The ratings are a bit of an anachronism.

So many people use various catch-up means of watching a TV programme when best suits their own convenience, that the say-so of a random sample of viewers (who probably use catch-up themselves, to be honest) is really a waste of time, and not worth fretting over.

A bit of a non-issue really.

Very blunt! 😁

How are people feeling a year on,What are the year on year comparisons like in 2015 ratings wise ?

I don't think ratings are down it's just that people watch in different ways for example I often catch up on shows through a android box that's plugged into my tv a lot of people use these and they can't be counted into the ratings.

I've never heard of an android boxWhat are they?

Ratings are lower than usual at the moment because of the good weather.

I very rarely watch any program live.

The only soap I watch is Corrie and I usually Sky+ it and watch it the next day.

Older viewers - moving onto different programming.
Younger Viewers - watching on-demand.

Simple. The next generation are simple choosing to watch in a different way,

I'm not sure it's that simple.I do reckon viewers are falling but not by as much as some state when other viewing methods are factored for.

I'm an 'older viewer'. Due to the time I get home from work I very rarely watch soaps 'live'. I have them set to 'Series Record' on the digibox and watch them later in the evenings.

Most of my family and friends have them on series record and rarely watch the channels with adverts live. I don't mind that much as I don't watch tv often so the odd advert doesn't bother me much.

So many ways to catch up, in the days of 4 channels of course there'd be viewing figures in 10s of millions.

I remember the days of 3 channels! BBC1, BBC2 and ITV. I was 17 when Channel 4 started.

After 60 years, it's quite difficult to do things that haven't been done before. People eventually just stop finding them intriguing.

Its like this https://www.roku.com/uk/choose-your-roku mine is just a different make

I think people do watch them but with the prevalence of boxsets of American shows, which have much more episodes, people will stick one of those on. Soaps are not really watercooler TV like they used to be.

This really. It is the law of diminishing returns.

From the clips I have seen of early CS stories were built around strong gutsy characters, people to empathise with and only slightly exaggerated tales of everday life thar viewers could relate to. The writing seems to have been at a very high level and although there was some death and disaster it was sparingly done so it really made an impact.

These days they have gone so often to the extremes of life that all the soaps parade a seemingly endless stream of murders, rape drug related tales and or thugs that not only cease to have much impact it actually becomes boring.

I think getting back to less but better written episodes filled with people with a heart and soul that viewers can relate to might help. People still want to watch good drama' but it needs to been real and not silly and exaggerated like a panto.

How are these ratings made nowadays? In my old days of the 70's - they were done by BARB or asking people on the street, or installing a box thingy on various homes throughout the nation! Today is another matter! Digital TV has created a whole new thing - how do they know what we are watching? Ratings are a non-event these days - they seem to depend on the 'AA' ratings - what the f* is that all about? How do they know what we are watching?? Are they watching us watching them? I just cannot understand how they know what WE are watching!!

What is watercooler TV?

Hot topic at work the next day. Ie discussing it at the water cooler.

Thanks Sorcha

Catch up, etc... Probably has a lot to do with it. However, the fact of the matter is Coronation Street, EastEnders & Emmerdale can be a chore to watch a lot of the time these days. 5 years ago, all 3 soaps were a lot better.

I agree - when you think about the 3 main soaps, they have a combined age of over 100 years, and have probably between them covered every possible storyline under the sun

I agree lou. Bet you'd never thought you'd hear that from me.

I think the decline of soaps is exaggerated. They are still the most watched shows almost every night and no other shows have such a loyal audience. So many people watch on catch up now because it's quite a commitment to watch live every night. I'm rarely able to watch live even though I'd like to ideally.

They can be repetitive and time consuming to keep up with - as much as I enjoy watching them. I'm at the stage now where I feel as though I need to broaden my TV experience a bit more. I'm now more or less down to just watching Emmerdale