Originally Posted by C14E:
“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!”
If the numbers for both Voice and Takeaway were just 0.1-0.2m higher then they'd look so much better!
In fairness, the two episodes of Takeaway that aired against The Voice last year got 7.2m and 7.3m, so it was only 300,000-400,000 below that last night even though last year they had weeks of momentum going into the clash (and the Rhumble hype). I suspect it'll go over 7m in the next few weeks. Looking back, last year's Takeaway numbers were: 7.1m, 7.2m, 6.7m, 6.9m, 7.8m, 7.2m, 7.3m. Episode 5 got a bit of a snow boost (The Cube was over 5m on the same night). Last night's 6.9m is at the lower end of last year's numbers but not out of line with them. They'd probably like it to be the other side of 7m but it's doing fine.
The Voice is also doing fine, although again I think they'd have hoped for slightly better than they got last night. It just looks a bit flat. Last year the first battle show got 7.4m. That aired in a strange 8.35-9.50pm slot in May and had a 10 minute overlap with BGT. Not sure what to make of the comparison there.
