I have to say one more thing, as an aside rather than a criticism.

It's somewhat ironic that some people, with justification at times, say that the BBC should not be chasing ratings (or in other words, trying to maximise ratings), but this thread seems to exist on the concept that the BBC should do exactly that! And when they don'y they get castigated.

Message on the BBC One telling people Eastenders is on BBC2.

About 5 minutes late with that.

It has been BLATANTLY obvious, ever since BBC1 announced this series of Dr Who would be on in the Autumn, that it would be on against X Factor. Cos they're not going to put Strictly on against it, are they? And not Tumble either. That's just asking for trouble.

Merlin in 2012, Atlantis in 2013, Dr Who in 2014.... That's what BBC1 do these days; they put a family adventure series on against X Factor. The Overnights may still be feared figures according to Richard Osman, but they matter slightly less for Dr Who because the BBC know this programme always adds a big timeshift.

I predict DW will post overnights not much better that Atlantis did last year, but add in record-breaking timeshifts.

They're not in the ITV Media Digital Top 10, so the various programmes were all below 462k

Can't remember seeing this posted but Masters Of Sex is being moved to More4 for its second season from C4: http://www.tvwise.co.uk/2014/07/chan...-sex-season-2/

Something for scheduling spreadsheets when trying to work out the Saturday BBC1 schedule. Tumble is 90 minutes long. Also Mr Motivator won't be on it as he injured himself.

ITV Autumn drama trailer. Lewis returns.

http://www.itv.com/presscentre/press...4#.U9K474BdVUQ

ITV Where Drama Lives Autumn 2014
*
The new trail from the home of drama. It celebrates all of the great drama that will be coming to ITV later this year. *There will be new series of loved dramas, new faces, and completely new dramas.*
*
Cilla - Starring Sheridan Smith.
*
Chasing Shadows - Starring Reece Shearsmith, Alex Kingston and Noel Clarke.
*
The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, Beyond the Pale and The Ties that Bind - Starring Paddy Considine.
*
Scott & Bailey - returns for a fourth series starring Suranne Jones, Lesley Sharp and Amelia Bullmore.
*
Grantchester - Starring James Norton and Robson Green.
*
The Great Fire - Starring Andrew Buchan, Rose Leslie, Daniel Mays, Charles Dance and Jack Huston.
*
Downton Abbey - returns for it's 5th series starring Maggie Smith, Hugh Bonneville, Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter, Joanne Froggatt.
*
Lewis - is back for its 8th series - Starring Kevin Whately, Laurence Fox and Angela Griffin.

And one day late!

Presumably it'll get a bit shorter as it goes along, by the third week (when Doctor Who starts) it could be 75 minutes. No way could it still be 90 minutes by the last episode, as they'll have Strictly's launch show that week. Something like this:

First two episodes:
17:40 - Pointless Celebrities
18:30 - Tumble
20:00 - Lottery

Then:
17:40 - Pointless Celebrities
18:30 - Tumble
19:45 - Doctor Who

With the last episode:
18:00 - Strictly
19:00 - Tumble
20:00/20:15 - Doctor Who

I can't be the only one who chuckles whenever they see that , they do have a few decent looking dramas coming up though. I've already made my concerns about Grantchester known, but I really hope it's good (not that I think it needs to be to do well.)

More4 does need original content.

Masters of Sex didn't rate well for Channel 4, should do okay on More4.

Miranda Hart just confirmed on Alan Carr that she's writing more, isn't sure what it'll be but most likely "not a full series" and then confirmed "a couple of specials at Christmas".

Utopia could go to More4 next series.

Utopia is likely too expensive to move to More4, I imagine if it is renewed, it'll remain on the main channel.

Some very strong drama there this Autumn both on ITV and BBC and I for one cannot wait. It will be nice to forget this awful Summer full of rpt's and sports.

Most looking forward to BIB.

Absolutely. Some great stuff from BBC1 and ITV.

Enjoyed ITV's trailer. Good to see a big spend on drama. Looked slick. Hopefully they will get big figures this autumn and spend more the following year.

All the hard work on EastEnders since last autumn has been undone by bad scheduling.

I liked how the announcer on BBC Two Wales introduced Thursday's episode. I'm having to paraphrase slightly, but it was along the lines of "Here's something I never thought I'd say: now on BBC Two Wales, EastEnders. No, I don't understand why, either."

It was a fantastic episode of Eastenders so it would be a dreadful shame if it becomes the least watched ever. Especially when I think of some of the episodes which have rated well over the years but have been truly awful.
I think it's ratings will improve over the Autumn as I expect the BBC to have a huge publicity push and hopefully it will beat Corrie on Christmas day if quality wise it deserves to do so.

It's a real no-win situation. Personally, I think EE should have been taken off for the duration of the CG, with a big promotional push in August and the 6 missing episodes dropped in as extras over the few weeks after the games. However, on the other hand you could argue that EE needed to remain somewhere on the BBC to appease those who would have complained about wall-to-wall Games coverage.

I do like how - as in 2012 - August seems to be the unofficial start of the Autumn season with lots of new programmes lined up as soon as the Commonwealth Games have ended.

It must be really frustrating for the people who work so hard on EastEnders. It sends out a bad message to them, too. If it can be moved to BBC Two and sandwiched between two gardening programmes for the sake of a night of breaststroke and doggy paddle on BBC One, they and the viewers will have to conclude that someone somewhere in the BBC doesn't really have the show's best interests at heart. It reminds me of the sabotaging of Doctor Who in the late 1980s, and the historical attempted sabotaging of a few hit sitcoms by trying to send them drastically over budget.

What sitcoms were affected by that.
The BBC is being affected by political pressure with GC scheduling rather than an attempt to damage EastEnders.

Last of the Summer Wine was one of them. For example, despite being told some new clothes for Compo should be bought cheaply at C&A, a costume designer suddenly appointed to the series, went to a Savile Row tailor to have them made. Each suit cost £700, and there were three of them, so £2100 was spent on jackets and trousers which were immediately cut, torn and dirtied to look just like the old ones.

Another example was when they required a battered old boat for an episode about a water taxi. The producer identified an old boat he wanted for a few pounds from a scrapyard, but someone went behind his back and had a new boat built at a cost of over £2000, and proceeded to batter it to make it look like the one in the scrapyard.