The Chase says Hello.

Palladium didn't do too badly over 6 episodes as he hosted. Around 3.4-3.6m overnights av.

Indeed. They may struggle.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/20...d-call-midwife

It's David Walliams who hosted the one-off Blankety Blank. Bradley has most recently done Tonight at the Palladium. The Chase has definitely been his biggest and most sustained hit.

There aren't that many light entertainment presenters to choose from to anchor a format. Michael McIntyre has proved popular. Peter Kay's stand up always pulls in a decent audience but it's yet to be seen how an entertainment programme presented by him will go down. Car Share was popular enough. As was that X Factor spoof he did.

There is Alexander Armstrong as well. Any other stand-up comedians who could potentially become mainstream? BBC One have tried a light entertainment programme or two with Lee Mack but neither took off.

I don't buy at all that football took away from the wrestling but agree that's great for BT.
Moving to the evening game has made such a difference.

Peter Kay wouldn't do an entertainment show and I'm sure he's been asked. Problem is that many stand ups aren't suitable for light entertainment. For example Dara O Briain suits Robot Wars and science shows but he'd suck at a light entertainment show, likewise with Russell Howard or Jack Whitehall, a light entertainment show would suffocate them creatively.

Can you suffocate Jack Whitehall creatively?

Isn't he similar to McIntyre though? So could work?

I see what you mean - John Bishop has his Christmas show (although he didn't do one last year). I'm not sure if you'd describe 'Good News' as light entertainment in Russell Howard's case but it's similar. I think Jack Whitehall could suit a light entertainment format. Josh Widdicombe? Problem is we don't know which comics currently have mass appeal (McIntyre and Kay aside). If we're talking social media presence, Russell Howard appears to be the most popular.

It doesn't even have to be a light entertainment vehicle, but a primetime show on one of the big two.

This is wrong, though. Plenty of big hit shows have suffered a collapse of ratings - Heartbeat, New Tricks and Ballykissangel for three.

Jack Whitehall is more suited to post watershed than pre watershed. Backchat for example wouldn't be anywhere near as funny if it was on earlier and frankly I think he wouldn't be interested in a gameshow or a light entertainment when he's doing stand up, television comedies etc

Josh Widdicombe?! I like him as a stand up, on Josh and The Last Leg but he's not suitable for light entertainment at all.

BBC4 have never had a new programme every day (apart from the news, of course). You may wish to compare the amount of original programming on the channel to that of Sky Arts.


No, he didn't present the Paralympics. He did present the World Athletics Championships in the one year C4 had the rights, 2011, initially doing the highlights before being promoted to main anchor after Ortis had to, er, go away.


Jack Whitehall, similar to McIntyre? Apart from the fact his entire act is sexually explicit and full of swearing.

1m is about its limit. That's a huge number for a sport not called football or featuring a team called England. The match only went 10 sets and MvG was too good to allow a bigger rating. If it'd gone 12 or 13 sets it might have done better.

It is a rating that includes 40 minutes of the post-match ceremony. The peak might have been well over 1m.

As for the crowds, some chants add to it, some are beyond dumb.


The splits suggest it took away 1-200k. Not that many but quite a hefty percentage. Catch-up might offset that.

Far better rating for BT than the UCL is delivering. BT have a relationship with C5 now so you wonder...

The Chase is an afternoon hit for sure, not an evening one. It's had many years to build a fandom which is the point Cestrian18 made.

Like I say, I quite like Bradley Walsh, I think he can anchor a show. I reckon he'd be funny on Stars in your Eyes and he has the added advantage of being able to sing.

So EastEnders didn't kill off two of its biggest characters for no good reason after all.

Silent Witness solid as ever. It time-shifts a lot so could reach 7.5m in the consolidated ratings.

The Halcyon's ratings are a little under-whelming. ITV really should have put this out on a Sunday night. On the other hand it did match the overnights that Cold Feet was getting last autumn with CONSIDERABLY tougher competition than CF faced.

Well they've certainly had more original programming in a week than they do this one. And when I say everyday, I don't mean Sunday.

I checked on his Wiki and it said this "During the 2012 Paralympics, Edwards formed part of the Channel 4 commentary team as well as co-presenting That Paralympic Show with Ade Adepitan" I'm pretty sure he fronted the daytime coverage as well, I remember how annoying he was.

They have a very similar style of delivery. And their anecdotes are a very similar format.

Considering the female rule on panel shows, I'd imagine a comedienne would be an attractive idea. Not that I can think of any.

I don't find her funny but Miranda must be the one they are really after. You could see her doing the Brucie or Barrymore gameshows.

I think Yellowstone will do well tonight. My bet is 3m+.

CBB predictions everyone?

Just because Miranda had success with her sitcom (which I still find hilarious even though its not to everyone's taste) doesn't mean she can cut it her a television host. Live TV especially is very difficult as Olly Murs and Caroline Flack found out.

I think its good Mel and Sue are getting a few LE try outs with Mel getting Let it Shine and them doing Lets Sing and Dance as they are experienced presenters as well as being able to crack a funny. (Maybe not comediennes in the strictest sense, but can be very funny in the right circumstances)

It'll be interesting to see how Dawn French gets on hosting Little Big Shots, she hasn't done LE before has she? Could be a useful face to launch new LE- I can't think of many others though that would be suited though. There must be some untested talented comperes on the comedy circuit though surely, it must just be a case of a few TV execs trawling the open mike nights with a few formats in mind?

One thought that popped into my head is giving Brian Conley a vehicle. I know he's knocking on a bit now, but I used to think he was excellent on the BBC Two BGT thing they did (I think it was Let Me Entertain You?)

2.8m.

Good chance that a thrilling Premier League game on Sky will dent the audience slightly.

I want your prediction

Conley should have got Strictly. He's certainly under used given that he's probably the nearest thing to Brucie that we now have (in that he is not just a comedian, but can also sing and dance)

Good rating for Silent Witness. I watched it for the first time ever last night and enjoyed it. Okay start for The Halcyon - but I can see it dropping and could be down as low as 4m over it's run, possibly worse. It wouldn't surprise me if SW pulls quite a bit ahead as the weeks progress.

Why didn't ITV just show Broadchurch against SW like they did in 2015 as they know it can face it and still rate well and if this is the last series, wouldn't it have made more sense to save The Halcyon for a February launch like they are doing with Broadchurch. It might have done better (assuming competition isn't as strong).


Wow! Excellent rating for EE last night. Makes that NYD rating look very odd indeed.


Not too bad. EE should be ahead at the moment as it's in the middle of a big storyline.

I've noticed we've been getting the ITV soap tape-checked ratings for a while now. Is this likely to continue?!

Up against Sherlock, and starting 30 mins into it. I can imagine the posts here now.


Mel and Sue have been the face of various BBC light ent for a couple of years now, one of them was involved in that fire early evening vehicle, and another voiced that magic thing.