I thought Casualty 1909 was only a three parter and would be finished by then?

Edit: Apparently not.

I'm so glad The Street will be coming back soon. Along with Spooks and Waking The Dead, I think it's one of the BBC's best dramas. I hope it gets good figures. What were the ratings for its last series, anyone know?

With the soaps, I wish they would take a break over the summer. Running from September to May would be good, and then they could all end on major cliffhangers, before it returns the following September. An unpopular idea probably, but I think it would work and the 'season finales' could get the soaps record figures if they are hyped up.

Not that much of a surprise, it was always going to beat Occupation ep2. A combination of Brits abroad and property is generally a winning combination.

Casualty 1909, will be dropped, as HB is down to go out on Friday as usual, according to the friday section of that week's programme information.

TBH starting it on a Sunday is a good idea, as its aimed at a younger audience and Sunday is a night when a lot young people stay in. Also it avoids having the finale going out on a Friday, a night when a lot of young people go out.

It focused on the Spanish economy & business, so I wondered if it picked up an audience that would usually watch The Apprentice on a Wednesday night. Who knows? It's certainly an unusual figure for a show not advertised.

Also, well done to The Bill. I agree that it needs to air once a week, but I disagree with it airing at 9pm. I think it needs to have a nice balance of gritty & soapy storylines. There are a lot of serious crime dramas anyway on ITV.

It's also the Sunday Andy Murray wins Wimbledon...

for the BBC...


http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/moto...ne/8108488.stm

I thought it was all empty threats. This is bordering on a nightmare now. One thing is for sure - it puts Donnington on the skids again, just as they were starting to get back on track.

There have been previous occasions when some teams have threatened to breakaway, and it did not happen - but you are right that it seems more serious now than ever before.

If it happens, then the TV rights for the breakaway tournament would be (a) different from those which the BBC now possess and (b) up for grabs.

Could the BBC afford/want to bid/provide airtime twice for essentially the same sport?

Would ITV (due to be under new leadership by the end of this year) have the cash to swallow its pride and bid for the rights for the breakaway?

Or would it go to Sky?

Extraordinary news concerning F1. Throws the entire sport into disarray.

Looking on the positive side, this is great news for Silverstone.

Either:

a) BBC have a get-out clause similar to ITV and can get out of their F1 contract. This would mean losing all their rights including archive rights. BBC won't want to do this until FOTA goes ahead 100% (i.e. agreed race schedule etc).
b) If BBC don't have a get-out clause, they'll have to stick with F1 and FOTA will have to go somewhere else. FIA will not want FOTA and F1 on the same network. The only other viable home for FOTA is FTA and thus ITV.

Last night:

ITV1
May Contain Nuts: 2.8m (13%)

C4 (incl +1)
The Simpsons: 2.01m
Hollyoks: 1.48m
The Home Show: 1.65m
Undercover Boss: 2.8m
Big Brother: 2.06m

Good start for Undercover Boss, and May Contain Nuts kept almost all of last week's audience (that's not saying much, though).

It's strange they're not 7.45pm evening kick-offs - they usually are IIRC to make it easier for scheduling purposes.

Emmerdale will probably get 6.45pm most nights - ITV seem willing to sacrifice the Evening News now.


Exactly, and a big cliff-hanger with a 3-4 week break would do them all good. It also means they're not bounced around the schedules, as really that does nobody any favours - and it's the other programming that loses out.


Won't happen of course, because soap fans are idiots and don't believe sport has any right to interrupt the schedules, even though big events like the World Cup and Olympics are slotted into the schedules years before they air.

At the very least they should only show the soaps in their scheduled slots, dropping episodes rather than rescheduling them when necessary.

ITV could save a fortune on Corrie if they dropped the Wednesday episodes next year on Champions League weeks rather than rescheduling them.

It was promoted a lot on STV. To the extent I thought it might not be a network programme.

I thought that as well. But resting Casualty 1909 for a week isn't going to do anything for it's already disappointing ratings.

Could Casualty 1909 be moved to 8pm one week, or is it too gory?

Unless it goes out at 10.35pm. Would they be brave/stupid enough to do this. It will easily get double the average slot at over 3m.


How would ITV cope June - August
In all honesty the soaps tend to be the only new drama on ITV over the summer, and unlike in Australia where there Summer combines with Christmas there isn't much special here in Britain.

Peter Fincham's (ITV director of television) interview with The Mirror: http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/...5875-21453591/

Some points made:
- Piers Morgan's chatshow is moving to Saturday night later this year. (Maybe post X Factor slot?)
- Lewis is returning, with 4 episodes being filmed this summer.
- Wuthering Heights being shown later this year.
- He's had a meeting about an "important new period drama" series.
- No decision made about Foyle's War, after the current 3 episodes are made.
- He's sure Simon Cowell and Ant and Dec will remain on the channel.
- Ant and Dec are working on a new show to transmit early next year. No decision on Saturday Night Takeaway.
- He would not rule out bringing Jonathan Ross to ITV, if JR wants to.
- And other chat about how well BGT rated.

Jonathan Ross doing basically the same thing in the same slot on ITV1 is something I could see happening, especially the way the BBC are treating him at the moment.

As had been mentioned though, the same show, even though with ads, probably wouldn't get the same ratings.

Thanks for the link. Interesting that he cites Lost in Austen as a drama success - creatively, yes, but the ratings ISTR were pretty poor. Maybe the demographics were better than usual for ITV midweek drama?

He also notes the success of Whitechapel, but does not seem to have been asked whether it is coming back - a notable omission by the reporter, but perhaps the interview was done before all the speculation about a second series.

Surprised a little I guess BBC haven't made a late schedule change and put on a F1 documentary at 19:30 surrounding the breakaway given that it was "a matter of time" it was going to happen.... they've done plenty of interviews from the past few months to cover it.

Yes, I thought that, too. The demos must have been good. I'm pleased that Lewis is returning, and I think that the article suggests that Whitechapel (as I've said already) will be back.

Interesting article. I'm glad that it seems Cowell & Ant/Dec will be sticking with the channel. Also pleasing to see Lewis recomissioned.

It does seem as if ITV are completely getting rid of drama before 9pm-Heartbeat, The Royal, Primeval, Demons, Britannia High all axed and The Bill moved to 9pm. Interesting.

Also something which gets forgotten quite often-the juggernaut that is I'm A Celebrity-tends to get forgotten sometimes and I do remember after the 2007 series there was rumours it would be getting the axe, but I think it revived itself last year and it became fresher and managed to get into the top 10 programmes of the year! I think if it hadn't have been for the success of last years series it would have been in trouble. Obviously CH4 wanted BB to do a similar thing, but its gone in the opposite direction.

Overall yes a lot of stuff is being axed at ITV which is quality, but ITV is committed to a lot of shows and seems more aware of the audience now. Lewis obviously attracts an audience that ITV like, and I would think Kingdom attracts a similar audience. Maybe that will be safe if it doesn't fall any further?

IAC is still going strong and with international versions launching, I think it's safe for a few more years.

Lewis is a big seller overseas and is an ITV co-production with WGBH Boston, I think ITV1 are commissioning more from ITV Studios which is a shame because they could lose out on potential hits from indies like Kudos and Tiger Aspect, their big hitters X Factor and BGT are produced by talkbackTHAMES.

I think IAC has become a tired format along with Saturday Night Takeaway and both should be cancelled but it seems IAC is still popular with the viewers, so I don't blame ITV for sticking with it.

I think Pokerface should replace Saturday Night Takeaway but offering less cash as a prize.

Interesting that Piers Morgan is being moved to Saturdays. I think it would be a very good slot for him, especially if he followed The X Factor - I think that would guarantee him figures of 5 million +.

Also it's great that Lewis is coming back for four more episodes. Let's hope it is scheduled correctly next time and it has a decent lead in - a family film as PJ Millar pointed out earlier in the thread, isn't exactly the best lead into a detective drama!

That reminds me of when Live and Kicking moved to Scotland during the summer months, possibly in its final year. Did The Saturday Show move to Scotland for a while too?