DanR - i think you've caught enough fish now; go home and have some breakfast...

How do we think Sports Personality will rate? I predicted 7.2m on the prediction thread given the Olympic success this year but think I've gone too high.

Previous SPOTY ratings:
2000 - 7.20m (28.0%), peak - 9.80m
2001 - 7.10m (28.0%), peak - 9.40m
2002 - 6.60m (26.4%)
2003 - 8.30m (31.3%), peak - 10.70m at 22:15
2004 - 6.10m (24.0%), peak - 7.20m
2005 - 4.90m (18.0%), peak - 7.10m
2006 - 5.80m (22.0%), peak - 7.20m
2007 - 6.60m (25.1%), peak - 8.60m (31.0%)
2008 - 6.72m (25.7%), peak - 8.40m
2009 - 4.70m (16.8%), peak - 7.18m (23.2%) at 21:05
2010 - 7.06m (25.2%), peak - 12.58m (42.6%) at 21:00
2011 - 4.16m (17.0%), peak - 7.67m (31.7%) at 22:00
2012 - 10.57m (39.6%), peak - 14.47m (57.5%) at 22:25
2013 - 5.72m (22.0%), peak - 8.38m (33.5%) at 21:55
2014 - 6.00m (23.8%), peak - 8.90m
2015 - 5.78m (25.6%), peak - 8.19m (33.3%) at 21:00 (15 min peak)

I went for 10.2m. By comparison, your prediction looks normal.

Last year's one minute peak was 10.2m (41%). I can see this year's pretty high - Team GB and British sport in general has had a very successful year, more so than 2012. But, in 2012 it had a lead-in from a Strictly results show and aired from 19:30-22:25, so in the middle of primetime.

Excellent for Strictly, absolutely tremendous figure. Admittedly it was helped by ITV not bothering to show up at all bit it still had to perform regardless.

I'm not sure why, every time someone has the audacity to dare to either criticise or make a tongue in cheek comment against it, that The X Factor has to be dragged into it. It's getting slightly tiring now. It's in a different league, the shows have different purposes for being on screen now. The battle's over, it's time to stop trying to fight it.

I think SPOTY could be up slightly on last year due to British success in sport this year. I'd say 6.5m.

That's my thinking. The X Factor is finished yet people are still having arguments about it. It's tedious.

Well done to SCD! Exciting times for tonight's final!

Edit: oh, it was the final final. Still fantastic!

Someone reminded me just now The Apprentice is on tonight - Sunday final catches me every year!

It certainly doesn't bore me though it does have more padding than an NFL game (in every sense) but then it's background TV for me and I just flick over to the sport if I'm having to watch live.

SCD is a warm, happy show that fits perfectly in the autumn. I'd much rather watch the Apprentice but I can see why folk love it, I get it unlike GBBO.

Nice to see MM carried over the 7m mark. I'd rather see it in a studio but it shows old school variety still works.

Highest peaks of 2016 for the talent / entertainment genre:

14.80m (54.3%) - The Great British Bake Off (26/10)
- http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showp...ostcount=10411
13.10m (57.8%) - Strictly (17/12)
- http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showp...ostcount=17819
11.71m (46.0%) - I'm a Celebrity (13/11)
- http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showp...ostcount=13093
11.62m (51.5%) - Britain's Got Talent (16/04)
- http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showp...postcount=5883
9.25m (42.1%) - The X Factor (03/09)
- http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showp...postcount=3123
~8m - The Voice UK (09/01)
- http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showp...ostcount=11589

You went far too high Hassaan!

That's way too high!!

I think 6.5m is about right, should get a nice peak of 9-10m though.

Thanks DMN.

Imagine the ratings we'd have with those shares if there was heavy snow like in 2010!

Thanks DMN. This time last year, that list looked a bit like this:

14.51m (57.2%) - The Great British Bake Off (07/10)
13.41m (52.4%) - Britain's Got Talent (31/05)
12.2m (52.7%) - Strictly Come Dancing (19/12)
11.2m (44.5%) - I'm a Celebrity (15/11)
9.9m (41.0%) - The X Factor (13/12)
9.7m (42.5%) - The Voice UK (31/01)

What's interesting is that two of the peaks this year were for the finals. Compared with four of them last year.

The Apprentice Final always feels ridiculously out of place on a Sunday. Even after all these years it feels wrong. Wish they'd keep it in midweek personally.

Amazing share

Why do they keep saying SCD was Len's last show last night - surely his last appearance will be on the Christmas Day special which has already been recorded ?

It was his last live show

Assume a rhetorical question as you have answered it yourself.

The guardian is saying this years strictly is the most popular ever. I'm pretty sure the 2010 series was the highest rated?
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-r...series-ratings

One word, three syllables..........


If you measure popularity by ratings, then yeah. But it'll be interesting to see the breakdown in demographics......

Yes, that article has rather a lot of inaccuracies - such as saying the show is 12 years old when it's 14.

Strictly consolidated averages since 2004
Series 14 (2016) - 10.82m (10.80m inc. launch show)*
Series 13 (2015) - 10.63m (10.60m inc. launch show)
Series 12 (2014) - 10.25m (10.21m inc. launch show)
Series 11 (2013) - 10.71m (10.67m inc. launch show)
Series 10 (2012) - 10.80m (10.73m inc. launch show)
Series 9 (2011) - 10.98m (10.88m inc. launch show)
Series 8 (2010) - 11.23m (11.10m inc. launch show)
Series 7 (2009) - 9.34m
Series 6 (2008) - 9.64m (9.53m inc. launch show)
Series 5 (2007) - 9.05m (8.88m inc. launch show)
Series 4 (2006) - 8.55m
Series 3 (2005) - 8.26m
Series 2 (2004) - 8.61m
Series 1 (2004) - 6.45m

* may be 10.9-11m once the last few officials are released

It started in 2004 so is 12 years old but on Series 14

Awful for ITV last night

SPOTY figures are interesting, huge increase YoY in 2003 (Rugby World Cup?) then awful to 2010 but it did end up against peak X Factor finals some years. The issue this year is that everyone is saying it's not a close contest & the odd start time of 6:40

Yeah, they had two series a year in the first year, The first one was in the Spring/Summer but as it was so popular they brought it back for the pre Christmas Slot we know it in now and kept it there.

X Factor started the same year so they're equally old, just XF has done one less series as they kept it to one a year