They do that already. It's Strictly which counts Len as a 'head judge' in an affect of a tie rather than return to the public vote.

I disagree. I think it's probably the strongest final 12 since 2010 and I wouldn't be surprised if the girls were the first category to be eliminated completely. The clashes will definitely cause damage to the ratings, but I wouldn't say the quality of the finalists would contribute too much to a drop in ratings.

ITV won't be worried about your viewing; quite apart from your not possessing a BARB box (I assume), you spin through the ads*. Again, those who series-link it AND spin through ads are useless to ITV. Come to think of it, if the show is sold to advertisers on 16-34s, anyone of a different age is also of no use to them, aside from bragging rights in terms of the overall rating.

* EDIT: Do ITV still not have ads on their Player-via-the-TV on Sky? Last time I downloaded something for Mum there were break-bumpers (no sponsorship that I can remember) but no ads. A deal with Sky I think, so they get money that way.


Seems a lot of viewers did too Never mind, it still consolidated to just 0.5m behind Merlin's first series which aired in a higher-viewing era.

I'd pick someone who can stand still while speaking.

The weird thing is I quite liked Dermot O'Leary as a presenter until he did The X Factor. As you mentioned he just seems incapable of projecting any kind of personality or fun on the show and his “interviews” with guests are beyond painful. He may as well just walk on stage and say “you're here plugging...?”. He just seems so to have absolutely no engagement at this point. I have no idea who you get to replacement him though.


He'd have absolutely no interest in doing it.


They don't like to admit it.

The soaps are not an instant format. For all the praise Diederick Santer gets for his time at EastEnders (and that praise isn't unjustified) he left the show in a truly terrible position. I'm not talking about a lack of story lines here but rather that creatively the show was a complete disaster zone and it was a disaster zone that Santer built. Kirkwood and Newman (although Kirkwood in particular) got weighed down during their time with the show essentially having to reset the whole thing. Character relationships and family units had to be re-established or just established because Santer paid no attention to any of this and it left the show in a horrible state. Santer was great at throwing big storylines at the screen and it was those big storylines that hid from view how terrible he was at managing the day-to-day creative base of the show. That base finally completely collapsed after the live show and its taken this long to build it back up.


Cliffhangers aren't effective when used that way. More effective is what we saw this week where the show used one big cliffhanger and spent a lot of time building up to it. The purpose of a cliffhanger is to grab the audiences attention and get them excited. Flooding the screen with them doesn't do that it just makes them less effective. What EastEnders needs isn't cliffhangers but exactly what its been doing. Good stories and solid character work. The EastEnders audience didn't disappear overnight and its not coming back overnight. This is process. This week was an important milestone in that process but they need to take that as a sign that what they're doing is working and they need to stick with it. Not completely change what they've been doing.

The official X Factor twitter page:

The X Factor @TheXFactor · 55m 55 minutes ago
THAT was #JudgesHouses. Meet us back here next Saturday/Sunday at 8pm sharp for the first LIVE Show with this lot!

If THEY don't know when next week's show is scheduled how are the viewers supposed to find it? I'm starting to wonder if they have moved it considering that's the official page. No retraction or correction after nearly an hour.

They must have pushed it back half an hour, surely? Good decision if so.

My mistake. My apologies. Was thinking it was the story that came out this morning that seemed very badly timed. Considering ratings were good this week.

They must have moved it. So as I was saying, all the paper listings will now be wrong....

I guess people will be tweeting "WHY ISN'T THE X FACTOR ON?" which may spread the word a bit...

... otherwise, quite baffled.

I doubt they'll have moved it. It's most likely an unfortunate error.

They havent moved it. Official ITV website tv guide still has:

It's a total cock up from the show that theyre saying it starts at 8pm. Firstly they have their judges saying how crap the talent is. Now they have the voiceover and official Facebook page giving the wrong times for the show. The show is a total and utter mess this year. Expect tonight to get its worst Sunday rating since the SCD Sunday clash episode, mark my words.

England football may go into extra time.

Well somebody has to be right!

If they haven't moved X Factor they mightl wish they had if the rating is bad.

I'll see your official ITV Guide, and raise you an official ITV continuity announcer and an official Twitter feed.

Place your bets....

You're under the impression that the separate ITV departments are competent enough to communicate with each other?


What - from Thursday?!

Okay. So The X Factor HAS moved?

What football?

OK, Samuel, stop taking this out of context. Simon and Sinitta were saying one category was bad - the Overs - and it was building up to Fleur nailing a performance. Scripted? Never...


Goodness knows. I doubt ITV know. David Bergg is probably throwing a dart at a board as we speak and whichever section it lands in is when The X Factor will air.

Actually... the tweet says 8pm for Sunday but it can't be 8pm Sunday - the football has shoved everything back 15 minutes. The X Factor is airing at 8.15pm then. So the tweet may be incorrect for Saturday too.

In theory it should be its highest rating in since Lucy's Funeral with it being Monday, coming off the back of last week's hyped episodes and another big storyline (Dean/Linda) playing out and having been trailed too. But it's very unpredictable atm so who knows. Also, Tuesday sees ANOTHER clash with Emmerdale, and EE traditionally does very well before the clash and then falls to pieces for the rest of the week.

The Sunday bit is definitely wrong. Saturday could be. What a mess.
8pm might be better after all. Keep the clash to a minimum.

there is so much ammunition for the bbc boys. i bet some of you think your birthdays and christmas have come at once. i bet sam is dancing round his living room.

itv should have a bit of good news tomorrow with grantchester.

The ITV haters don't need to do anything or say anything anti-ITV as Samuel does that job for them. They have no blood on their hands, so to speak.

It's all panto anyway this anti, pro business.

I personally support TV in general, and since I also perceive ITV to get a bad rap (just look at Gogglebox with that vicar saying, "she watches stuff like this [Downton], mind you it is on ITV, she doesn't like ITV she thinks its a bit common." It's a common perception, and understandably so from the network that once brought us Celebrity Wrestling, News at When and Britannia High. But ITV is a different network now and while not perfect does not deserve the targeted hatred it gets on here from Samuel. With Sam we get 20 posts an hour about "worst ever Itv rating for X Factor in 5 years, so shocking." Then when something like Cilla pulls out a 6m overnight he's nowhere to be seen. Tumble was going to be the biggest hit ever, tanked to oblivion and it wasn't really mentioned again. If Tumble were coming on ITV, he'd have slaughtered it before, during and after it aired. A silent sect of members on here will defend Samuel, indirectly, by calling anyone annoyed overreacting/disagreeing with them rather than agreeing directly with him. Comparisons to the BBC are often unfair, and it's one rule for the BBC another for "Itv". Put simply any people who don't much like ITV, to any degree, needn't slate it as that's already being done.

To me ITV is the clear and obvious underdog of the top 2 channels in the UK. I've always supported the underdog; in a parallel universe, ITV is the winning channel, the BBC gets loads of stick and I'm supporting the BBC more vocally. Not this universe though! Many (I'd argue most) people love the BBC, ad-free, with a lot of decent facets like Radio, News etc. They forget the BBC is a different beast to ITV, and unfairly draw comparisons. ITV has work to do, a lot of work to do, but it's by no means the crappy network it once was. With dramas like Downton Abbey, Broadchurch, Mother & Son, Undeniable, Lewis, the recent Cilla; entertainment like I'm A Celebrity, Ant & Dec's Takeaway, Britain's Got Talent, etc; and Emmerdale and Corrie which while by no means in their prime anymore still do good business 5 times a week. ITV News, while definitely second in command to the mighty BBC News, is still nowadays a polished operation with good anchors in Mark Austin, Julie Etchingham, Alastair Stewart and so on, nice professional presentation and some great reporting. It's a credible alternative to the BBC. They need to work on comedy, more returning drama series to add to the one-offs/3 parters, and new entertainment formats, but it's not really all doom and gloom. Yes ITV's viewing figures are down, and in some cases dramatically. That sucks. And they'll obviously want to do something about it. After all they do want people to watch and be happy with their shows, so they can make money from advertising. But TV is fragmenting, and while the BBC stands alone in its own bubble, commercial networks are spreading the load. It's a different world nowadays but I for one am glad the traditional "Ch1-5" are still alive and kicking, if only just. I'd hate a world with just the BBC and a load of minor networks with not enough money to spend on providing an alternative to the BBC because they're audiences are too small to permit it. ITV's share price is pretty high lately I believe anyway and this is due to diversifying the business to be less reliant on ad-revenues in this new age of TV.

The BBC is a great, highly valuable corporation on the whole, its breadth of services is impressive. BBC documentaries can be world class, it excels in comedy, panel shows and massive drama hits. Its News service is expansive and world-renowned and the brand is known the whole world over. It is arguably synonymous with TV itself, unlike its commercial rivals. It puts out an amazing treat of entertainment every Christmas, as a wonderful festive gift to its paying public. We all appreciate the BBC and what it offers, like the NHS it is one of the things that makes Britain GREAT. It continues to go from strength to strength with a wide mixture of shows.

Why people can't support both networks is beyond me. Like Andy I'm pro-ITV but NOT anti-BBC. I may talk about ITV a bit more but usually to defend it against systematic bitching, grossly relentless and negative "analysis" and just the general attitude of "let's laugh at the fat kid" on here. Sometimes the spotlight is shone on an ITV "failure" where it simply wouldn't be talked about if it were happening on the Beeb.

I will still be called an ITVista and so will Andy and perhaps some others, but I know that neither I nor they truly hate the BBC and love ITV. They largely love TV in general, and know that a strong ITV means a strong BBC which means a strong TV industry. That is all I care about, that there is a rich choice on our screens.

Tomorrow is a huge day for Itv. It is their most important new show of the Autumn launching - Granchester. They have spent lots of money on making and promoting it, with billboards all over the country for it. This is the only drama they are launching this Autumn with returnable potential so lots is riding on it. Cilla launched with 6.7million last month so the pressure is really on for it to start well.

Grantchester might rate higher than Cilla, it certainly looks likely to be a hit opposite a floundering New Tricks.