Nope, you made it sound like the majority of it was new, by telling us to "note" the fact it isn't a repeat.

**
I see Sky One are making quite a big effort for tomorrow, which probably won't be reflected in the ratings.

Higher than usual for Graham Norton, disappointing for EE.


Great figure for the film, I love it personally and nice to see it reach a good audience.


For once I agree with you Gavin


The Sun got it from a twitter user who had access to spoilers and broke the embargo. The Sun would have already known about the return, but couldn't report iy, but once it's out there then you might as well.


Peter Kay always rates well, BBC1 or Channel 5. A repeat if his documentary at 10:40 got 3.5m earlier this year. I expect this to do well.

Yeah that is pretty hopeless. I hoped it might be a wearable device which detected everyone when they were near a TV scanner. That would have seemed really futuristic not that long ago.

I'm going to guess that people don't press the button when they nip to the toilet or to the fridge. I will always pause the TV when I do that (my wife loves me) but most normal people just miss a few minutes.
People tend to nip off during advert breaks so it shouldn't affect commercial TV so much. For stuff on the BBC or sky Cinema there will be more people leaving the room that Barb are probably not counting - well really they are counting them when they should not be.

Not a good system.


ps - Happy Hanukkah folks.

Whilst I like the idea of this, it strips Christmas Eve and Boxing Day of highlights.

MM on Christmas Eve is a good idea as it has got 7 million viewers, 16.45 to me feels too early for MM. It props up tonight.

I would leave Doctor Who in, have maybe Revolting Rhymes part 1 in at 4.45, an early part 1 EE at some point, GBBO yes at 8 following SCD and Sherlock.

CTM On NYD which is also a Sunday its home Day,

I think the fims on ITV this afternoon/ealy evening will do well. It might encourage ITV to use Disney films more frequently at Christmas.

Not my taste, but yes a better choice.

I also don't understand why ITV are promoting Corrie for tomorrow, but not tonight's 'extra' Saturday episode also?

It would have made more sense to promote the 'festive season in Corrie', with all of the times on the endboard of the trailer.

I think both the BBC and ITV could make big improvements in their marketing/promotion.

I would switch Doctor Who to tonight; it's a Saturday show and I think it'd suit the evening better move than Christmas Day. The point being made is Call the Midwife skews too much a certain away and alienates the rest of the audience - I'd say Doctor Who is very much in the same bracket. For Christmas Eve I'd have gone with:



This way the Christmas episode would be swansong for Bake Off rather than Boxing Day.

Then for Boxing Day:


The second Still Open All Hours is moved from New Years Day to still offer a strong lead in to Witness for the Prosecution.

For the Wednesday, having lost Ethel and Ernest:


The additional EastEnders epsiode here will come clear shortly. For New Year's Eve:


Not many changes but new programming all the way through rather than two repeats across primetime.

As for New Year's Day:


The additional EastEnders epsiode for Wednesday is found from here, with the soap cut from a 60 minute to 30 minute episode. But, from a ratings perspective, how would that do?

Lesley's Joseph is on Christmas Eve three times tonight. Pointless Celebrities, Blankety Blank and Birds of a Feather.

No the chase in itv's christmas schedule one of there big shows it's going from strength to strength lately

In fact not many specials of there shows no catchphrase, tipping point, surprise surprise, big star little star and why they dont record a takeaway special for xmas eve or boxing day ?

There's more interest in Max Branning returning than this one.

Well, in the past 15 minutes I've seen two trailers for The Lion King on ITV. Can't say that it has not been promoted!

The BBC seems to do well with promotion, ITV used to be good pre 2005ish.

Also I note the new trailer for Ninja Warrior is as cringeworthy as the last one, and even the XF promos from this year.

Yeah so have I. So now its up to the iewers to decide what to watch at 3.10pm.

Interestingly David Walliams mentioned in passing that it's Christmas Eve at the start of Blanekty Blank so this must have been filmed very recently, after the schedule was finalised.

He also stated in passing that they might be planning to make it into a series: "We're calling this as a Christmas Special and not a pilot so, if it isn't made into a series, we can just say 'No, we were never planning that in the first place!'"

I was thinking about that, in terms of when it was filmed. I can see it doing a decent 4m which should be enough for it to be given a series.

EDIT: He also mentioned it's on at 18:30, so definitely after the schedules were finalised.

World of Sport Wrestling trailer: https://twitter.com/WOSWrestlingITV/...78990732333056

ITV3's Christmas schedule looks loads more appetising and classy than big ITV.

ITV3 can appeal to a more niche audience, much like BBC4. ITV has to appeal too a much larger audience.

Soap Predictions

Corrie 6.2m
EE 6.5m

The BBC aren't doing well with promotion I don't think. EastEnders is a good example of how much more could be achieved.

Not expecting a good number for Blankety Blank tonight. Wouldn't be surprised if it was low 3m but I've got a feeling even that may be optimistic.

Yeah 3m seems a good guess. The share will be more interesting as I can't imagine that many are watching TV currently.

You'd think itv are more concerned with the AI than the actual overnight. Pointless is bound to beat it because it is a well-known show. It's amusing seeing people tweet about missing Lily Savage - I imagine for many they don't remember Les never mind Terry.

Yeah I've predicted too high for Blankety Blank. It's ok, not brilliant but enjoyable and nice to see it back. I just hope it doesn't get torn apart and heavily dissected when the ratings come in.

On a related note, if you want cheering up search on YouTube for Blankety Blank outtakes from the Lily Savage era. It's pure gold

Really? 6.30 start and a lot of promotion. Blankety Blank should be able to get more than 3m.