If it was me I never would have bought it. I've seen more friends being reunited on Facebook than Friends Reunited. That's money they could have had right now and wasn't one of their cleverest decisions.

I'll give them some leeway on the football as a big England or FA Cup match can generate big ratings and advertising, but then you get a lot of average matches that won't.

They might fill it with a brand new drama.
They have been making quite a few new dramas lately, and now L&O:uk is filling up the Monday 9pm slot for some time, they might put another new drama in the sunday 8pm slot.

They still have things like Collision, An Englishman in New York, Wuthering Heights, The Prisoner, U Be Dead, Boy Meets Girl and there might even be more.

Then there are shows that are coming back for a new series such as Kingdom, Lewis like you mentioned, The Fixer, Miss Marple and Midsomer Murders (again like you mentioned) So they have a lot to work with, but its whether they do it right, will they chose the right sort of show?

Entertainment like DOI seems to do well but will people enjoy a dark drama like Collision as much, or will they want a more relaxed drama like Boy Meets Girl. Or will they put an old favourite like MM or Lewis?

Who knows.

This summer on ITV (and most other channels) is going to be mainly repeats, reality and soap. I would expect to see all the Monday night thrillers repeated and plenty of use of 2 hour Lewis, Midsomer, Foyles War, Sharpe etc repeats

They should have saved Hells Kitchen to fill 3 weeks of the summer.

I'd have thought 9pm slots will be taken by repeats on Sundays and Fridays, a cops and cameras show, one or two cheap factual series, possibly Millionaire one night at 9pm and maybe a crappy drama that they want to bury like they did with Harley Street. Ladies of Letters or maybe some ITV2 stuff could get an outing on the main channel as well. I think they should hold All Star Mr and Mrs over for the summer and they've got The Wish List due as well for Saturdays. Stick them on alongside You've Been Framed.

ITV are apparently looking at one hour a week less of drama and a midweek entertainment series. Also, for some reason they expect April to be a relatively strong month.

Just a few thoughts from an old man on the problems facing ITV:

I'm 62, and belong to that group George talks about which feels most at home with the BBC. I admit I find myself watching all sorts of rubbish on BBC1 which I wouldn't dream of watching on ITV. I do watch ITV/Ch4 and sometimes E4, but only turn over to them for a specific chosen programme. Mind you, I think George is wrong about the TV in retirement homes always being tuned to BBC1. From my visits, I find it is invariably ITV. The residents grew up with Coronation Street and the likes of Double Your Money and still feel most at home with ITV. They will soon die out, but I guess they are not of much interest to advertisers.

But I get no satisfaction from ITV's present problems, and nor should anyone else. I'm old enough to remember the BBC before it faced competition from ITV. Much of it was dire. Then again, I remember when ITV really was a licence to print money, against which the BBC couldn't compete. The press enjoyed giving the BBC a good kicking just as they do now with ITV.

Anyone interested in first class television should wish ITV well. They face daunting problems with the collapse in advertising revenue, and they have made mistakes (OnDigital and FR), but at least they have the courage to try new programming.

Tuesday 3rd March Roundup
BBC One
13:45- Doctors: 1.95m (25.2%)
19:30- EastEnders: 6.63m (28.3%)
20:00- Holby City: 6.08m (26.2%)
21:00- Mistresses: 4.3m (18.6%)

BBC Two
20:00- Coast: 1.98m (8.5%)
21:00- Horizon: 1.77m (7.7%)
23:00-00:00: 443,000 (4.8%)

ITV1
19:00- Emmerdale: 6.69m (29.6%)
- 19:00-19:30: 7m (32%)
- 19:30-20:00: 6.36m (27.1%)
20:00- New Homes From Hell: 3.68m (15.9%)
21:00- Total Emergency: 3.1m (13.4%)
23:00-00:00: 558,000 (6.1%)

Channel 4
18:30- Hollyoaks: 1.74m (8.3%)
20:00- Supersize Vs Superskinny: 1.94m (8.4%) , +1: 160.000
21:00- Heston's Victorian Feast: 2.29m (9.9%) , +1: 364,000 (2.3%)
- below 2008 channel slot average of: 2.5m (10.6%)
22:00- Shameless: 2.5m [inc. +1]
23:00-00:00: 630,000 (6.9%)

Five
17:30- Neighbours: 1.62m (9.8%)
18:00- Home and Away: 1.23m (6.3%)
20:00- The Man Who Lives With Bears: 803,000 (3.5%)
21:00- CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: 3.0m (12.9%)

BBC Three
21:00- Dangerous Love: A Comic Relief Special: 132,000 (0.6%)
22:00- EastEnders: 1.09m (6.3%)

BBC Four
22:00- Mad Men: 111,000 ( 0.7%)

E4
19:00- Hollyoaks: 690,000 [inc. +1]
21:00- Smallville: 230,000 [inc. +1]
22:00- Smallville: 280,000 [inc. +1]
23:00- Shameless: 732,000 (9.2%) , +1: 202,000
- more viewers than BBC2, ITV and C4

Film4 [inc. +1]
18:45- The Pink Panther Strikes Again: 230,000
21:00- Independent Day: 490,000

Fiver
18:30- Home and Away: 704,000 (3.8%)
19:00- Neighbours: 276,000 (1.4%)

ITV3
20:00- Agatha Christie's Marple: 668,000 (3.2%)

More4 [inc. +1]
21:00- Come Dine with Me: 250,000
22:00- True Stories: 165,000

Sky1
21:00- Battlestar Galactica: 205,000 (1%)

Sky Sports 2
19:30- Liverpool v Sunderland: 870,000 (4.3%)
- peak: 1.16m at 21:15

Primetime Shares
BBC One: 22.7%
ITV1: 17.6%
Channel 4: 8.6% , +1: 0.9%
BBC Two: 7.2%
Five: 6.8%

All Hours Shares
BBC One: 21.9%
ITV1: 17.1%
Channel 4 [inc. +1]: 8.9%
BBC Two: 7.3%
Five: 6.0%

Source: Broadcast, Channel 4 Sales, DS (1), DS (2), MG
--------------------------------------------------------------
That's a good rating for Holby - not often that it passes the 6m mark nowadays. Heston's Victorian Feast rated decently, though it was under the slot average. The E4 Shameless rating is fantastic, beating 3 of the 5 terrestrial channels.

Official Top 10 Programmes for w/e 22/2/09
1 – 11.01m – Coronation Street (Mon 20:30, ITV1)
2 – 9.97m – EastEnders (Mon, BBC1)
3 – 9.59m – Dancing on Ice (Sun, ITV1)
4 – 8.76m – Dancing on Ice – The Skate Off (Sun, ITV1)
5 – 8.72m – Whitechapel (Mon, ITV1)
6 – 8.21m – Wild at Heart (Sun, ITV1)
7 – 7.75m – Emmerdale (Mon, ITV1)
8 – 7.06m – Let’s Dance for Comic Relief (Sat, BBC1)
9 – 6.81m – Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway (Sun, ITV1)
10 – 6.37m – Casualty (Sat, BBC1)

Official Top 25 Programmes of 2008
01 - 11.46m - CORONATION STREET (02/02/09) - ITV1
02 - 11.05m - EASTENDERS (02/02/09) - BBC1
03 - 10.01m - DANCING ON ICE (01/02/09) - ITV1
04 - 9.91m - JONATHAN CREEK (01/01/09) - BBC1
05 - 9.26m - WHITECHAPEL (02/02/09) - ITV1
06 - 8.76m - DANCING ON ICE - THE SKATE OFF (22/02/09) - ITV1
07 - 8.54m - EMMERDALE (02/02/09) - ITV1
08 - 8.21m - WILD AT HEART (22/02/09) - ITV1
09 - 8.00m - ABOVE SUSPICION (05/01/09) - ITV1
10 - 7.94m - ANTIQUES ROADSHOW (04/01/09) - BBC1

11 - 7.87m - HARRY HILL’S TV BURP (14/02/09) - ITV1
12 - 7.82m - UNFORGIVEN (12/01/09) - ITV1
13 - 7.81m - THE NATIONAL LOTTERY - IN IT TO WIN IT (07/02/09) - BBC1
14 - 7.74m - ANT AND DEC’S SATURDAY NIGHT TAKEAWY (14/02/09) - ITV1
15 - 7.68m - DANCING ON ICE: THE STORY OF BOLERO (15/02/09) - ITV1
16 - 7.48m - WALLACE AND GROMIT: A MATTER OF LOAF AND DEATH (01/01/09) - BBC1
17 - 7.36m - CASUALTY (07/02/08) - BBC1
18 - 7.32m - TEN O’CLOCK NEWS (02/02/09) - BBC1
19 - 7.18m - HARRY HILL’S TV BURP COMPILATION (10/01/09) - ITV1
20 - 7.08m - BBC NEWS (01/01/09) - BBC1

21 - 7.06m - LET’S DANCE FOR COMIC RELIEF (21/02/09) - BBC1
22 - 7.05m - SIX O’CLOCK NEWS (02/02/09) - BBC1
23 - 6.80m - TOTAL WIPEOUT (07/02/09) - BBC1
24 - 6.71m - INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL: Spain v England (11/02/09) - ITV1
25 - 6.71m - THE ONE SHOW (02/02/09) - BBC1

Note: I've decided to revert back to using the official Barb method, so there's 2 Dancing on Ice's and a few BBC News. I did this because it's much easier to compile the list this way round and eliminates any consistencies.

Decent night for BBC One with Holby City back to 6m and Mistresses holding steady, ITV1 did slightly better than normal with NHFH and Total Emergency.

BBC Two did well with Coast and Horizon though I'm surprised that a repeat of Coast still pulls in viewers, Channel 4 did okay with Supersize Vs Superskinny and Heston's Victorian Feast though it was lower than I expected it would do and Five did poorly with The Man who lives with Bears but improved with CSI. I have a feeling that the next two episodes of CSI will do very well for Five.

For Shameless on E4 to beat ITV1, Channel 4 and BBC Two isn't surprising though it would interesting to know what BBC One and Five get in that slot. I remember that episodes of L&O:CI at 11pm used to get 0.8-0.9m which is pretty good.

Good night for BBC One; solid if unspectacular night for ITV1.

I think ITV3 are outperforming ITV2 this year with their 9pm package.

23 million watching TV at 9pm last night but neither BBC1, ITV1 nor C4 will be too pleased with the ratings. I think BBC1 and C4 will be a bit disappointed with their offerings. Mistresses is doing OK, but I'd have thought it would be a few hundred thousand higher in such an easy slot and after the success of his Little Chef series, C4 might have hoped for more from Heston. ITV1 will just be relieved to get through the night respectably with New Homes From Hell doing reasonable numbers at 8pm. They've done a lot worse on some recent Tuesdays!

They seem to be beating them in general lately with all hours aswell. Their programmes are rating quite decently considering most of them are repeats.

Regarding last nights ratings a pretty average set of ratings with BBC1 and ITV1 benefiting from the absense of Masterchef and ITV will be relieved to find a factual series which consistently brings in over 3.5m for them. Also Total Emergency seems slightly up on previous episodes and it managed to come second in its slot.

Mistesses seems pretty unspectacular considering the competition and is down on the previous series. If ratings continue just over the 4m mark I can't see it getting recomissioned tbh.

Decent start for Heston's new series, but I expected it to make 3m if I'm honest.

Certainly in terms of overall viewers. I should imagine the ABC1 would tell a different story though.

Those last 3 shows mentioned were really awful in my opinion! I agree with you in regard to dating shows now not working well in the UK. In saying that, apparently Cowell is bringing back Blind Date with a "twist"... great :sleep:...


Exactly what I expected. The show has been rating lower than previous series, but considering it's well up on the slot average it's been doing well.


Yeah, that explains the 2.5m rating as it was a highlight not live airing. Still, it seems as if the BBC have given the tournament a higher profile than even 5 years ago... I suppose they had to, considering they don't have the rights to much live sport right now. I remember the Sport editor Roger Mosey said a couple of years ago that the BBC would only bid for top class, high profile tournaments. I guess that plan went out of the window when they bid for Championship matches . I'm all for F1 on the BBC - I think it's brilliant. But where's the football or cricket ?!


No, it's just an anolamly. Normal service will resume next week .


Your ultimate fantasy, Robbie ?


An average cost of about £3m per match... what were ITV thinking !


Most of those dramas you mentioned seem like weekday ones to me (apart from WH). Also, I think they're mostly going to be shown in the Autumn, certainly The Prisoner will.


I think Collision might turn out to be very good. Horowitz's work is usually great, so I expect nothing different this time round. Plus it possibly being shown 5 nights in a row might give it a good "event drama" feel to it. Dunno about Boy Meets Girl, though. Sounds a bit like Rock Rivals, Echo Beach...


I agree. That's what I thought ITV would do as they seem a bit on the weak side for the summer. But perhaps Pierre-White has other arrangements in the summer (such as his American show?), so could only do April?


That's sorted as The Bill is losing an episode. In fact, sometimes it feels like it's already lost an episode at the moment due to the Wednesday night football!


Hmm.... Britain's Got Talent auditions, Champions League quarter and semi finals possibly helping.


Yeah, it does seem that way. According to Michael Grade, they're the top 2 digital channels right now - impressive I must say, particularly for ITV3 which I think used to be quite a long way off top spot.

ITV4 is doing well at 9pm with AUF WIEDERSEHEN, PET getting 600k-700k on Tuesdays & Wednesdays. Not that DS, MG or broadcast ever report that of course!

IMO, BBC will never realistically bid for live cricket.... I just don't see them ever clearing a full daytime's schedule for cricket.

Collision, An Englishman in New York, Wuthering Heights, The Prisoner, U Be Dead and Boy Meets Girl were all in the press release for the winter/spring season - unless they're holding The Prisoner back?

Fair point. But why not bid for the Twenty20 matches? They're about 3 hours long so can be quite easily arranged into a schedule on either BBC1, 2 or even 3.


Sorry, I think I might be wrong. I thought I read somewhere that The Prisoner would be shown in Autumn, but can't find that link now.

I think they would, considering they'd put it on BBC2. Remember, BBC1 always clear their daytime schedule every year these days for Wimbledon.

And Test Cricket could be an asset for BBC2.

I've always longed for the day when Test Cricket is shown on BBC4, which I feel is it's rightful home & audience

A bit disappointing for Mistresses really. It's underperforming slightly compared to last series where it was hitting 4.5 - 5 million viewers. A slight loss in viewers could result in the BBC maybe axing it, though I hope not

An unspectacular night all round really, though I think that figure for Marple on ITV3 is pretty impressive. ITV3 is one of the few decent digital channels in my opinion, so I'm glad to see some of its drama repeats rating highly

That was quite a while ago. It looks like it was just one of the many things in development and never went that far. The problem with Blind Date is that it wouldn't work without Cilla, it would need a twist and a new name.

I'd agree that the 3 mentioned were awful. But that tends to be the case with entertainment formats, it's big hit (Blind Date, The Bachelor) or big miss. Who would have thought "So You Think You're A Celebrity That Can Dance For Comic Relief?" would be getting 7m on BBC1?!


I'd love for someone at ITV to try and explain that. It looks like it was never going to be a success even in good times. It's looking like the broadcasting equivalent of buying ABN Amro. It actually makes me wonder about Grade's suitability for the job because it seems to have been quite self indulgent on his part, just because he likes football.


Yeah, it looks like it could flop. I'm not too thrilled by the premise, although I do think ITV need to make the occasional effort to do something other than crime drama.


It's interesting because the report is that ITV currently have 8 hours a week of drama but want to cut it to 7. But with Monday at 9pm, Friday at 9pm, 2 hours of The Bill, 3 hours of Emmerdale, 2 1/2 hours of Corrie and usually about 2 hours at the weekend they have 11 1/2 hours most weeks by my count.


I suppose BGT will prop up the whole Saturday night schedule as well which will help. With the Kelly Brook fiasco, the auditions might rate better this year as well. As they head into May, they're at the mercy of the weather, especially if it gets moved to 7pm to allow Primeval to run at 8pm after it.

Weird, isn't it? You'd think the Aussies would have appreciated the soap's best character.

Re: ITV's results, it's interesting to see their channel portfolio is still turning a profit, albeit down on the previous year.

It's all the questionable management decisions and dabbling in other pies which has caused the problems.

and the recession!!

SOCI is up year on year, so the channels are making progress but the ad market collapse is negating the benefit of that.

I've been defending ITV quite alot on the broadcasting forum with regard to its programming. Particularly the ill informed ideas that ITV doesn't make popular programmes anymore, doesn't do drama, is dominated by reality and should get rid of its digital channels.

But I had to laugh when BBC News quoted the amount ITV are paying for the FA Cup £275m. That works out at about 7% of their programming budget a year (before it was reduced).