How long before Countryfile overtakes TXF? Or even Downton?! The gap is tantalisingly close compared to what it once was.

Sure, it's only the overnights but the trauma it would cause would be hilarious!

I would suggest the obvious problem with this plan is the enormous difference in the number of hours produced by The X Factor and Britain's Got Talent. The most recent series of Talent ran for 9 weeks with the most recent series of The X Factor set to run for 16 weeks. Even if you don't strip the semi-finals of Talent (which is a huge format change that potentially poses other problems and in fact stripping it across the week at this time of year poses other problems as well) Talent is going to struggle to run for more than 13 weeks and there's almost no chance that it would be able to do 13 weeks running on both Saturday and Sunday which is what The X Factor is currently doing for 16 weeks of the year. Keep in mind that before its live shows began The X Factor had already produced more than 16 hours worth of content for ITV there's just no way on earth Britain's Got Talent can effectively fill that void.

This problem also works both ways. If the current run of The X Factor had started the same week as Britain's Got Talent this year then it would have been running through to the end of July. To run it in the same slot as Britain's Got Talent they'd either have to reduce The X Factor's episode count, start it earlier or finish it later. There's also the issue that The X Factor wouldn't be able to replicate the big 'Britain's Got Talent week' that ITV have during semi-final week of Talent. That's a big advertising week for ITV and I can't see any appetite to strip The X Factor across the week.


Would it? Worth remembering that The X Factor scheduled either side of Christmas would mean that its live shows would go against The Voice's audition shows. That potentially puts what is fast becoming the weakest part of The X Factor's run against what is undeniably the strongest part of The Voice's run. From memory weren't The Voice audition shows at the start of this year rating at around the same level as The X Factor live shows this year? There's potential here that a clash with The Voice during Q1 could do immeasurable damage to The X Factor. And certainly ITV would have infinitely more to lose from that clash than the BBC would.


Amazon is an odd beast. I think they have two fantastic original comedies in Alpha House and Transparent which aren't really getting the attention they perhaps deserve (I also really like the look of Mozart in the Jungle). I suspect if either of those aired on Netflix we'd never hear the end of them although that highlights a difference in how aggressive pro-active Netflix are in comparison to Amazon in terms of promotion and creating hype. As you say its certainly a service to keep an eye on though. I think they're just missing a big killer drama to get them on people's radar and I don't think either of their recent offerings is going to fill that gap.

On the subject of Constantine I think it gets significantly better as it progresses. The pilot is very pilot-y for lack of a better description in that its very much about exposition and introduction without a whole lot else to sink your teeth into. It gets better as it goes although I still don't think its as good as it could or should be given the source material.

With a bit of luck they may even forget about it.

The X Factor and BGT are just Opportunity Knocks and New Faces with different names. They scrape the barrel year after year to find contestants for each show. No amount of media hype or staged dramas fabricated behind the scenes can make these increasingly mediocre acts appear interesting. We've become immune to it all. If these talent shows didn't have a shelf life surely they wouldn't have gone away in the first place?

I know Cowell is primarily a businessman and a lot of people claim that ITV will just keep churning X Factor out each year like cheap supermarket sausages with a questionable filling, but to be this far behind Strictly is pretty alarming for ITV. Would Cowell and ITV really be happy to keep publicly flogging this dead horse?

Firstly The Voice seems perfectly secure.

On the wider subject of Emma Willis I don't think she has anything to worry about career wise. Even in the incredibly unlikely (as in so unlikely its not going to happen) event that both Big Brother and The Voice end next year I doubt she'll be short of offers. She's proven herself to be at the very least an assured and capable host of these big live entertainment formats which puts her in pretty limited company at this point. I imagine both Channel 5 and the BBC would offer her new shows should her current ones go and ITV have such a small pool of talent to call on that she'd almost certainly get more offers from them as well.

Competition helps improve everything....in theory. Sometimes it just leads to more lazy scheduling and unimaginative programming. It really can go either way.

I do still think it would be possible for the X Factor to recover at least to current Strictly levels. Both IAC and Strictly have managed to recover from slumps, and in neither case was that achieved by massive presenter/judging changes. Both shows managed it by shifting the tone towards being a bit more fun and lighthearted, something that BGT also does well.

The point I was making wasn't so much about Enma but just that you can have a big show, refuse offers elsewhere and it could turn out to be the wrong decision because in the entertainment industry, things can go from being secure to axed within a very short period of time.

As for The Voice, it may be secure for another year or two but it doesn't mean the positions of those hosting and judging are secure. They already dropped a much bigger name in Holly and didn't seem to go out of their way to keep hold of Kylie. If they want a big change they'll get rid of her without a second thought. And that's the point I'm making- the most secure contracts are those that often get ridiculed- the likes of Christine Bleakley.

Quite. The competition of Downton Abbey hasn't exactly done much for BBC1 on Sunday night in the Autumn.

You're not unpopular here. That's rubbish James. I think your X Factor love has won you some critics though!

but in fairness ITV is a step up from C5, and her role on the Voice does not equal that of Christinen Bleakley role as The One Show National Treasure before she jumped ship.

ITV could in theory make a bid for Bake Off, that is the danger of using independent production companys, HOWEVER there are no real examples of a show being poached from one channel to anothter, imports yes, but formats like Strictly, or Bake Off have not jumped to another channel.

Was Holly Willoughby dropped or did she leave? I honestly don't remember the specifics of that and I'm fairly sure that it was Kylie's tour commitments that resulted in her not returning to The Voice UK next year rather than BBC apathy.

On the wider point I'm not sure I agree. Christine Bleakley's deal undoubtedly offers her great short term stability and security but that's all it is. When these golden handcuff deals go well they can be the best thing that's ever happened to on air talent but when they go badly, as is the case with Bleakley, they can be career killers. That's why I tend to think its always better that talent don't sign them before they already have success and some degree of security on a channel. And of course these big money exclusive deals can also be incredibly limiting for talent. I mean they're probably fine for talent like Ant & Dec who presumably have enough power within ITV to effectively try whatever they'd like at ITV but for smaller name talent it can often box you into jobs you don't want and count you out of a job you might want or that would be great for your career.

I'd also suggest that there's ever mounting evidence that suggests British audiences aren't overly keen on following presenters or talent that so overtly 'go where the money is' for lack of a better description so on air talent needs to be careful about how they handle these things. Which again is why I think its better to enter into these kind of deals when you already have success at a channel.

Channel 5 Ratings Update: Consolidated Numbers w/c October 13

Gotham: 3.80M (plus 0.14M on +24 and 0.31M on 5USA)
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: 2.07M
Can't Pay? We'll Take It Away!: 2.04M
Under the Dome: 1.67M
Nightmare Neighbour Next Door: 1.59M exc. +1
FILM PREMIERE: Alvin & The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked: 1.27M
Wentworth Prison: 1.20M
Chicago PD [5USA]: 0.56M
Longmire [5USA]: 0.36M
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit [5USA]: 0.36M

www.barb.co.uk

Was dancing on ice axed. I thought Torvil and Dean quit and they realised the format would not work without them.

This is an interesting interactive from MediaGuardian. The Great British TV Sell Off: who really owns what?

http://www.theguardian.com/media/ng-...ff-interactive

Full report: http://www.theguardian.com/media/201...avourite-shows

That is interesting.

BARB we 19th October 2014

BBC1

SCD 10.30m/9.61m
Apprentice 8.22m/7.50m
Dr Who 6.71m
Countryfile 6.15m
New Tricks 5.84m
ARoadshow 5.50m
Pointless Celebs 5.11m
Our Girl 4.92m
Casualty 4.90m
HIGNFY 4.79m
Not Going Out 4.39m

Just thinking how many series has Silent Witness been going for? ITV is in a similar situation with Midsomer Murders which will series 17 next year.

James J. I was being serious. I love your positivity.

X Factor ratings are in decline but I don't think it will end anytime soon. I think people are just getting bored of the format, it is the same every year and some of the performances this year have been awful. Even Simon said last night the sing off songs on the results show have been awful and I agree. Even a change of titles and music might freshen things up a bit. Also as someone else has said, song choices make a big difference also. I wouldn't say it's in big trouble yet though, not that many other shows get nearly 8 million, Corrie is not managing that anymore. I'd be more worried about that as it's on all year round and has been poor for months.

Silent Witness started in 1996.next year will be series 18,taking it to a total of 162 episodes.pretty incredible for a UK drama.

Breaking: Viacom will simulcast the MTV Europe Music Awards live on Channel 5 on Sunday, November 9.


Probably won't rate fantastically but obviously considerably higher than is normally the case on MTV and the demos should be nice.

Interesting. Is that instead of or as well as airing on MTV?

Edited to clarify. It's in fact a simulcast.

You wouldn't think they'd necessarily give something like this away for free. I was expecting to see it repeated on C5 only.

I presume you're talking about 2009? Alesha's first year when the performance show + results were combined. It was really a media created slump as the ratings were at it's highest level ever for most of the run.It only really slumped in Late November/ December when Jade Johnson had to quit.
As the schedules were set in stone due to Christmas, the shows were packed with filler to pad out the running time as another contestant was injured for a week too! I remember one episode there was 3 VTs which last nearly 7 minutes each The final weeks were effectively 3 ex Hollyoaks actors ( two of them injured) and the Sports bloke from BBC Breakfast.

There was a media perception that it slumped as The X Factor was miles ahead in the ratings and there was incredible media bashing of the show due to Arlene getting sacked, Alesha being awful, Anton calling his partner a racist term and most importantly it clashed with their darling The X factor and the tabloids were all Team Cowell at that stage.

The big difference with the X Factor is that it has been gradually slumping for 4 years now not 4 weeks like Strictly.
I'm pretty sure the slump for I'm a Celeb was mainly due to the decision to run 2 seasons in 2004. The second series was very dull after a classic season in January. Worth remembering that it was really revived on the back of 15-16m lead ins from The X Factor results shows.