[quote=iaindb;30653346]That will have been in the last 10 minutes when some of the TV Burp viewers switched over to IITWI (such as me)

The start of the Lottery actually lost 750,000 viewers from the end of Total Wipeout (though obviously picked up lots as the show went on).

Total Wipeout started at under 5m (following the rugby) then seemed to pile on viewers consistently throughout.

I can't see them giving Demons another go, but I can see them watching Primeval carefully. I'd have thought (and I hope) that it will do well, though.

Yeah, that doesn't surprise me, although the rate at which it grew does surprise me. Getting 8m is just extraordinary for a show like Wipeout.

The Sunday Times feature says that the new Chris Tarrant quiz "The Colour of Money" starts on Saturday February 21st

Interesting article as its an ITVP and the real money for ITV is in selling the format abroad. The comment about Bartlett having to decide whether to pre-sell right before the UK launch and whether it bombs or suceeds in various markets it interesting.

As you stated, it will be the last IItWI in the current series, then they'll be doing draw only programmes up to April where 1 Vs 100 will return.

http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/opinio...evolution.html

Really interesting article about ITV drama and it all makes sense really. It seems last January ITV had a highly publicised revamp, whereas now the revamp is quiet but changes are slowly being made, until probably this time next year ITV will look completely different in terms of genre. This is probably a bigger step compared to when they axed Bad Girls & Footballers Wives, because they were actually on their last legs, whereas Heartbeat, The Royal & WITB still have life left in them.

I'd like them to give it six more episodes to work on its flaws and sort itself out (and resolve the potentially good story they'd set up).

Part of its problem was I don't think it suited a family audience at all - there was nothing there to suit kids really. Primeval has dinosaurs which kept the family watching even when it was very shoddy, DW, Merlin and Robin Hood all have adventures (and Merlin and Robin Hood have a fair amount of slash potential which I'm sure some producers exploit to make their show popular...). Demons was different and wouldn't have suited younger children at all. Hardly surprising therefore that families chose to watch the stuff on other channels that would keep the kid's interest. They should have ditched the family idea and gone out post watershed with darker themes.

So a different time slot, different writers and one last chance would be nice but I doubt they'll be brave enough to do it. Too hungry for ratings and so it'll be replaced by yet another mindless game/reality show that's cheap and inexplicably gets good ratings. Despite its flaws, I'd still rather watch Demons than 99% of the rubbish ITV normally puts out!

As for Primeval, it's got a lot of cast changes coming up for this year. A fair few new editions and old faces gone. May work, may not. The writers have also said they intended to wrap up the main story lines by the end of the third series and I have a sneaking suspicion that Douglas Henshall may be out of here by the end of this series (along with Juliet Aubery as I think Helen may have run her course too). Feels to me like their setting up the new police detective character to replace him. It could be a totally different show by the end of this year and I'm not sure how well it will work to be honest.

It'll probably get a Takeaway lead in. It should do decently, and Tarrant hosting it may boost it somewhat. They showed a trailer for it last night, it looks very dramatic.

Also, sonny2001, do you have any Friday ratings? Thanks.

Great news-that completes a great ITV Saturday night schedule then:

6.15-YBF
7.15-TV Burp
7.45-Saturday Night Takeaway
9.00-The Colour Of Money
10-News

(Or something along those lines)

I'm just hoping The Colour Of Money doesn't turn into another Duel. I can see it holding a steady 4-5m against The Old Guys.

You mean very dramatic by watching somebody watching a screen ten times and shouting stop.

The success of Total Wipeout isn't that surprising as it's a huge hit worldwide but it seems to have built a steady audience. I guess this is the sort of fun show that people want to watch to escape from the doom and gloom.

Anything can be made to sound stupid if there is the will to do so, like you have just done. It's the execution of it which matters, and by the looks of it, they've executed it very well, and when gameshows like this one are executed well, it usually means tension and drama.

9pm Saturday is a tough slot with CSI and Casualty guaranteed good figures. As this in an ITVP which they are going all out for, I wouldnt be surprised if it gets an ealier start time sometime after 8pm, pushing everything else back earlier as well.

Great audiences for the Six Nations- I can see next week's match involving England doing very well indeed, so it was a good decision by ITV to move their FA Cup match to the Sunday tea-time slot.

I'm surprised at how succesful Total Wipeout has been. Before the 3 new Saturday shows aired, I thought the Demons would have been the biggest hit, with TW as the worst. How wrong was I; Demons has been appaulling and TW seems to have grown its audience. The BBC now have a show which they can put on for a few more years and get healthy 5m+ ratings.

Brilliant for The National Lottery up against the terrible Demons. I'm not really a person who watches Lottery shows, but if I do it's usually IITWI. I'm slightly surprised that Casualty didn't break that 7m mark, with such a great lead-in. It's still a good rating for the show, but it seems as if it now can't hit that 7m mark (in overnights), though it has been very close.

A 22% loss for The Old Guys from last week's premiere, but I think the BBC probably expected these sort of ratings for the show anyways. Shall be interesting to see how it holds up.

Just seen the potential ITV Sat schedule in a few weeks and it looks quite strong. They should win primetime I think. ITV will really be hoping that Colour of Money takes off due to international sales and all.

When you look at BARB's final figures (which are released about 2 - 3 weeks after the overnights), the situation actually reverses slightly - Casualty generally either equals the Lottery show or beats it. After an X-Factor related dip in the Autumn, Casualty is now back to BBC1's top show after EastEnders.

Personally I think that's an awful, cheap, lowest common denominator line up and exactly why I don't like most of what ITV puts out. I know I'm not alone in that.

TV Burp is witty but beyond that it's such 'easy' TV. I just wish they could cater for a broader audience spectrum than they currently do. Could they not break up the game show style with something akin to the brilliant Doc Martin?

Looks like I won't be watching anything on their channel again until Primeval returns.

I do wonder how ITV does in different demographics because I can easily go 9 months+ without watching anything on their channel and I know people similar to me in likes etc that feel the same.

Most of the lottery shows are awful but I do like In It To Win It, this one is the best of the lot. And I agree about Total Wipeout I thought it would flop and Demons would succeed.

And I wouldn't be too surprised if ITV wanted to leave a little gap between Demons and Primeval, as they don't want Primeval tarred with the same Demons brush.

Casualty used to be a 'must watch' show now it's a 'might watch show depending what's on the other channels.'

Who predicted 8m for Ireland v France? Certainly wasn't me.

I did note that in recent years, key England clashes (particularly England v Wales) have peaked at up to 8m in Saturday early evening slots. I expect next Saturday's clash will peak at something in the 7-8m region again. Nobody will want to risk watching another Man Utd cup tie on ITV1 when they might miss out on any goals due to ad breaks.


I had no idea these were new episodes, just tuned in by chance last night and realised it was a new one. When did the new ones start - last night?


I read the same piece this morning. To be honest, it sounds a bit dull to me - hardly the next Millionaire. Sounds like they came up with a title and built a gameshow around it. With the colours theme, it may bring a new meaning to the phrase "watching paint dry"

Its probably a bit too demanding for the Hole In The Wall demo in fairness

It might be too low brow

Chris Tarrant in "too demanding" format shocker?

Next you'll be claiming Dale Winton's skin isn't orange enough

Yesterday's TV Burp was the 2nd in a new batch of 10.

IITWI is the strongest Lottery format ever imo and it is good Saturday entertainment with a strangely compulsive ending.
There were many Ant and Decs in the seventies and eighties ie light entertainment acts suitable for family viewing.Nowadays, they are practically unique in what they do.They have done a range of shows-not all have been spectacular successes and I find it strange how their series runs have been dotted about and are surprisingly short in length.
I still think they would have a bigger place in the nations affections via the BBC-especially at Christmas.
As far as Lets Dance is concerned, it sounds like a good idea for a normal series, but somehow the guest list has that thrown together feel to it and I just get the feeling it may descend into more of a farce than is actually intended.

I think I may have said this in this thread before but I believe A&D like to limit their TV appearances to avoid over-exposure. 6 episodes of Takeaway leave the audience wanting more. 26 episodes might have the viewers moaning "oh no, not this again!".

The more I see of BBC1's light entertainment reality TV shows, the more I believe that Strictly Come Dancing was a lucky accident. The channel is pretty hopeless at this genre as witnessed by their recent dire Eurovision programme.
The Lloyd-Webber search for a theatre star shows may be deemed a hit, but they don't do as well in the ratings as a programme of this kind should (although here the BBC succeeded where ITV flopped - Grease Is the Word.)