Well the MailOnline is the biggest news site in the world.

Indeed, it may seem that the Mail is becoming more and more ridiculed with every day that passes, but in reality - of the 'main' nationwide newspapers by circulation at the turn of the century - only the Daily Star can better the Mail's decline of just 16%. The Independent, for example, has lost over 70% of its readers from 2000.

Ipswich had a virus in the camp in the run up to the game which didn't help. To make it interesting it really had to be Southampton. We were missing our first choice midfield and it showed.

Enough of defending my football team. Very strong night for BBC One last night; ITV collapsed as per usual. Celebrity Big Brother is doing very well for Channel 5.

The thing about Mel and Sue is, have they ever really been popular pre-Bake Off? Maybe I'm wrong but I'm sure they haven't really and certainly anything I remember them doing was largely terrible.

Bake Off success is pretty much nothing to do with them. Ok they are "nice" and jolly and add minor humour which fits well but it would take someone vastly out of place to have a negative effect.

Basically I see no reason at all for a Mel and Sue show as there never has been a need for one. But this of course is what happens when you're part of something successful and suddenly get opportunities even when you're not comparable on your own, and tv execs are blind to this. See also Richard Hammond

Well, I'm sorry if you found that post a little harsh but I think it's unfair to both the presenters and ITV to say that anyone who did a show for ITV who previously did a show for the BBC is being "poached" and the presenters are being greedy. In the vast, vast majority of cases it's simply freelancers working for more than one company which happens in every walk of life.

Mel and Sue do the Bake Off for the BBC, and that's it. When they're not doing that, it's up to them what they do. If the BBC aren't offering them anything, they have to look elsewhere because they want and need to work. If they came up with the format for a daytime chat show and the BBC turned it down, or ITV approached them, what are they supposed to do? They can't realistically say they now work for the BBC and can only work for the BBC, if the BBC then don't offer them anything or only offer them something they don't want to do. It's totally unfair on Mel and Sue to say they can only work for one channel at a time, and it's also unfair on ITV to suggest they can only employ people who don't also do stuff on the BBC. And if it doesn't clash with their Beeb work, either when they're filming it or when it's broadcast, the Beeb don't care, and neither do viewers.

Same with Julia Bradbury, she'd done Countryfile for five years and thought it was about time she moved on. It just so happened that the next thing she went on to do was on ITV but it could easily have been on the Beeb. You can't argue that she should have just stayed on Countryfile for her entire career and been grateful to the BBC. I'm not going to stay in my current job my entire career if something else I want to do comes along.

Everywhere you look there are examples of people happily working across many channels. Look at Pointless and The Chase, both programmes that play an important role for their respective channels and both with presenters who therefore appear very frequently on those channels. But Bradley Walsh is doing a sitcom for BBC1 and Xander Armstrong has done things like Prize Island for ITV, and nobody minds.

Same as The Voice, it's a high profile show for the BBC and pulls in enormous audiences - but both their presenters have other shows on other channels. Marvin Humes still does his commercial radio shows and Emma Willis is of course still doing Big Brother which is on the same night as C5. But she's able to do both and both channels still employ her. Works perfectly.

And you can do an equally long list of presenters whose careers have thrived since becoming prominent on ITV - Ant and Dec, Harry Hill, Pip Schofield, Dermot O'Leary, Vernon Kay, Holly WIlloughby. All have done things for the Beeb in the past and whose biggest shows have all been on ITV.

Who is the woman who did Escape To The Country anyway?


I think this is underselling Mel and Sue totally, I watched them on Light Lunch and liked them a lot and so I watched the first episode of this because I like them. Light Lunch wasn't a massive hit but the people who liked it loved it, and it established them as very good live presenters, which is not a skill everyone has. Again, it's hardly Mel and Sue being greedy and disloyal and having massive egos because what else are they supposed to do when they're not doing Bake Off? Just sit around waiting for it to come back on?

Including +1:

Match of the Day Live: 3.92m (18.4%)
Midsomer Murders: 3.15m (~14.8%)
Celebrity Big Brother: 2.57m (11.7%)
* peak: 2.91m (13.2%) at 21:35
24 Hours in A&E: 1.87m (8.6%) exc +1
Horizon: 1.80m (8.3%)

I think MOTD was lucky to get that - it was poor. I assume MM was a repeat?

Murdoch haters will find it increasingly difficult to avoid programmes made by News Corp companies on the main networks now!!

Here's the list of Shine Endemol indies.

Artists Studio
Brown Eyed Boy
Darlow Smithson Productions
Dragonfly
Fifty Fathoms
House of Tomorrow
Initial
Kudos
Lovely Day
Princess Productions
Remarkable Television
Shine North
Shine Soho
Shine TV
Tiger Aspect
Tigress Productions
Zeppotron

Not forgetting that GBBO maker Love Productions is 75% owned by Sky (formerly known as BSkyB).

Southampton aren't a big viewing draw compared to Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool etc. It's great to see teams other than the 'big' teams do well for stories but for ratings it's not so great.

Also what also sticks out is that Match Of The Day rating is STILL better than what Waterloo Road would get there!

"@overnightstv: #heleftmeformymother made strong start for C5 with 1.4m/6.8% at 8pm and 154.9k/0.7% on +1"

"@overnightstv: 2nd ep of #naturesweirdestevents at 8pm on BBC2 dropped slightly, but still strong with 1.9m/9.2%"

"@overnightstv: Final part of #Horizon Diet Special on BBC2 at 9pm attracted healthy 1.8m/8.2%"

"@overnightstv: BBC1 #FACup coverage of #IpswichvSouthampton drew 3.9m/18.4% from 7.30pm on BBC1, winning its slot from 8pm - 10pm."

Thanks DMN.

Big Brother had a good night, can't get 3m though.

Cambridge v Man Utd in the Cup will do better on Friday next week

Well thats put me off GBBO !!!

Great for CBB and Ch5 in general last night. The footie was exactly where I expected it too. Anything for Angry, White and Proud?

7.46m/35.7% (+1: 252k) for Coronation Street.

6.37m/31.3% (+1: 179k) for Emmerdale.

Excellent for CBB. It doesn't matter one bit that it's not over 3m. I would say look at how far clear it was of the BBC Two and Channel 4 opposition which rated well themselves. And likely to have left ITV well behind as well in 16-34.

Also good for the Betrayals programme at 8pm. When I saw they'd secured an interview with Rhodri Giggs, I had a feeling it would rate.

I thought with all the press coverage CBB had a chance of 3m. And who is Rhodri Giggs?

CBB may get the ratings but it not Big Brother anymore.

Angry, White & Proud attracts 1.5 million on Channel 4

Channel 4's Angry, White & Proud attracted over 1.5 million viewers on a quiet Wednesday evening (January 14), overnight data reveals.

The documentary was seen by an average 1.52m (9.6%) at 10pm (234,000/2.9% on +1). Earlier, Restoration Man brought in 1.89m (9.0%) at 8pm (211k/1.0%), while 24 Hours in A&E was seen by 1.87m (8.6%) at 9pm (396k/2.5%).

On BBC One, live FA Cup football coverage on Match of the Day topped the night with 3.92m (18.4%) from 7.30pm.

On BBC Two, Nature's Weirdest Events brought in 1.92m (9.2%) at 8pm, followed by Horizon with 1.80m (8.2%) at 9pm.

ITV's repeat of Midsomer Murders appealed to 2.96m (13.8%) at 8pm (191k/1.0%).

On Channel 5, He Left Me For My Mother fascinated 1.41m (6.8%) at 8pm (155k/0.7%), followed by Celebrity Big Brother with 2.31m (10.5%) at 9pm (259k/1.6%) and Suspects with 710k (4.4%) at 10pm.

BBC Four's documentary Life of a Mountain interested 890k (4.1%) at 9pm.

Given last night's episode repeated some of the stuff we'd seen "live" in the main show the night before, I expected a small drop if anything from Tuesday.

Rhodri: http://www.itv.com/thismorning/hot-t...uined-his-life

Remained steady. At least the audience that tuned in on Tuesday came back.

The share isn't bad - albeit only in line with the C5 average - but disappointing it can't get closer to that million mark.

Pictures of new Thunderbirds reboot revealed: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/...-brothers.html

Warning - may ruin your childhood.

Most papers and magazines are covering CBB again, now as a rival publisher (Richard Desmond) doesn't own C5.

Your absolutely right !! That was my first thought !!

Other soaps from DS

Hollyoaks interested 885k (4.6%) at 6.30pm on Channel 4 as Theresa came to Dodger's rescue, while E4's first look followed with 814k (4.0%) at 7pm and 225k (1.1%) on +1.

Neighbours entertained 651k (8.7%) at 1.45pm and 808k (5.1%) at 5.30pm on Channel 5 as Imogen finally acted on her secret feelings for Daniel.

Home and Away managed 238k (3.3%) at 1.15pm and 558k (3.1%) at 6pm on Channel 5, while 5*'s first look had 444k (2.3%) at 6.30pm.

Elsewhere, Doctors was seen by 1.55m (20.9%) at 1.45pm on BBC One.