Britain's Got Talent News at Ten has just been advertised by the voiceover during the BGT end credits!

My word the schmaltz is ladled on in buckets on BGT-this has got to be the top rated show so far.

Someone earlier - perhaps D.M.N - said they trailed yet another BGT related story on the Evening News earlier, so don't worry, they had something else in reserve.

Of course, their tease "tears on stage" is actually a factual inaccuracy given no tears were actually visible, but I'll let them off that minor technicality.

What I won't forgive them for is the constant dumbing down of their news bulletins. The BGT audience will lap it up, but mark my words, come next week; common sense will prevail and the BBC will be back on top again.

Did no one watch BBC News when John Sergeant went off Strictly in a huff? It's exactly the same with what ITV are doing with BGT.

He usually comes across that way to me, to be honest. I've never been able to warm to him.

Not sure if it was a scripted joke from the autocue, or if he was getting his excuses in early for the new series of his sketch show next month.

Its in the "and finally" spot which is already a light piece anyway. Dont see what all the fuss is about. 30 years ago they had a skateboarding duck in that slot.

Is BGT any dumber than a skateboarding duck?

I can't see the problem myself, run a BGT story in the headlines but then force everyone to watch 25 minutes of serious news before the BGT story comes on in the 'and finally'

All those new viewers then realise that News at Ten actually does feature 25 minutes of serious news and hopefully will come back

Of course next week, ITV1 have some poor 9pm shows meaning the news will be back around 2m and some posters will be loving every minute of it

Quite - and I don't buy the argument that because he left it's considered newsworthy. It's still about an entertainment show. Still the same principle.

They are getting good ratings but you dont have to look too far to work out why-its almost trailing itself as an ITV2 BGT follow up.
You cant blame ITV for chasing every viewer in these times, but that kind of trailing just looks desperate to me.

Very true-but I dont remember the skateboarding duck being trailed during a break in Inspector Morse.

But it's paying off. And I don't think ITV can afford to worry about appearing desperate when they can bag 6.3 million viewers for a bulletin that's usually lucky to scrape less than half that.

Ahh, but did the skateboarding duck get featured in the trails, end of programme voiceovers and feature consistently with every little development reported each night?

Didn't think so. As a one-off thing, it's FINE, but this is not a one-off thing. They are intentionally exploiting the BGT lead-in as you well know so please do not try and profess that this is a genuine "And finally" story. It is not.

So 'desperate' ratings atempts are now disregarded?

Does this apply when programmes are trailed heavilly sometimes more than once in the same junction, or when presenters of live shows mention what is on next?

Also if News at Ten was still getting normal ratings, this thread would be full of people saying that ITV are idiots for not dropping the ad break and running BGT straight up to 10pm etc

Do those on here who avidly watch every episode and rave about the show have any idea why the ratings for this series are not snowballing all the way to the final? At this rate, and with fantastic weather due tomorrow, you wonder what heights tomorrow night's main show will manage - 11m? 11.5m at a push?

No doubt the results will do well, but the 18m+ line that ITV will no doubt have the tabloids peddling tomorrow will prove well wide of the mark; indeed, I wonder if it will actually clear last year's rating?


Very probably - but that's no great shakes, Sunday afternoon repeats of old Star Wars films have made the ITV1 weekly top 10 shows in the past 6 months.

Robbie, did you watch tonight's episode? BGT will probably find itself on the front pages (again) tomorrow.

It's no snowboarding at all. It's still higher than all the audition episodes and the first semi final.

The same pattern happened last year I think. The semis peaked on Monday, and then the final results show moved it up to another level.

The 11m-11.5m prediction you've made is definitely going to be exceeded.


Who at ITV said it will get 18m+ ? I'm 99% sure it'll clear last year's rating .

ITV write the tabloids stories now do they?

Did that apply during the phone in scandals and the many stories about ITV axing programmes and stars?

What did you watch tonight? Total Wipeout Reloaded?

Don't forget that ITV in its heyday would let the Inspector Morse closing credits run full screen for about 2 minutes, with no voiceover, or squashed up screen to show promos for upcoming treats.

But then the modern ITV is a pale shadow of the broadcasting colossus of the 1980s. Tripe like BGT would be have been lucky to get a twice weekly 7pm slot.

In August....

Exactly - Robbie spouting fictional 'statements' out of thin air and using it to spin it against ITV. God knows why...

And I suppose the BBC's hideous ECP has been in existence since the beginning of broadcasting?

Yes and back then there were 4 channels & Channel 4 & BBC2 were genuine heavyweight PSB channels. And BBC1 wasnt a granny sitter channel.

So if you want to go back to 1980s then axe the 200 m/c's and put the licence fee back to £30

Richard Arnold said 17 million. (although that's technically GMTV)

BTW, just checking the timings, the "thing" happened at about 20:58/20:59, when people were channel hopping..... Hmmm......

It was completely different. Many BBC licence fee payers had paid good money voting for John Sergeant in the Strictly contest. They had a right to know he had pulled out, and it was an interesting development that was worth reporting. The same can't be said for any of the drivel that ITV have put out EVERY single night there's been a BGT semi-final on, which is purely about ratings and not about news. End of. :sleep:

It makes sense to show a trailer that is likely to be of interest to the audience of the programme in which it is aired. If a skateboarding duck appealed to, well, anyone then there's a chance that it would have been advertised to them.

I also consider this series of "and finally" items to be a one off because we know that it will be just for this one week, for the duration of the semi-finals and final. If it were to go on beyond that then I think people would quickly lose interest.

p.s. The speed with which ITV News turned around tonight's BGT report was impressive.

I don't think so. Subdued Friday night, good weather and they'll probably lose a few hundred thousand without the Corrie lead-in.

I think tonight could be the lowest of the week (by as much as 1m). That said, it was a rather dramatic show.

They seemed to only run over by a few minutes, though. And the trailer will have helped NaT.