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Doctor Who to move to new slot after ratings flop? |
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#26 |
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Join Date: Jan 2011
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No, because where do you put a 90-minute edition of Strictly then? Having the longer episodes has proven to bring in big ratings for BBC1, and they're not going to change that just for Doctor Who. The days when BBC1 bent over backwards to accommodate Doctor Who disappeared with the start of series 4.
I suspect BBC1 are not happy with Doctor Who's low live ratings for a Saturday night. Moffat may be orgasmic about them, but BBC1 have their own bigger picture to worry about. If the show's going to move, it'll be before the long edition of Strictly, and they'd probably prefer to avoid a full blown clash with the X-Factor or Britain's Got Talent by moving Strictly later because viewers will complain they're the victims of silly competition, just as they do whenever Eastenders and Coronation Street clash. So that leaves Doctor Who going out much earlier, back to the times of series 4. And me. I remember at the time feeling that those who were unwaveringly certain that by moving the show later in the year with colder, darker weather, it would massively increase its audience, were very wrong. However, in order to return to that slot, it would mean that Series 9 and 10 would have to be filmed on a non-stop block, which I'm not sure the cast and crew would be entirely happy about. |
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#27 |
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Join Date: May 2005
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However, in order to return to that slot, it would mean that Series 9 and 10 would have to be filmed on a non-stop block, which I'm not sure the cast and crew would be entirely happy about.
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#28 |
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Or, more likely, another 18 months gap!
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#29 |
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Yes indeed. And have no desire for that to happen.
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#30 |
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Join Date: Aug 2011
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I wish the show could go back to Spring instead of Autumn. So much better placed.
But that's my opinion. |
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#31 |
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Join Date: Jul 2007
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I much prefer 7.15 or 7.30 but that's just me. It's still the only thing I make the effort to watch live on a Saturday night, otherwise the TV doesn't go on as I don't watch all the dancing, game, antique, food or reality shows that are swamping TV as I'm just not interested. They seem to be very popular but just because you want to watch more than one of them that doesn't mean you can't catch up with one or the other later, which is what people seem to be doing.
So what's the problem... |
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#32 |
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Not even if Moffat tells you you're getting more Doctor Who than ever during that 18-month break, and proves it by showing you a report in triplicate with lots of graphs and diagrams and complicated sums?
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#33 |
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“The BBC is wreaking havoc. Not only have they produced something unsuitable for much of the target audience in terms of violence, but now they want to put it on when parents want their children in bed.”
Just think about the intelligence of the above quote. Yep, it's almost worth reading the article for the hilarity of that one statement. |
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#34 |
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Join Date: Jul 2014
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I suspect BBC1 are not happy with Doctor Who's low live ratings for a Saturday night. Moffat may be orgasmic about them, but BBC1 have their own bigger picture to worry about.
As others have mentioned up thread, when you look at how Atlantis is doing in the same slot, with their live audience down to 3.5 million, more than a million lower than the absolute lowest of DW Series 8, it puts it into perspective. Besides which, the BARB final figures for Doctor Who S8, with an average audience of 7.37 million (as quoted in the Mirror article even) is only 1 per cent down on Series 7. so can't under any sane meaning of the term be regarded as a flop. The whole Mirror piece is just clickbait, and the headline is totally misleading. |
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#35 |
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Join Date: Apr 2005
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Bring it back to it's original spring slot.
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I wish the show could go back to Spring instead of Autumn. So much better placed.
But that's my opinion. Series 9 hasn't even started filming yet, so there's virtually no chance it would be ready for the Spring. |
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#36 |
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I would love to see it moved back to it's old slot between April-July. I yearn for the days when I could get back from a lovely summers day and sit down and watch Who.
It also felt well spaced; a 13 episode season and then, six months later, the Christmas episode and then - just three months after that - a new season would begin. |
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#37 |
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I grew up with Doctor Who - all year round (well about 10 months). So seeing it for 13 weeks a year is quite pleasant now! I don't care when it's shown - although I prefer the Spring-Summer idea (as in 2005 etc). We all watch it when we want to watch it anyway - as in PVR's etc....so what's the problem?? There are lots of classic DVD's to watch as well in the gaps and a few TV Channels show repeats of DW all the time! It's never really off our screens!
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#38 |
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The key things in the article are these:
1. overall there was an average of 7.37million viewers for each episode, 80,000 less than last year 2. the figures showed a rise of 39% in viewers who recorded the show to watch it later – and an average of 1.6 million had requested to view episodes on BBC iPlayer. I have stopped watching the show and I know a number of others who have stopped, but the stats would suggest that overall viewing figs are stable. No news here. |
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#39 |
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the figures showed a rise of 39% in viewers who recorded the show to watch it later... No news here.
If so many people timeshift, what's the problem putting on at 6pm when fewer people are watching anyway, more kids are around to watch live, and it makes no difference to people series-linking it? BBC controllers are hardly going to make public statements that they're unhappy with anything. BBC1 can't be too happy about getting such a huge audience for Strictly and then doing little in the way of retaining it as soon as the end credits roll. In the olden days, Doctor Who and Strictly brought in big audiences for the night. |
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#40 |
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You're missing the point. If so many people are timeshifting and fewer people are watching live, it raises the question of whether Doctor Who is occupying a slot that would be better served by another show.
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#41 |
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You're missing the point. If so many people are timeshifting and fewer people are watching live, it raises the question of whether Doctor Who is occupying a slot that would be better served by another show.
It was during that period when the overnights began to reduce as more people watched the show on catch-up. I wondered how Doctor Who could keep such a prime slot if it was no longer attracting 7m+ viewers on the night. But the truth is that, even taking the overnights in isolation, 5m viewers still make it the third most watched show every Saturday evening. And the catch up figures make it one of the most watched each week. I am far less concerned about it all now. The BBC is happy with it too. They know its one of their biggest shows and they known it is still a success. |
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#42 |
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Join Date: Mar 2011
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It wasn't even a ratings flop
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#43 |
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Join Date: Jun 2005
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I can't believe that people really want to watch 'Strictly' its so dull.
I also can't believe that any programming executive would favour it over Dr Who. ![]() Hopefully X factor and Strictly will soon die a death. |
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#44 |
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You're missing the point. If so many people are timeshifting and fewer people are watching live, it raises the question of whether Doctor Who is occupying a slot that would be better served by another show.
If so many people timeshift, what's the problem putting on at 6pm when fewer people are watching anyway, more kids are around to watch live, and it makes no difference to people series-linking it? BBC controllers are hardly going to make public statements that they're unhappy with anything. BBC1 can't be too happy about getting such a huge audience for Strictly and then doing little in the way of retaining it as soon as the end credits roll. In the olden days, Doctor Who and Strictly brought in big audiences for the night. The problem with trying to be logical with something as emotive as Doctor Who's ratings in a Doctor Who sub-forum is you can't yell loud enough to get through the fingers in ears. Cue blah blah overnights don't matter, timeshifting is the future... The autumn experiment has clearly failed (though I'd actually peg the drop off in overnights at the door of the split season. Season 5 did exceptionally well). Whatever Moffat may pretend otherwise, overnights are still massively important internally at the Beeb. They're circulated daily, show the water cooler effect, the "gotta go out of my way to watch this!!" momentum and are routinely used to justify budgets. the beeb with its 'justify our existence' complex and the 99.9% of its other shows that aren't Doctor Who and don't timeshift to such a large degree, even more so. Why? Because poor overnights means poor retention (as isambard mentions) and that means less cushy scheduling. Since most people now watch Doctor Who when they can be bothered, it matters less when it's scheduled. So, if it's back for the Autumn in 2015, expect to see the show put in more vs "big draw on other side" slot. Incidentally, we should count ourselves lucky. If Doctor Who wasn't such a barnstorming huge commercial success the loss of prime spot appeal would typically result/cause a show to get a cut in its budgeting/marketing. |
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#45 |
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Whatever Moffat may pretend otherwise
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#46 |
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I don't think so.
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#47 |
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Yes, I'm sure the BBC are thrilled with the viewing figures Atlantis is scraping in the same slot. Definitely a great idea to move Doctor Who and put something else in its place. I don't think!
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#48 |
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When Peter Davison came in the series played out January through to Spring. Apart from the weekday slot, what's to stop the BBC going for a similar run, Jan-March on a Saturday? No Strictly, No XFactor...
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#49 |
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Join Date: May 2013
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(Fingers in ears. La la la la)
The ratings are remarkably consistent and the BBC are perfectly pleased with the performance of the show. I actually believe that! Not that I'm privy to any inside info. They wont let me into the meetings and don't respond to my e-mails. Maybe I've been duped?
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#50 |
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TBH I preferred the DW 21 in its original March - May slot, and then looked forward to the Christmas Special! But that's just me. !
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