Its part of the enduring mystery of what, exactly, Sky's vision for Atlantic is.

On the subject of Showtime series and Sky Atlantic its worth remembering that they air Ray Donovan, Penny Dreadful, House of Lies and Nurse Jackie which all come from Showtime in the US so they're not doing badly on that front and The Borgias (also from Showtime) was one of the launch period shows for Atlantic if memory serves. The problem I think is less that its Showtime and more that Sky in general seem to have absolutely no coherent strategy when it comes to purchasing imports and where to place them now.

My brother fell asleep during it, says it all. The national team are a joke now, struggling to get past a small country with a player sent off. However, this is the only live football ITV will have outside of the Euros and the World Cup from next year and they will need to milk it.

Latest news coming in: Itv has extended Catchphrase from 45mins to 60mins for next series, 10 episodes will air. Its previous series generally aired between 6.45-7.30pm on Sunday nights. This latest development means that it is unlikely to be paired with OAP prank show Off Their Rockers next year, which formerly followed Catchphrase at 7.30pm on Sunday nights. Rumours are Rockers will be moved to an early evening Saturday night slot.

Breaking News?

I thought someone posted that some of the episodes were longer not all. IIRC last year there were a couple of long episodes due to the ineptitude of the contestants as well.

During its last series, they trialled a few 60minute episodes, most were 45mins. Next series, all 12 episodes [including two celeb specials] will be an hour long.

Meanwhile the BBC's new-look coverage of the FA Cup already looks to be very exciting and innovative, potentially reinvigorating the competition and making ITV's decision to keep England matches instead look at the very least questionable. Could be a rough time to be Niall Sloane.

More important than Ebola and ISIS IMO.

Absolutely!

Saying "mark my words" isn't rude. Saying "mark my words you mother!" is though.

We don't know that Downton will fall again.

I hope the Americans is not moved to Encore. I love it but have Virgin Media. Will not be happy if not able to watch it anymore.

Not really. England matches are in better timeslots and rate better than early round FA Cup ties. ITV has now established itself as the home of England and their coverage is better than the BBC's England coverage was. However The FA Cup's natural home is the BBC. Whatever ITV did, they couldn't shake that off. The BBC's plans for this season sound very promising. The Champions League will be a bigger loss to ITV than the FA Cup.

Why do you have to post in this ridiculous manner, it's too much now. Almost the entire thread seems to be reacting to your latest over the top post, which come in quick succession.

Fantastic episode of Downton. Some great scenery in tonight's episode. I hope it can push 8m at least and not fall too far.

We all know you hate football, so why do you feel the need to constantly post the same stuff every time ITV airs a match. I expect you won't stop until football is discontinued as you seem to have a real issue with the fact that so many millions in this country like football.

You also make the exact same points every time a You've Been Framed rating is posted as well. We get it you don't like that either, if ITV were airing it as major prime time programming at 9pm you might have a point, but making such a fuss over early evening filler at 5:30 is somewhat over the top. It isn't harming anyone airing in such an irrelevant slot.

These are England matches so will draw a crowd, especially qualifiers.
The FA Cup coverage looks like it'll be good but it's all about the ties. The ratings will be determined by the teams playing and at what stage of the competition.

I have a feeling X factor ratings tonight will be higher than Strictly

Todays was a shocker though.

Cowell has been having that feeling all year.

well he hasn't gone through with his threat yet has he?

If a team like Liverpool make it to the final, then this is a massive payday for ITV, far more then the FA Cup, which seems to have been diminished in recent years. Yet poor performances from English teams in the last two ECLs must have made ITV wonder if it was worth forking out a shedload more for rights, and the Europa League is generally seen as a second rate trophy which seems to have spent most of its life on ITV 4 and Channel 5. ITV isn't Sky Sports or BT Sport, like the three other terrestrial broadcasters they have to cater to all sorts of audiences, which include millions who have no interest in sport.

What makes you say that?

AUSTRALIA: Huge numbers tune in for The Block finale; Gotham fails to capitalise and records only a fair debut

Channel Nine powers to an easy Sunday win (32% to Seven's 25%)

The Block (6:30-8:30)
Grand Final: 1.80m
Auction: 2.33m
Winner Announced: 2.76m

Gotham
EP1 (8:30): 1.24m
EP2 (9:30): 0.90m

Others
Seven News: 1.99m
Seven's Supercars: 1.22m / 1.56m / 1.78m
X Factor (Seven): 1.19m
Nine News: 1.05m
Doctor Who (ABC): 0.53m

Probably just optimistic - nothing wrong with that.

Is Gotham on tommorrow? I will definately check it out.

The Block sounds intresting. I wonder if any British channels would want to take it up. I could see it fitting on Four or Five or even ITV.