You're right. I just think not getting 7m at 8pm on a weekday more often shows BBC1 and ITV are settling for a regular average rating, rather than trying to get a high one.

Any ideas why they've done this? It was supposed to be on next Wednesday at 21:00.

Is Our World War still on at 9pm?

I'd like to know what was the last regular series to average 7m in the Wednesday 8pm slot on BBC1. Must be going back at least 20 years. And let's not forget 7.2m is Bake-Off's overnight figure. Its consolidated figure will surely be over 8m. And last night's episode may very well be the lowest rated episode of the series.

Next Wednesday at 8pm ITV are showing 100-Year-Old Drivers. And someone previously posted what they were showing the following week. I can't remember what it was but I know it was something factual. So ITV do seem to have thrown in the towel against Bake-Off.

I can remember in the 80s and 90s, when TV audiences were much, much higher that they are now, Wednesday at 8pm was where BBC1 would often dump their flop dramas - a first series of something that had no confidence in, or the second series of a drama that they had re-commissioned before the first series had gone out and flopped. I bet even some of those dramas didn't do as well as Bake-Off did last night.

Yes.

In that case either they thought ratings for Don't Tell The Bride were awful or something happened meaning they can't repeat it.

Indeed, and then you get all the posts saying "there was nothing on last night i had to watch something off the planner". And only last week you had all the endless posts complaining about non-stop Commonwealth Games on BBC1 so presumably everyone in Britain was waiting with baited breath for BBC1 to show other programmes.

And yes, there are obvious advantages of starting Bake-Off this week. For a start it got virtually the undivided attention of the promotions department, it got the Radio Times cover and loads of press coverage and loads of trailers. If it was competing with umpteen other shows for the attention it wouldn't have got half as much. And having a constant stream of new stuff means the channel looks better than having loads of barren weeks and then everything starting at once (much like how Sky are able to look like they have loads of comedy by keeping A Touch Of Cloth III on the shelf for two years).

It would have been ridiculous to launch The Apprentice on the same night because it would have been battling with Bake Off for the publicity and BBC1 have too few shows that can get big audiences to put two on at the same time. With the schedule as it is BBC1 will have a banker on Wednesday all the way to Christmas rather than having weeks of neither. Operation Wild will still have to go somewhere and for the best it gets a decent lead-in to launch it then is just flung somewhere else to fend for itself, having to anchor an entire evening. That's like Britain's Got Talent week on ITV, it doesn't benefit any other show so when it finishes that's it and you're back to square one. Also I agree with the suggestion Bake Off and The Apprentice are too similar in terms of getting to know people and the basic format.


I seriously doubt that will happen, aruiusuk is an insider but he is an insider at ITV. You wouldn't be able to guarantee a Monday night match in every round anyway, I think in some it wouldn't be possible to show any match there because of midweek fixtures, and even if the rounds where it would be possible, you're then relying on the match the Beeb pick being able to be played there. Would the Beeb turn down a match because it couldn't be played on Monday? No, because the match is the attraction, not the slot (which would be too intermittent to get any kind of audience loyalty).

What I'm almost certain is going to happen is that the draw will be done in a programme at 10.35 on a Monday with guests and interviews and reports from the weekend. As you say, BBC1 is busy on Mondays.


No, but calculations on other threads mean the Beeb must surely have live replays. We know the Beeb have sixteen matches and the most logical way of doing that is one match in rounds one and two, two matches and a replay in rounds three to six, a semi-final and a final. BT have as many matches as ESPN did so if they were to have all the replays, they would then have to lose a match elsewhere, which is highly unlikely. And I don't know why the BBC (who paid the most) wouldn't want live replays because they're in primetime and can get massive ratings.


Not really, because last time it was up against Holby on BBC1 which was getting aboiut four million viewers. The Stuarts on BBC2 last night definitely wasn't.

Fantastic start for GBBO. Never seen it and don't really get the appeal but there's no denying its a monster hit for the BBC. The things that are annoying to read are from the BBC fanboys wanting it scheduled Sunday at 8PM to kill of The X Factor. It's rather pathetic really. Can't you all just be happy that's its rating excellently in its new slot and channel and not turn the rating into something else in trying to influence TXF's demise.

I really wish the soaps would start to pick up. It's been one tough Summer and it's not over yet. The sooner the dark nights hit the better for the soaps as they are really struggling at the moment.

As for Tumble on Saturday. There's doesn't seem to be much hype except for on this thread. The amount of Tumble posts I've read is truly staggering. I think it will just be a middle of the road hit. Can't see it been the new XF, SCD, BGT or IAC really. Those shows are in their own league.

Yeah, that's right, Wednesday was such a weak night for BBC1 in those days and as you say it was often where they burnt off a lot of flop dramas. In the former category in the nineties I would suggest Specials, the drama about special constables, and The Lifeboat, a dreadful Lynda La Plante thing, while in the latter category there was Trainer (demoted from Sundays) and Waterfront Beat (demoted from Saturdays). And then in the early noughties it was a state as well, especially when they had to fit the lottery in there, so you got loads of weak factual.

Meanwhile Wednesday at eight used to be a huge slot for ITV because it was the slot Thames would put all their big productions in so you'd get a big entertainment show (it was the slot Morecambe and Wise would usually fill when they were on ITV) and later a two hour drama like Morse, helped out by the Corrie lead-in of course.

Not forgetting of course Points of View which was a staple of the BBC ONE schedule at 8.50pm each Wednesday for what seemed like years certainly during the 80s and 90s. A 8.50pm junction seems so antiquated now...

Ah yes, Wednesday at 8pm was ITV crushing time. IIRC there was Des O Connor Tonight and Name That Tune which were monster hits, circa 14m in the mid-late 80s? I think the Beeb just waved the white flag and showed American imports.

And let's not forget Inspector Morse starting on Wednesday nights at 8pm, kickstarting the feature length drama and piling more misery on BBC1.

I'd like to know that too. Take out the Christmas boost and sport and I can't think what BBC1 had there recently that got 7m.

Any guesses for ratings for EE and Emmerdale tonight?
Emmerdale 7pm - 5.2m
EE 7.30pm - 5.4m
Emmerdale 8pm - 4.8m

Fantastic rating for GBBO - it's really inspired me to bake. I've just had a banana cake in the oven!

I'm no BBC fanboy but I can't stand TXF so I also would have loved to see the BBC hold off Bake Off to the autumn on Sundays at 8pm to kill off this nasty, bland, tired "talent" (ha!) contest once and for all

"Dallas" aired on BBC one on Wednesdays. I think after "Doctor Who" I seem to remember and "Points of View" well that really was a ratings winning missile against "Inspector Morse" . could this week herald BBC one best ever Wednesday??

"Carry On Baking"!!

Agreed. I certainly get the appeal of GBBO though. It's entertaining, suitable for family viewing and it's something which people at home can do, so they feel involved.

As for moving it to Sunday 8pm, why on earth would the BBC want to do that? It's not the BBC's job to "kill off" ITV's shows. If it worked like that EE would be dead in the water by now, Corrie would've been put up against it at every opportunity and we'd have seen sub 3m for EE. I'm sure the BBC fanboys would agree that it's better for the viewers if massive shows do not clash.

Dallas of course was a big show in its day and indeed I most associate it with Wednesdays (although when it started and in its Who Shot JR pomp, it was on a Sunday, and the last series was dumped on Sunday afternoons) with Dynasty (and The Colbys for the five minutes that lasted) on Fridays after Blankety Blank.

But even when they had Dallas there Wednesdays weren't that great for BBC1, you had Wogan followed by something that would die against Corrie - Doctor Who for two years, as you say - then Dallas if you were lucky or a repeat of Bergerac if you weren't, and then after Points of View and the news BBC1 usually had factual, like QED or Inside Story (actually I'd really like a show like QED these days with its pop science business).

Meanwhile ITV would have This Is Your Life pulling in big audiences six months of the year, then Corrie, then Des O'Connor or a big entertainment show followed by perhaps a big film, or a two hour drama like Morse. Then later Champions League football in the era that was getting about ten million viewers. No chance of the Beeb catching it.

I don't know if this makes me sound adorable or idiotic but I used to have Cubs on Wednesday and when it finished I demanded we rushed home so I could be back for Points of View at 8.50.

Its still doubtful "Dallas" would have made 7 million against ITV.

BBC one has never looked so good on Wednesday night with the arrival of Hollywood and Berry.

I agree an "EastEnders" episode is needed alongside it.

I guess "Dallas" could have scooped 7 million on the evening Bobby Ewing died or reappeared but I'd be interested to know what the Wednesday ratings were like back then. "Points if View" did of course have the much nicer Anne Robinson at the helm!!

"Doctor Who" was dying against "Coronation Street" then as BBC one drove their money into other drama unlike the way "Doctor Who" is now treated against "New Tricks" etc.

"The Paradise Club" was a major flop during this period of end of eighties drama and "South of the Border" but "Making Out" was more successful on a Tuesday 9.30 pm slot promoted from an original Friday evening airing. Less successful was Debbie Horsefield "The Riff Raff Element" but she gained popularity again with "Cutting It". Dunno where's she has gone from the writing fold!

New C5 show looking for contestants promoted after BB:

http://www.channel5.com/backintime

First I've heard of this one.

Another success for Emma Willis

Dallas, at its peak, was a solid performer in the ratings for BBC1. You're probably talking at least 10m. Remember, this was the age of only 4 channels.

Dynasty, which I gather was the more popular of the two soaps in the USA, was a bit of a mediocre ratings performer in this country.

I don't want the soaps to go up, They too old fashioned TV for me.

Mmm did "Dallas" make 7 million then on a Wednesday presumably??!! Perhaps this was BBC one 's best performer and "Dallas" is the last to have gained a regular Wednesday night share. Thames TV tried to poach it from them in 1985 so presumably it was big business.

I thought that Saturdays was a "Dynasty" day and then later it was bumped on to a Friday evening perhaps. I only remember "Dallas" on a Sunday afternoon as it died a death in the 90's, think it was paired with "Eldorado" repeats maybe?? but it originally aired on a Saturday.