she must have a good agent, or works cheap!

Ye Gods!

Finally, one thing I have really been enjoying on TV is slated by everyone and gets poor viewing figures.

It's really is top telly.

Not talking about you CheekyTV, we all have different tastes when it comes to TV, but the fact that it's an all black cast might mean that many would dismiss it out of hand without watching it?

It is so Sunday Night feel good TV.

Thats heartening to see for the repeat, considering the relatively weak 4 million-ish figures its been pulling during the week. A fairly hefty total. I really do think they ought to stick to the weekends with the nature stuff though. Thats clearly when the audience is about and where they prosper.

Mixed figures last night. ITV1 completely dominated and heavily dented particuarly BBC1. I expected the DOI final to be down, because it hasn't had as much buzz as last year, but to average virtually the same for the entire series as last year is good for ITV. The main shows have been up, but the results down.

A little lower than I expected for Lewis tbh-a show which needs to be getting very strong figures to remain safe I would have thought. But I can easily see it increasing next week to over 7m with the earlier start time and a head start on No1 Ladies. Also ITV managed 12m in the 8pm slot this week, so should manage 7m next week with similar competition.

Awful day for BBC1!! We all know ITV have days where they fall to 10% shares etc, but for the BBC a 14.8% share all day is pretty poor, but they deserved it airing 3 hours of repeats in primetime-of shows which have only recently aired! Though No1 Ladies seems to be the biggest casualty from over 6m to under 4m for a very expensive drama. BBC drama isn't doing too well so far this year with No1 Ladies & Mistresses both below 4m and considerably down on what they have got in the past. If if wasn't for the recession ITV drama would be in a much stronger state, with hit after hit so far this year which is quite rare anytime for ITV.

BBC2 held up very well against DOI, attracting a different demo and I think CDWM was a repeat on CH4, though Secret Millionaire should have reached 3m I think considering the figures for the last series. Also a poor start for Quiz Night-I expected at least 1.8-2m for that.

FIVE held up very well with yet another repeat of Shadow Hal,but I Spy didn't perform too well.

Strong night for SKY1, but Two Pints seems a little low on BBC3.

I wonder if rolls will be reversed completely next Sunday.... BBC One with 22%+ share and ITV1 ~14% or less share.

I think Lewis is probably safe as it sells well abroad plus it's co-produced with WGBH Boston. Plus by airing it at 8pm, they will get more ad money for it whereas last year, they showed mostly trailers as they'd used the ad minutes on DoI.

It will be interesting how the Living tribute to Jade Goody does, I don't expect it will do as highly as the wedding special but anything over 0.5m will be great for Living.

Not next Sunday...but it will easily happen the Sunday after next I would have thought.

ITV have a very strong line up next week and they should win 3-11pm easily.

Disappointed with the figures for No1 Ladies Agency because imo it's a really good show and is ideal for a Sunday night, but am not too suprised because of the competition. I am surprised, however, that the Beeb didn't wait a week and put it on in the LRTC slot because their's nothing really in the content that would need a post watershed slot.

Great ratings again for DOI.

I haven't heard anything about a tribute show yet?

And yeah, Zoe, you're probably right... ITV's line-up actually looks pretty strong... I'd expect Beeb to win thru to 3pm, and then ITV to win thru to 11pm.

It was on Broadcast and it will be a two-parter. the cynical side of me thinks it was done ages in advance.

Er, didn't the one-off have over 6 million viewers last year? And last week's episode had over 5 million. So I don't think that's a very fair conclusion to come to.

I fail to see the problem some have with Claudia. I think shes a good presenter and is suited to this kind of role

Good figure for Dancing on Ice, although I expected more. But then again this hasn't been the most exciting series ever.

I haven't watched that show, but what did it get last week?
Is it generally seen as a good programme on here?

I don't think she's a very good presenter at all. And when you think of who she's replacing, there's really no comparison. She's just a slightly more zany Kate Thornton.

True.

It's a shame as I think it's thoroughly decent Sunday night fare, but we can draw the conclusion that the rest of the UK doesn't think so.

I'll reserve judgement until I see her on it but I like her, alot. Shes profoundly popular in the Strictly loop and I can in many ways see why.

DOI is down but this series has been pretty mind numbing bar a few stand out moments besides thats not an excuse. SCD was pretty woeful last year in contrast to previous series' but ended on 13m.

I think that the problem with Claudia in this example is that although Angus Deayton was atrocious at interviewing the contestants, most people on here seemed to feel that he was very funny indeed as the narrator. Very funny.

Wheras with Claudia Winkleman she's very 'vanilla' as a presenter and although she may be nice and agreeable, she just tends to offer mugging facial expressions as a substitute for wit.
Contrary to what you feel I just think that she is not suited to this particular role considering who she's following. I think she has her work cut out for her. I suppose it depends on how funny she is at adlibbing and delivering a script.

I can see how somebody such as Jack Dee would make a suitable replacement for Angus Deayton, in fact maybe an excellent choice who may possibly even be better,.....but Claudia Winkleman? Taking on the role left vacant by Angus Deayton?

I think DOI will finish with an official series average about 0.1m behind last years series. The low rating skate-offs of the first few weeks put it on the backfoot and despite the mid section of the series levelling the averages up again, the finale will set it back.

It isnt very good, but then again, Sunday was one of only three or four nights of the year when ITV is going to sweep all before it and there isnt much point in trying to battle it. As I understand it BBC1 won every slot on Saturday, so its instant swings and roundabouts.
Although, if they are going to show a repeat why dont they show the old Barker/Corbett silentish films like By the Sea-havent seen that since-well probably since 1982.

According to Wikipedia around 8% of the UK population is in Scotland so you'd have to factor that in when looking at Lewis's rating.
Plus I imagine some people would have taped the ending so I'd imagine a figure nearer to 7.5m when the officials come out.
It's still a very strong figure, 7m isn't a poor figure in anyone's book.

But its like comparing chalk with cheese. Angus was a comedian and that was his approach. Just because he presented the show like that doesn't mean Claudia will. She might have a completely different style. A good comparison to make would be when Holly Willoughby took over The Xtra Factor. She had a completely different style to Ben and Fearne.

Cost - the repeat fees of a 27 year old comedy will be much higher than a 44 minute old-repeat of Antiques Roadshow. The BBC are suffering from the financial effects of the recession as well, despite their guaranteed income.



I say that in this multichannel age, any BBC1 or ITV1 show that cracks 7 million can consider itself a big ratings hit.

I think the point is why would you replace chalk with cheese? Why not replace chalk with chalk? Angus was quite an integral element to the show and now that has completely changed, in turn, the show has also changed, and not likely for the better.

Sunday 22nd March
USA Overnights

1. 60 Minutes........................16.25m.....4.1/11.....CBS...8pm
2. NCAA Overrun...................15.53m.....4.4/14.....CBS...7pm
3. Desperate Housewives.....14.66m.....4.9/12.....ABC...10pm
4. Amazing Race....................11.63m.....3.2/8.......CBS...9pm
5. Cold Case..........................10.79m.....2.4/6.......CBS...10pm

Good night for CBS, helped by the Obama interview on 60 Minutes which led them to a slender win over ABC in the key demo. However, viewers did seem to lose interest as the second half hour rated more than 2 million lower than the first. The Amazing Race got a bit of a boost although it also lost viewers into its second half hour. Cold Case edged out Brothers and Sisters on total viewers though lost out among 18-49's.

Elsewhere, Desperate Housewives was the top 18-49 show of the day. For NBC, there was good news from Celebrity Apprentice which improved on last week but Kings dipped lower to a pitiful 4.6m at 8pm.

Complete US Overnight Ratings

Also:
Good news for UK indie producer, Optomen as its "Kitchen Nightmares" series with Gordon Ramsay has been recommissioned by FOX.

According to one of The Bill's fan forums, it's going to be around July time and on a Thursday. Somebody on that site e-mailed Talkback Thames about it, and that's what they are on course for at the moment.