Thanks for those. I think Cestrian18's point was largely based on the official series averages - all three are down year on year. Admittedly Britain's Got Talent's drop could have been avoided but I don't think being out of half term week and the final being on Bank Holiday Saturday was the entire reason.

I can personally see The Voice and Britain's Got Talent doing well for their audition stages but I've no idea about The X Factor.

What's apparent from those graphs is that Britain's Got Talent enters the live stages at pretty much the same level each year but the live stages dip every year. I'm not entirely sure what they can do about that other than have one 2-hour show, and the quality of the performances (one of the main issues this year).

Deleted.

I agree and disagree at the same time. I agree that Series 1 was better than the second, however Series 2 had a pretty good story with some weak points. Like you say, S2 was too ambitious, added characters that weren't really necessary, and ruined the feeling of Series 1. I have to disagree with your point that it was clear to everyone that there shouldn't have been another series. There was a huge appetite for more, DS say it too in one of their articles.

I for one do hope that they make another series, the story is there, but they need to bring it back to basics and for the love of God, don't put it on during Q4.

In fairness to Santa Claus The Movie, it is a fabulously festive movie. I think the public genuinely have fondness for it. However, if it was comparable to todays type of figures that determine what is and isn't a flop, it wouldn't be disgracing itself. Most Christmas movies do relatively low figures at the Box Office in comparison to non-Christmas films. Santa Claus was hyped up big time in 1985 due to the involvement of Alexander Salkind, the person responsible for the huge success of Christopher Reeve's Superman. That element is what Santa Claus was judged on. Of course, compared to Superman, Santa Claus The Movie was a disaster!

Christmas films have a short shelf life because of the subject matter which is why they're usually released in November or December. The Polar Express for example was overshadowed by The Incredibles but thanks to rereleases and TV has endured.

I agree. I also love Christmas With The Kranks - despite it poor reviews.

Christmas films never really do all that well at the box office, unless animation.

ITV are doing a series of The Chase Family Edition. Now I think trying this out on Tuesday or Wednesday at 8pm would be a good move. Or testing it pre-BGT, and growing it there in a 7pm slot.

At least on Tuesday it would build up the 8pm slot, and create a better lead in to the 9pm programme.

Yes. I also like Christmas with the Kranks. One Christmas movie that leaves me stone cold is the hideous "Surviving Christmas".

My favourite Christmas movie though is the low budget, but utterly heart warming BBC Films "Nativity!". The kids in that are adorable and are clearly enjoying themselves. I don't particularly like the "Danger in the Manger" sequel that was shown on BBC2 this past weekend. And the 3rd in the series is not even worthy of a mention as it is so bad.

Same was true with Strange But True? We were always very careful to emphasise why the question mark was in the title, but it often got left out in reviews.

I once had a go at Sky's EPG when they missed it out on reruns and was told that sort of minor error was not something they would ask the channel to correct.

May have missed them but does anyone have any figures for Deal or No Deal on Tour which has been playing at 4PM since last Monday?

Have watched a few - first time in a long time I've watched DOND. Still has its moments but essentially its had its day. Just wondered if Noel's theory about the viewers coming back was correct.

The first Nativity is good but the sequels are awful, you wonder how the hell Mr Poppy is still at that school

Worst Christmas movies of recent years is Four Christmasses and Fred Claus. I really like Arthur Christmas and Disney's A Christmas Carol, the former IMO is a modern classic

Stead if not overly unspectacular figures for SPOTY and The Apprentice. ITV putting up more than a fight than previously couldn't have helped either show that much plus the former had a obvious winner whilst the latter seemed to lack business acumen this time around; it felt more like pure entertainment than Sir Alan Sugar looking for a business to invest in.

BBC Two had a good evening with Victoria Wood's shows; I still can't believe she's gone. Channel 4 was squeezed somewhat though Humans really hasn't taken off this series. Hercules put in a steady performance for Channel 5.

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It's Christmas Time which means the most important time of the year has arrived for... well, at least one of you, possibly... as the Christmas DSRPG schedule has been published!

So can you beat the bookies and predict which show will top Christmas Day? And how about the build up - which show will win the run up to to the big one itself?

Simply click HERE, delete the quote marks and get predicting!

Best of luck and thank you to everyone who takes part.

I was winking at you, H, your love for Bradley Walsh is like mine for old TV shows.

That's actually a good idea in all fairness. They should try connecting Tuesday with Wednesday such as running (in this eg) The Chase at 8pm on both days and ideally do the same at 9pm.

I appreciate cost and reality might make that unlikely but if they get Tuesday at 8pm going they'll help Wednesday at 8pm.
As a marriage of tropes, bring back Des O'Connor Tonight and make it Bradly Walsh Tonight.

Merry Christmas. 😘

Massive peak figure for SPOTY, the deliberate overrun obviously helped it go so much higher than the average.

The Apprentice looks to be quite flat throughout, I suppose it's not the sort of show you just tune in to see the winner of. The peak for You're Hired is right at the start, meaning it probably lost viewers throughout.

Midsomer Murders did decently enough, as did Mr and Mrs. Notice it's another Christmas special on ITV that is airing well before Christmas itself.

NBC's new 10-part fantasy series based on the Land of Oz that begins airing in January has been snapped up by Channel 5 to air on 5STAR:

http://www.channel5.com/emerald-city-coming-5star

http://www.nbc.com/emerald-city

Looks like a good acquisition, and fits well with other popular shows on the channel like The Shannara Chronicles.

From ITV Media:

Friday Top 10: Other channels (inc. +1 where applicable)

1 CBeebies - 05:00 PM CBeebies: The Nutcracker 632k 4.6%
...
5 CBeebies - 06:00 PM CBeebies Bedtime Hour 483k 2.9%
6 CBeebies - 05:45 PM Topsy And Tim's Christmas Eve 469k 3.1%
7 CBeebies - 04:45 PM Down On The Farm 439k 3.8%
...
9 CBeebies - 04:20 PM My Pet And Me: Winter Special 421k 4.2%
10 CBeebies - 06:20 PM CBeebies Bedtime Hour 419k 2.4%

Surely this says something about how poor quality most of the digital channels are, when a channel aimed at 0-6 yr olds gets 6 spaces in the Top 10,

Thanks for posting. Certainly seems a logical acquisition after the success of Shannara.

Could do very well by 5Star standards if it's any good.

Speaking of Digital Channels, I'm currently watching an excellent CMA Christmas 2016 concert from the Grand Ole Oprey (sky Arts).

I assume Christmas concerts won't rate much above 3m on UK TV because this sort of Royal Variety type of show seems perfect fodder for filling 2+ hours this week. This is even better coz there's no sight or sound of Slade or Wizard.

But the main channels are catering for child viewers less than ever before, so isn't it simply a natural progression? Kids don't like to be entertained by the TV any less than they did years ago, it's just Ofcom stopped doing their job properly, ripped up the rule book and TV bosses did what they do best - exercise greed.

If you think the above list is shocking though, here's the Australian equivalent for yesterday:


(credit to our friends down under over on Media Spy Forums)

I make that about 80% kids shows with only a few exceptions like Elf (Australia 1 - 0 Great Britain for managing to secure a FTA screening of this hugely popular seasonal title).

Asked around and managed to get this. How the mighty have fallen. Tipping Point will never be entertaining as Deal at its peak and it would have died a death if Ben Shepherd hosted it at the start instead of Noel. But it doesn't hold the interest like it used to. Tipping Point is perfect for daytime.

Thursday 15th
- Tipping Point: 2.00m (20.8%)
- Deal or No Deal: 202k (2.1%)

Friday 16th
- Tipping Point: 2.15m (21.7%)
- Deal or No Deal: 228k (2.3%)

Thanks.

Desperately low, and quite sad to see. Even at this late stage in its lifespan it's still vastly superior to Tipping Point, the popularity of which I remain thoroughly bewildered by.

I doubt a Bradley Walsh chatshow would do more than 3m, there's no appetite for a midweek chatshow, Davina's chatshow bombed a decade ago so its unlikely ITV will ever consider it especially when they're doing The Nightly Show next year

Even not comparing it to modern box office it was a massive flop. It didn't even make its budget back. It cost something like $30million according to the Salkinds (although people I know who worked on it said it was more like $50million) and it only made about $24million back. It did OK on home video but it was definitely a flop even by 1985 standards.

I think it's dull and plodding for a kids Christmas film, I'm not surprised it flopped