are we sure it's a documentary? I quite like the prospect of Michael Burke in a toga saying 'titter ye not'.

Thanks. That seems rather early. It should pull in big numbers since it's up against Mr&Mrs (another 3m show that needs axing) which should be a problem for Midsommer at 8pm.

Good. I hope (UFC 185lbs champ) Michael Bisping or (Miami Dolphins running back) Jay Ajayi win.

Yeah I would have done this for that Sunday.

6pm All Star Mr & Mrs Christmas
7pm The Chase Christmas Special
8pm Midsomer Murders

I agree that ASM&M needs a rest now. Its past its best now. But if they did axe it, Schofield would be only doing This Morning. I don't think he's worth the golden handuffs deal.

But I think despite the poor lead in, Midsomer Murders should manage a sold 5m in that slot. The Sound Of Music Live managed 4m last year with the same 2.5m lead in. And Midsomer will likely attract the older audience.

I can't for the life of me understand why SPOTY does so well though.

Oh if only Ajayi could get on the list - he'd have a real chance of winning!

Team will be Leicester despite it being a 2016 award,
Murray probably,
Overseas will be tricky.

I would imagine a female winner would be desired too. Someone needs to go on future banknotes after all...

Are you saying ITV should axe The Chase totally? The celeb specials don't do that well (or as well as the regular editions) but I think its a safe choice for ITV to still have.

Tipping Point is doing 2.6m-3m in a 6pm, ITV used to put YBF doing under 2m. Its facing an inflated Pointless which itr never does on weekendays (which I note is not too far behind Pointless during the week, both in rpt's - 5.15pm Pointless 2.7m 4pm Tipping Point 2.4m)

Tipping Point is doing fine in that 6pm slot. Next year they can create the combo of: 6pm Tipping Point Lucky Stars followed by 7pm The Chase.

Magician will not last another series. And MTP.......well its av. under 2m...nuff said! JR is having a break.

There has been a bit of a Digiguide update (although ITV is showing under ITV2 for me). ITV Christmas Day updated as follows :

9:55 Film : Despicable Me 2
11:55 Film: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
15:00 The Queen
15:10 ITV News
15:25 Film: The Lion King
17:10 ITV News
17:30 Emmerdale
18:30 Blankety Blank
19:30 Coronation Street
20:30 Maigret
22:30 Farewell Hilda
23:30 ITV News

ITV Christmas Day schedule update

I really, really like that scheduule. I think its the best ITV Christmas Day schedule in years. And I notice they have the Harry Potters back. I suspect the 1st film is on Christmas Eve.

Though I would take out the news at 3.10pm and pull forward The Lion King. A much neede tribute to Corrie Hilda.

EDIT: Harry Potter starts from Christmas Eve until the New Year.

Source: square eyes on the Radio Times Thread.

If they want female winners then how about the women's hockey team who won gold at the Olympics. One slight problem with giving it to Leicester is their poor league form so far this season.

Would the Chase do any better? It's doing great at 5pm but that's an easier slot and everyone knows it is on. My mum adores TP but she never knew it was shown on a Saturday. The BBC builds shows over years, allowing people to find and grow to like a show. Pointless and Countryfile are great examples.

ITV have no LE shows drawing over 4m that I can think off besides the Cowell and Dec ones. Once you see 4m as being a big hit, you start to view 3m differently.
There's less justification for this scale in the New Year though since the BBC are also struggling there.

Maybe the BBC has decided that the LE era is over and people want drama on weekends. First Sunday, now Saturday with Who and Taboo. And of course Casualty. Hope not.

PS - has the Cube been axed then?

C4 Christmas Day (according to Digiguide)

09:00 Film : Postman Pat The Movie
10:40 The Simpsons (x2)
11:35 Father Christmas
12:05 The Snowman
12:35 Film: The Sword in the Stone
14:05 C4 News
14:15 The Alternative Christmas Message
14:25 Film: It's A Wonderful Life
16:55 The Snowman and the Snowdog
17:30 We're Going on a Bear Hunt
18:00 Film: Home Alone
20:00 Gogglesprogs Christmas Special
21:00 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown
22:00 Alan Carr's Christmas Chat Show

Again from square eyes on the Radio Times Thread

I like Ch4 Christmas Day Schedule too. Is The Sword In The Stone a premiere?

BIB This part of the day should do well. 2m+.

How is 2.6m v Pointless okay but 2.6m v SCD no good? You can do a block of TP/TC from 6-8 but they won't draw better than 3m. That's probably fine in the autumn as they're death slots but it's still rubbish really.

People know that those quizzes are daytime quizzes so you're sending a message when you put them in primetime. Maybe they should launch a drama in the spring and if it works, move it to 7pm in the autumn. A Robin Hood equivalent. Dick Turpin or something.

There's a lot of people who watch SCD because there is nothing else on.

That's a good solution but the BBC is conscious that football hardly ever wins any SPoTY awards. They also need to recognise the Olympians but might be wary of the cycling success now ().

Mo might win SPoTY.

From Broadcast:

Friday
Gogglebox: 2m (9.1%)

Sunday
My Mother and Other Strangers: 3.8m (16.1%)
Saving Private Ryan: 1m (4.2%)
Humans: 950k (4%)

inc. +1 where applicable

A decent Christmas Day schedule from ITV if it sticks. They've got a good selection of movies through the day that should do well. They do need to start The Lion King at 3.10pm, but their news obligations might mean they can't as they don't have a lunchtime bulletin.

C4's isn't bad either but I can't see Gogglesprogs doing as well as last year now they've done a series.

Does anyone know if BBC1 have made any changes? I can't access Digiguide until this evening.

Thanks Ray. Much appreciated

Gogglebox doing well by Ch4 standards against IAC, but its looking increasingly tired. I bet Ch4 will continue with it until it starts to drop under 1m.

MMAOS not doing too badly, although its lost a good 1.6m from week 1.

I suspect Humans will be given a third series but moved to Spring slot.

That will put them on the back foot against BBC1 with Frozen. They'd be better cutting the ads between HP, and placing the news between films:

9:55 Film : Despicable Me 2
11:55 ITV News
12.05 Film: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
15:00 The Queen
15:10 Film: The Lion King
16:55 ITV News
17:15 Emmerdale
18:15 Blankety Blank
19:15 Coronation Street
20:15 Maigret
22:15 Farewell Hilda
23:15 ITV News

I can't see Humans being moved to spring. They wont be able to film a third series that quick. Series 2 was a four month shoot. Plus the only reason why series 2 aired later in the year was because production of series 2 didn't begin until may due to cast members other commitments.

BARB have updated.

Top Ten Most Watched Programmes w/e 20 November:
Strictly Come Dancing (Sat) - 12.24m
Planet Earth II - 11.60m
I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! (Mon) - 11.40m (10.84m exc. +1)
Coronation Street (Mon 1930) - 8.09m (8.00m exc. +1)
Emmerdale (Tue) - 7.23m (7.01m exc. +1)
The X Factor (Sat) - 7.10m (6.88m exc. +1)
Michael McIntyre’s Big Show - 6.84m
EastEnders (Mon) - 6.81m
Countryfile - 6.69m
The Apprentice - 6.60m

Other notable ratings:
Strictly Come Dancing: The Results (Sun) - 11.03m
The X Factor Results (Sun) - 6.73m (6.50m exc. +1)
The Missing - 6.59m
Children in Need - 6.56m
Casualty - 5.66m
Six O’Clock News (Mon) - 5.47m
International Football: England v Spain - 5.27m (5.18m exc. +1)
My Mother and Other Strangers - 4.76m
Watchdog - 4.47m
The One Show (Fri) - 4.45m
Holby City - 4.28m
DIY SOS: The Big Build - 4.24m
Ordinary Lies - 4.19m
This Time Next Year - 3.78m (3.66m exc. +1)
Gogglebox - 3.14m (2.60m exc. +1)
Tennis (Sun 1800) - 2.99m
Humans - 1.90m (1.63m exc. +1)

I’m a Celebrity Week 1 Officials:
Mon - 10.84m/11.40m (+1.97m/+2.05m)
Wed - 9.79m/10.39m (+2.06m/+2.18m)
Thu - 9.84m/10.67m (+1.94m/+2.10m)
Fri - 9.03m/9.68m (+2.39m/+2.52m)
Sat - 9.75m10.20m (+2.13m/+2.22m)
Sun - 10.45m/10.95m (+1.68m/+1.78m)

Is that the colourised version of It's a Wonderful Life or the black-and-white original ?

Thanks Lewie.

I'm A Celebrity rating very well. And Strictly's Blackpool show did very well to get 12m when it's not event TV don't you think Derek?

It's quite sad but I think 6-7m is now the peak that X Factor can achieve. People are just not invested in the show anymore and while I do still enjoy it finishing it in 2019 will be the best idea.

Excellent for Strictly, IAC and PE2.

I'm so shocked about Humans. It's got to be one of the fastest 'hero to zero' moments for a TV drama ever.

Strictly come Dancing's series average is 10.61M which is only 0.1M down from the whole of the series average of last series. Astounding stats seeing as we still have 7 ratings to come.

Thanks lewi

BIB Well clearly from these ratings, even excl +1 Emmerdale is ahead of EE. So for a good 5 weeks its been on the back foot.

Excellent for SCD and PEII.

I'm A Celeb doing really well, with almost all timeshifts over 2m. No other show could sustain such high ratings for 3 weeks.