Amazing to see X Factor 3.5m ahead in 2009. It really all went wrong for X Factor didn't it?

That would explain why the Gangland programme also got a big wraparound advert on G2 in yesterday's Guardian, not always a place where Channel 5 feel the need to advertise.

Well it failed at that, an interesting subject matter but not a high quality programme at all.

Believed its own hype and stretched the contrivance factor too far. Segment of audience got fed up at being played or the blatently obvious attempts to play them.

Confirmed: 5USA will screen a two-hour special featuring all the highlights from The 68th Emmy Awards on Monday 19th September at 10pm.

Source: C5 Press.

Monday 1 September 1997

ITV
17:40 - Early Evening News: 6.99m
18:30 - Regional news
19:30 - Coronation Street: 14.50m
20:00 - Inspector Morse: Absolute Conviction (R): 6.58m
22:00 - News at Ten: 7.17m
22:45 - Regional news

BBC1
17:35 - Neighbours (R): 5.66m
18:00 - Six O'Clock News: 7.15m
18:35 - Regional news
19:00 - This is Your Life: Jeremy Guscott: 6.76m
19:30 - Mastermind: the Final Final (?)
20:00 - EastEnders: 12.68m
20:30 - Only Fools and Horses (R): 8.67m
21:00 - Nine O'Clock News: 8.26m
21:50 - Diana: the People's Princess: 6.80m
22:45 - Preston Front Under 2.88m

BBC2
20:30 - The Travel Show: 3.34m
21:00 - Changing Rooms: 5.04m
21:30 - All Mod Cons: 3.07m
22:00 - Sykes (R) Under 2.21m
22:30 - Newsnight: 2.24m

C4
16:30 - Countdown: 3.42m
16:55 - Montel Williams: 2.19m

C5
21:00 - Robin Cook's Invasion: Part Two: 1.25m

Sky News
17:00 - Diana: A Nation Mourns: 0.46m

Sky 1
19:00 - The Simpsons: 0.56m

Sky Sports 1
19:00 - Live Football: Bolton v Everton: 0.75m

Movie Channel
22:00 - Film: Desperado (Premiere): 0.52m

I know it still brings in good numbers for ITV and of course money, but it should have ended in 2010. Should always finish on a high.

Then a story will always be, "Strictly performing well, but still unable to match X Factor's success in 2010." But instead we have now "X Factor continues to underperform."

Pick TV have set the return date of Z Nation, they'll be showing Season 3 from 11th October at 10pm.

No surprise that they're giving it a good slot, it's by far and away their most popular program, nearly 150,000 ahead of their 2nd most popular. Z Nation averaged about 300,000 viewers on Pick during Season 2.

I'm really pleased that they have a hit acquisition, they worked really hard with the promotion of it and it seems to have paid off. I bet Channel 5 are kicking themselves that they didn't pick up the rights to it for 5USA or 5Star.

I understand where you're coming from and I guess for us here on DS that might be our ideal theory, but in practice a commercial business like ITV has successfully managed to squeeze several more years out of it, and several £millions too. You could also say that it's given a platform for the winners and runners up to forge out a pop/presenting career that they might not have had. I think they were right to continue it for those reasons.

In hindsight we can now look back and see the viewing figures decline, but ITV possibly thought they would stay at these high figures for longer than they did.

It would have been a brave or stupid person to end X Factor after 2010's series. It was at the top of the mountain. It was the rise from 2008 that put it on the map. It has been written many times here how they fumbled X Factor in 2011.

But it's not just Strictly that X Factor compares unfavourably to in terms of ratings now, it's Britain's Got Talent and I'm A Celebrity. They still do well after all these years. How have they bucked big falls in ratings? Why have they bucked big falls in ratings?

Two questions we have no definitive answers for.

It would have been a RIDICULOUS business decision to end the show in 2010. It's like Cadbury's deciding not to sell Dairy Milk anymore because it's so popular. Honestly, this thread baffles me sometimes.

Think X factor fell because it chased controversy/manipulation for high ratings. Short term gain, long term pain. The other two haven't lost trust with the public

POG dogs returned lower than I would have liked last night. 3.9m in that 8.30pm isn't poor, but its a bit lower than last series. Should rise in the coming weeks as viewers find its back.

The Sadie Hartley doc did fine. One its slot, and according to broadcast stayed at 3.4m throughout its broadcast until 10.30pm. I know Lygo said he wanted more real-life crime docs on ITV, so I expect more of these.

Be interesting to see how Goodnight, Sweetheart did.

It was pretty good and seems to have gone down well in the threads here.

They all appear to want to do more and this set up a series pretty well. Like it had never been away in terms of how it played to its audience.

But viewing figures will likely decide tomorrow. And not sure it was ever huge enough to get the 4 - 5 million it needs.

Christmas in 1962/2016 special would be nice if not.

I was impressed with it and Im not alone, very strong return out of the blue like that. There is certainly scope for a short series there imo-obviously viewing figures will matter and Friday nights aren't necessarily the best showcase slots.

I enjoyed Goodnight Sweetheart, but I think it should have been a 60 minute episode. By the time the episode was set up, it was over. Hopefully we'll get a full series.

It always astonished me after the huge high of 2010 that three of the then hugely popular panel didn't return for 2011. Viewers returned in droves at the beginning of the 2011 series expecting the same fix, but slowly they realised it wasn't the same and even though the performance was still commanding the rot set in there and then. Its been downhill ever since.

That's probably about right. But it doesn't explain why the audience didn't surge when Simon and Cheryl returned in 2014.

Sure the ratings have dropped...but amazing really that the show survived that 2011 loss of the three judges. No other similar show has had to contend with such a loss of personnel in one go

Young Hyacinth was not worthy of a one-off. Patricia Routledge IS Hyacinth. The BBC should have left KUA well alone.

I predict tonight:

Goodnight Sweetheart: 4.2m
Young Hyacinth 3.6m

Lady C: 2.5m

Any more?

Any predictions for Cold Feet on Monday? I'm guessing 6.3m.

6.6m, was thinking it could be higher but there doesn't seem to be that much of a buzz around it

By the end of Young Hyacinth it was starting to click but - despite knowing the premise - I spent too long trying to relate too many people to their future characters and by the time you got the hang of that it was over. Might watch more if it happened.

Goodnight Sweetheart was the standout though. A cast that slipped back into a show after 17 years as if they really had time travelled from the day after it last aired. In terms of stepping into the parts if not appearance (Ron!)

Hardly anything other than praise for it from pretty much everyone - most unusual - even people who had not seen the original were impressed.

Marks and Gran have always loved this show so I was not surprised how well written it was. 30 minutes flew by.

Easily the best written and acted of the sit coms so far with actual jokes and poignant moments and if any justice we will be seeing an hour long Christmas special.

This suits Nicholas Lyndhurst better than straight acting.

As I have said for years. Write in a part for David Jason and this will do well at Christmas.

Whatever the viewing figures I bet the AIs for this are good.

I can see Goodnight Sweetheart returning, it was the strongest out of all the revivals. They have a new dynamic to play with going from the 60s to 2017

It's had a fair bit of promotion though, and there's quite a buzz on FB.