Now, I had forgotten things were like this on here.

The National Lottery is always quite stable up against X Factor and the like isn't it. Pulls in respectable numbers whatever is against it.

I hadn't. One more week of relative peace and the immaturity will start again in earnest on both sides of the coin.

Lets just say that its banter, We also have Big Brother as well to talk about.

2015 has been little short of an embarrassment for ITV away from a steady Broadchurch and Britain's Got Talent. Not enough commitment or quality commissions from the broadcaster who seem to be happily losing the plot to make a quick buck. Admittedly they seem to have belatedly realised that they need more depth, hence the commissions of the likes of Victoria, Marcella and The Durrells to join Jekyll and Hyde and Beowulf but still it isn't really enough.

Saying that, I have to be fair to their drama department. Whilst they haven't aired enough drama over the summer overall it's the one department which has been churning out decent results for ITV. Factual, though, needs a desperate overhaul and is where the key weakness lies. Whilst BBC One can fall back on their factual department to get through sticky spots ITV simply cannot.

I really hope that line up in The Sun is incorrect. I'm feeling underwhelmed by both the Celebrity Big Brother and Strictly line ups to date though the latter isn't complete yet.

God it reminds me how little I have followed this thread lately. Things have calmed down at work so I'm here to offer "Respite".

Oh my gawd.....

What did Indiana Jones get last night ? Probably another half decent rating

I don't know how the Rugby is going to impact on Strictly but I do think its a good line up too. The next RWC is in Japan and wont make for such attractive scheduling so ITV should really try and ram home its advantage this time.

I agree, I think the drama department is actually okay.

ITV factual is poor with an occasional good program. Joana Lumley was a good series.

I find BBC One factual is mainly bland but watchable. They have a problem that they fall back on there factual too much. Maybe an opening for ITV....

England games could massively hurt it. I expect it will do quite well the rugby.

As for next time, I don't believe they have the rights yet do they? Could well go to sky if I'm honest.

I must admit none of the SCD names I heard about has made me want to tweet about it or post in the SCD forum on here.

If Eamonn Holmes signs for this year's CBB it will definitely be worth a watch.

Thanks for these ratings Ray! Christmas Day 1986 was brilliant for BBC 1. Of course the EastEnders ratings are phenomenal, especially the 10m+ omnibus ratings.

I'll look forward to some more

Wow, so the Den and Angie divorce omnibus was 10m? Incredible.

Coronation Street always complained about that record rating for Christmas Day EastEnders in 1996, because the omnibus was added. Those Christmas Day episodes were great as there was the Den & Angie divorce papers and also Arthur Fowler having a mental breakdown over stealing money. The latter is almost forgotten now.

That was a good Christmas on BBC1. John Sullivan had his 2 big sitcoms on BBC1, the Just Good Friends finale and Only Fools. It was the infamous Royal Flush episode of Only Fools that John Sullivan wasn't happy with. The original version is rarely repeated, just the edited version with studio audience. Del was horrible in that episode.

Thank you for these figures Ray, and for all the others you've posted. They're really appreciated.

To put them in channel order:


A few things stand out - I think the BBC dropped a ball airing Annie, The Musical at 3.10pm and Dumbo mopped up with an excellent figure. Cindarella then proceeded to lose half of those viewers; I'm sure it looked a good idea at the time. Where did those 5m viewers go who watched Only Fools and Horses but not Miss Marple?

People may say Christmas television is as good now as yesteryear but there's more variety, on ITV at least, then compared to now.

I agree that they're scheduling is poor, but its a combined thing of poor commissions and scheduling. I mean you have Flockstars (will this flop stop them commissioning such rubbish?) plummeting to the depths on Thursday at 8.30pm, then a new travel series after at 9pm expected to pull in a a decent audience with such a poor lead in beforehand facing a strong BBC factual series.

Most new programmes are scheduled for 9pm. There seem to be very little slots for new programming for 8pm or 7pm. Only at weekends is this possible.

The Stephen Fry series, like Joanna Lumley would be a good shout for an 8pm series. Like tonight on Ch4, Time Crashers I bet will get a strong audience of around 2m+, because its scheduled well.

One good scheduling move ITV have is next Sunday with a nature series at 7pm, entertainment at 8pm and a drama at 9pm. That is a good mix of programmes.

This week there is a few new shows on itv that are in the wrong place in my opinion of course.

1. Animal Mums - which is on tonight at 7pm instead I would have put it at 8pm tonight and had a 2 hour drama at 9pm - 11pm.

2. Stephen Fry's Central America - which is on Thurs at 9pm I would have put on Mon or Wed at 9pm instead.

I think The X Factor is going to struggle at the weekend. Launching Bank Holiday Weekend isn't the best idea. They should have launched it this weekend. The weather has been very poor throughout the evenings so that would have benefited it.

I think the Saturday show will do OK - but I think the Sunday show will struggle. A lot of its younger audience will be out that night and thus limit its chances of holding up well. I predict around 8.5m for Saturday and 7.5m for Sunday.

I agree, the drama department shouldn't be tarred with the same brush as some of the others. It has had a solid year. It has launched Home Fires and Safe House with decent success and both are returning. Broadchurch 2 had a bumpy ride but came out of it with great ratings still. They've had success with miniseries like Black Work and Code of A Killer and some decent results from returners like Vera. The only disappointments have been Mr Selfridge dropping, Arthur and George flopping and some slightly underwhelming results from returners like Foyle's War and Midsomer (although they were far from disastrous).

The next year or so is going to be a big one for the drama department. This Autumn they're launching Jekyll & Hyde and Unforgotten and there's Peter and Wendy (not sure if that's something that could return). Meanwhile next year they're launching quite a lot. Off the top of my head they're launching Beowulf, Jericho, Victoria, Marcella, The Durrells, Tennison, Maigret, Harry Price: Ghost Hunter and there's a couple of big miniseries in Tutankhamen and Doctor Thorne. Compared to this year and 2014 that is a lot, plus the likes of Grantchester and Home Fires are back for their sophomore series. The drama department certainly has ambition and looks in decent shape just now.

However entertainment isn't great. Ninja Warrior was a decent hit as was You're Back in The Room and Mission Survive did OK but they've had a string of embarrassing flops. Stars in Their Eyes, Get Your Act Together, Play To The Whistle, Celebrity Squares, BBQ Champ, Flockstars and Funny Old Week all spring to mind. As does Newzoids sadly. So definitely more hits than misses in what hasn't been a vintage year for them. BGT had a good year but Dancing on Ice was desperately missed and Takeaway looked a bit shaky. X Factor is on very uncertain ground too so they'll be looking to I'm A Celebrity to have another good year. The only new entertainment series launching this Autumn that springs to mind is Eternal Glory and I'm dubious about its chances. What's a bit strange is that in Q1 of next year they've got quite a lot of blank slots with SITE, GYAT, Planet's Got Talent and Family Fortunes not returning yet they've not announced anything that'll fill them. I guess Beowulf might take one hour but I'd have thought we might have heard something else by now. Back in The Room is only doing 4 episodes again so it won't be that. I think Ninja Warrior might be back in Q1 given that they're filming already but I'm not sure how it'll do away from BGT and possibly against The Voice. I hope they do something in entertainment a bit more ambitious than they did this year to try and replace DOI.

Factual is a mess. There's no identity at all and some of the shows have been way too niche. There have been some small successes like Joanna Lumley and Long Lost Family is still there but there have been too many disasters to list. I don't think they know who they're targeting and that's a real problem. But I think the biggest problem of all is scheduling. This runs across all departments and some of it this year has been awful. The Wednesday scheduling of Newzoids/Delivery Man out of Give a Pet a Home was a particular howler. Stephen Fry's new show against WDYTYA leading out of Flock Stars is another. Saturdays and Sundays in January/February were dreadfully put together too and there just generally seems to be a complete lack of thought across the schedule. Putting School Swap up against Are Our Kids Tough Enough was a prime example. Until they sort the scheduling out their ratings will always be handicapped.

Anything over 7.5m would be good for ITV. At present they are mostly looking at sub 2m for anything that isn't the soaps. It would also top Corrie.

It hadn't actually occurred to me until you mentioned it that the Sunday show won't benefit from more young viewers watching TV to the extent it normally does. X Factor has never aired a Sunday show on a BH weekend before so they're in untested waters. BGT has and they haven't done great. Next Sunday could definitely struggle. I'd agree with those predictions, they look about right (weather depending).

Not sure whether they should have launched this weekend. They've been criticised about launching too early in August before and they weren't to know how bad the weather was. I do think the BH will hurt them though.

I agree Score, good post.

Entertainment and comedy is where I always allow for lots of flops, because they are hard areas. I would much rather take an itv route of doing loads and most being flops with a few good ones, than the BBC's strategy of 1 or 2 per year and both being bland.

I take that same stand point with the BBC trying new comedy out.

That said if the same mistakes are made again and again that is inexcusable.

Good list of Drama for ITV but you can build a channel on drama alone, same aplies for BBC One, you need light and shade.

Some excellent points Score.

I think their best bet next year at the start of January is to launch Ninja Warrior UK the 1st Saturday of the new year at 7pm with perhaps a new entertainment series at 8pm and drama at 9pm. Keep Beowulf back until BGT starts and give it a strong lead in on Saturday, and a break between J&H.

Sunday could place Endeavour at 8pm on the 1st Sunday of Jan, and then the next 2hr drama following on when it finishes, i.e. Midsomer Murders.

They do have I think Name That Tune, Out Of This World in the entertainment stakes, but again with recent efforts I don't have much hope for them.