Re Steve Williams list:

You would say very strong Sunday for BBC1 with four shows over 12 million (and I suppose it is) but you then consider that two ITV shows got 4/5/6 million more. Amazing how the two main channels carved up huge audiences between them. I wonder what followed on ITV at 8.45?

These old lists are a bit more exciting than today, especially given we are mulling over a primetime launch just scraping over 3 million and soaps struggling to make 6 million-even accepting its August. That's what made 2012 so special imo.

Nearly 2 million people would disagree with you.

You'd never guess the main feature in a million years, unless you're Steve Williams!

Central
8.45 - News
9.05 - The Cloning of Joanna May
10.35 - The South Bank Show

http://tvlistings.thetvroomplus.com/listing-3261.html

Adaptation of a Fay Weldon sci-fi novel into a TV movie! I'm assuming that was networked, it was a big slot.

If you take 16 April 1997:

BBC One
16.35 Out of Tune (Before Jane Danson was a flaming Battersby)
17.00 Newsround
17.10 Blue Peter
17.35 Neighbours

BBC Two
16.25 Ready Steady Cook
16.55 Esther
17.25 Today's the Day

ITV
16.40 Harry's Mad
17.10 Home and Away (followed by The Missing File)
17.40 ITN Early Evening News

Channel 4
17.00 Ricki Lane
17.30 Pet Rescue

I'm surprised Ricki Lane started on Channel 4 in 1994, thought it was much later. The Times of 1 October 1994 lists "Steve Wright's People Show" and "Easy Money" as other new debut programmes.

Make that ten million years!

Thanks for the information. Maybe it was in response to One Foot in the Grave's popularity (almost 15 million) not to contend the slot too greatly, and the repeat(I think it was a repeat) of Birds of a Feather well scheduled to reap a big second helping in that respect.

Fascinating stuff.

Its interesting that ratings are so bad today that its more interesting talking about ratings from 20 years ago.

To a degree, but it's more the paucity of data I think. ITV Media have put their top 10s up for Monday and Tuesday, if anyone's interested.

I think it's rather sad that ratings are so low these days, 5m is regarded a hit! I still maintain my view that if broadcasters show something decent, people will watch it. Same old same as is not appointment telly. It's "oh it's only so and so. Not missing much!" Why can't broadcasters understand this?

Good to see In The Club rising, but that EastEnders' rating is poor. Hopefully it can avoid clashes from now on and slowly rise, with BBC promoting it come September when things really kick off again.

The Our Girl press screening was yesterday and the press pack is up so that should be BBC's next drama, there's still room to fit it in after GBBO (3rd Sep - 1st Oct) with The Apprentice starting on the 8th October, the night of GBBO's final. That would have The Apprentice finishing the same night as X Factor though, or Christmas Eve, and neither's likely so maybe not. They could air the last two episodes over two nights though, Wednesday 17th and Thursday 18th.

Wednesday's the only free slot though, Tuesday 9pm doesn't free up until 16th September and Sunday not until 21st (and whatever goes there will face Downton.) There's the break WDYTYA is meant to be taking after episode 5, but I have a feeling that's just for Crimewatch and it'll be back the week after.

There were only 4 television channels, maybe 30 million viewers available. A hit nowadays is 8 million plus on a main channel - Call The Midwife, Downton Abbey etc. That is why a show like SCD, IAC or TXF get so much press attention, half of television viewers watch them.

If you look at this BBC Top 30 from 1998 for example (duplicate shows have been removed) - Shows were rating okay, but it was down to restricted choice rather than anything else.

Yes, as I said further up, Tumble launched to just 3 million on primetime Saturday. The afternoon Test Card probably got more than that

Its hard to get too excited about figures like that-depressed maybe

Yes I realise that, but is it acceptable to have three hits rating between 8 and 10 million viewers and then loads of stuff that entices only a third of that? I don't think it's good enough. When something is on that people want to watch, they will watch it. It doesn't matter how many channels we have. It is about what is being offered. We have 4 big supermarket companies, doesn't stop more people going to Tesco's!

Sadly Tesco are going the same way (as a shareholder I am fuming! ) There isn't a lot of must see tv, people are spending 30 hours per week watching television, to coin a phrase many are content watching moving wallpaper... Times change, in 10 years time BBC One/ ITV will have lost more ground - there will be occasional big hitters, but nostalgia ain't what it used to be...

Only because there is no longer any real effort made. People watch the best of the worst!

I used to hate trash tv, but now I firmly believe give people choice and let them decide, I would not like someone to be stuck with 3 quality channels and say watch this - it is brilliant. A lot of people just want escapist tv after a long day.

Tesco's grocery market share was reported in March to be down to 28.9%, the lowest in almost a decade (its peak in October 2007 was 31.7%).

As a shareholder you'll be hoping it doesn't cross over on the chart with BBC One...

More than likely, this was a time when stand out episodes of the big two soaps could get 20 million and 10 million were watching two cheap Australian soaps. Even on a good day Corrie now couldn't get the same as a bog standard Neighbours episode in 1994.
Had the big two fallen as low as they have now in 1994, and not improved, then it would probably have been cancellation time.

Cilla, DA, and Scot and Bailey look set for September broadcast with Granchester and Chasing Shadows for October. The Great Fire I think will be in November.

Going even further back, anyone recall Dallasmania in 1980. This soap had started slowly on BBC 1 in 1978, but endless promotion by Terry Wogan and the fact it was better than people realised saw the 1979-80 season jump from 9 million to 22 million viewers by the season's climax. Indeed the Who Shot JR episode which opened the 1980-81 season was rumoured to have been watched by half the population.
Dallas continued to be a big hit for BBC 1, indeed in the ratings slump in early 1984 it was often their only top ten hit, but increasingly whacky storylines( how many times could JR get shot and the shower incident) saw ratings start to fall in 1985. Like Neighbours did after its boom years, it was considered another foreign soap that had outsdtayed its welcome and died in daytime on BBC 1.

Are those confirmed or just your guesses?

Channel 5 announce five brand new factual commissions:

Underground Britain (Commissioned by Simon Raikes; 6x60 from Lion Television)
Man V World’s Rob Bell travels the country exploring locations people were never meant to see including a World War 2 bunker and a Cleveland mine in which scientists are investigating whether there is life on Mars.

Alex Polizzi’s Secret Italy (Commissioned by Ben Frow; 4x60 from TwoFour)
Travelogue series in which The Hotel Inspector star Alex Polizzi will travel around Italy from Venice to Milan.

Saving Babies (Commissioned by Simon Raikes; 4x60 from Special Edition Films)
Set in Liverpool Women’s Hospital, which treats 1,200 new-born babies.

Britain’s Biggest Primary School (Commissioned by Simon Raikes; 4x60 from Century/GroupM)
This will follow some of the 1,100 pupils who are educated in Barking’s Gascoigne Primary School.

Meet The Pyschopaths (Commissioned by Simon Raikes; 3x60 from Wildfire/GroupM)
Cutting-edge technology will reveal the true nature of Britain’s 2.5m estimated psychopaths.

http://m.broadcastnow.co.uk/5076200.article

Some ambitious sounding shows. My only criticism would be there's not much return potential with many of the above.

Good to see them working with Polizzi on another project, she's a great talent.

They were in TV Times magazine. The Great Fire is a Guess.

I think if Granchester is going on Monday ITV might try and keep it away from NT

Looking good

Reece Shearsmith has tweeted that Chasing Shadows will start early next month.

Question about historic viewing figures, what ratings did You Bet! use to get?