Why isn't there a FA cup tie airing during the late afternoon next week? It seems bizarre that the biggest tie in the round is being played at lunchtime.

BBC went for quantity over quality and were rewarded for it. Takeaway did reasonably well and The Cube didn't disgrace itself. Casualty put in a strong performance while Alan Parent's idiocy gave Match of the Day's boost.

As do the 9 million or so who watch SCD.

Just because they're in the room and picked up by BARB doesn't mean they're actually watching or enjoying.

And this only applies to BBC programs?

You could say the same about SNT then. That's a bit of silly post.

No. Did I say that?

No-one can ever say we don't get a range of opinion on this thread

I suppose every week that goes by just rubber stamps TVUK's return next year more emphatically. Watching last night I think Kylie has softened the feel of the show, more than anyone else she made the battles watchable (for me they are a weird concept) and the coach interaction was more engaging. Obviously remains to be seen about the downward trend but Jan is so clearly the time of year to launch the show-everything else is having to chase it. SNT pushing TVUK very close, but such is the positive response from fans of the show that I wonder whether the ratings over time have totally fulfilled their potential.
Not totally grim for The Cube but Ross is lost again and BBC1 is comfortably clear-and presumably will win every Saturday night primetime from Jan until BGT. Wonder just where Rising Star will go(just Sun or just Sat, or Sat and Sun?)-most interesting schedule choice even now.

Samuel is right quite a few times but people gloss over it and focus on his pitch for BBC Director General.

You could say it about any programme. I'm in the lounge whilst my wife watches the likes of X Factor, The Voice etc., but I don’t take any notice of them. I'm doing other things like reading or watching golf on Sky Go.

She's been very unlucky. I think Adrian & Christine's Daybreak ratings aren't looking so bad now compared to what they currently are.

They were the best team on The One Show as well.

Ricky and Kylie are such an improvement on Jessie J and Danny it's ridiculous. From what I saw of the original panel - which admittedly wasn't much - everything felt forced whereas now it seems natural. Emma and Marvin work better as hosts than Holly and Reggie too. It was key that the BBC made the right decisions for the show this year and they did.

Exactly. I also get what Derek says when he suggests that just because a programme is on in the background doesn't mean it's being watched or enjoyed. But the one thing I will contest from that is that if at least ONE person per household is watching it and enjoying it then surely that's a good representation anyway. I don't know anyone who puts on a programme they absolutely loathe just to endure it for its entirety.

Yes I agree. Fitted them both like a glove imo. Adrian was best host on his other BBC shows too-MOTD2 and Apprentice Your Fired. He wont ever be poor but he had a great career path at the BBC and jumping ship when he did might be cause for regret at some point.

But I thought the BARB viewers had to press their buttons every 15 mins to prove that they are watching or have I misunderstood that?

Does seem odd - my guess is Arsenal are in Champions League action on the Tuesday and playing at 5.30pm on a Saturday would in their view not give their little legs enough time to recover so Arsenal being Arsenal have whined about it and got the game into the early slot.

However Man City are playing in the late slot on Sunday (4.30pm I think) and then have to go to Barcelona on the Wednesday, so give or take an hour that is exactly the same turnaround.

I highly doubt you's be saying this if he was constantly putting down the BBC, in ratings, programmes etc., even when he was attacking Atlantis you were getting annoyed so imagine if he did this all the time to the BBC.

OK for both Takeaway and The Voice, I guess. Perhaps its just the fact they're both under 7m but both numbers are hitting me as a bit underwhelming. I was hoping Takeaway would be a bit stronger this year after such a good first series and other success for A&D. And for all the excitement, improved scheduling and how supposedly amazing everything is on the show, The Voice has been trending down year on year for the past 3 weeks now despite the fact that the equivalent episodes last year were airing in April into May.

It's looking a bit like "battle of the B Listers" at the moment. The first direct rugby lead-in for about a month ought to help The Voice back over 7m next week at least but without that it looks like it will keep to the usual trend and drop off into the lives.

Both shows are doing well enough though, Takeaway is a much needed return for itv at this time of year and The Voice is still the best performing new show for quite a while. When you look at how some other new stuff has been doing, it's clear that both shows are secure for years.

The Cube matching Take Me Out's underwhelming performance in that slot but without the demos I suspect. Still, it was up against The Voice so it's not as bad as I thought it might have been.

Big figure for Match of the Day considering there weren't really any big matches. I guess the Pardew drama was responsible - it's just like all the reality shows, really. The real sell is drama and scandal, not football!

Maybe it was a police request? It was never going to be played on the Sunday with the game at Twickenham taking place then. But it is strange and it's hardly maximising ratings.

Still life in the cube then, it seems to have saved itself, maybe it's a cat and has nine lives, it's a shame bbc couldn't be more forgiving, especially with drama, but I guess viewers are more likely to return to a gameshow than a drama.

Yes I was getting annoyed, but not at his reporting of the ratings, but at his bizarre hatred of a show that he never gave a reason for disliking. It was hard to understand why he had that view because he was slagging it off long before it started. He was actually annoyed that it got an average of nearly 6m viewers because he expected it to be worse.

But, H, unlike yourself, I don't have a strange infatuation with his posts that require me to reply to each and every one.

Btw, if anyone made a constructive criticism regarding BBC shows rather than slating them I'd be more than happy to take their views on merit. The same as if I want to criticise an ITV show (did you read my post about Edge of Heaven) then I will do constructively. Of course sometimes, we all tend to be antagonists so constructiveness and common sense goes out the window, such is the nature of discussing things with fellow human beings, but the art is to be selective in who or what you reply to. Most of Samuels posts I ignore because they don't warrant acknowledgement, let alone a reply, but others he makes are informative and actually make sense.

Last year, episodes of The Cube up against the Voice averaged 3.3million. So yesterday's 3.8m was quite a bit better, although its return was very heavily trailed throughout the week. Another strong rating for Pointless, a 24% share for a repeat is very good. BBC One definately should be looking at having Pointless Celebrities all year round in the 6pm slot [25 weeks new eps, 25 weeks repeats], it does lock in a 20%+ audience every Saturday night, and they wouldnt have to worry about commissioning new untested shows like Reflex or Secret Service.

Speaking of Reflex, anyone got a rating for its penultimate edition? Also for the You've Been Framed! compilation; it seems to have been well beaten by the Pointless repeat.

YBF: 2.52m (13.8%) + 150k (0.7%)
* Up on the 2.46m for The Cube last week
REFLEX: 1.57m (11.3%)

You said it - a presenter who forgot when his programme was due to start. I think he only actually presented three in any case.So if you're married to someone you're an expert on his or her occupation ?

5m+ for Casualty, but so it should be against flop Jonathan Ross. 2.38m for JR including +1. Could Michael McIntyre's new chat out-rate Wossy's season finale next weekend?