peak. I know it is skewed by BBC1S opt outs and will consolidate to a lower figure, but that is just brilliant for Graham, maybe even his biggest ever overnight or peak?

It was a spectacular line up for the lowest rated TV night of the year and deserved an audience.

The Bishop figure is spectacular too for a repeat at that time of night, and puts MM's 4.4m Xmas Day overnight in context!

Finally, the fireworks on here over the fireworks has detracted attention away from those ITV numbers. Simply pathetic, I mean look at the margin of the thrashing handed out to them. I have said it before, but has it actually cost ITV money to be on air last night - would it have been cheaper to simply shut up shop at 7.30?

Please don't give anyone any ideas

It's already been posted that the BARB ''day'' ends at 2 am so the answer is 2013. Best not to post league tables until the year is over, some were a bit premature this year

Maybe that's what ITV should have done from 7.30pm last night - just gone to rolling fireworks?

Perhaps interspersed with Barlow performances from TXF as a spoiler?

Perfect. Thanks Lewie. And it continues the weirdly neat and tidy 9m, 10m, 11m, 12m, 13m and 14m trend! Anyone want to have a guess at next years?!

Ha ha

I really do think a firework display on November 5th would go down well.

Just think of the many more people that would of been watching last night in pubs and clubs.

It's good that so many people stay home to watch them. It makes the pubs and restaurants less crowded for the rest of us.

None where I was. Why would you watch tv in a pub with real people and a DJ there?

It would here - I would not have to go out in the cold.

The firework displays on 5th November arent as good as the London New Years one. It would look cheap and unspectacular compared to the ones people have been accustomed to watching on tv once a year. Maybe Itv will do it one day but it would not get anywhere near the audience which the BBC NYE one gets.

I thought it was all in the camera work? Are you flip flopping already Samuel dearest?