Well I'm going to try out ITV Let It Shine and BBC The Voice UK

The BBC had to work really hard to get us to fall in love with The Voice but did we ever...really? I'm not sure. I will be interested to read how it does over on the other side.

[QUOTEYou do realise Downton is finished?

And please do tell which "whole evening" is dedicated to soap?[/quote]

It would be a whole evening if all the Corrie and Emmerdale eps were played back to back (with Corrie's new ep obviously).

I don't have a favourite channel/broadcaster, I watch content that is likely to interest me, don't give a damn what channel it's on. One thing is for sure, a single channel could never provide all the content I'm interested in, not even the BBC. To cover my tastes I have FTA and Pay TV.

Behave H...I see what you did there. It's BBC Let It Shine...and...er the voice.

The Friday slot is strange. I don't see it doing much there either which makes it all the more curious that they're making such a fuss about it. Perhaps they aren't expecting much but are making a bit of a fuss to keep Michelle Keegan on side?

I think Little Boy Blue might be a bit heavy for Sundays. I was thinking Broadchurch for Mondays after The Halcyon, followed by Fearless (with the final episode on the Tuesday like they did last year with Marcella to fit it in before BGT week). Or possibly Little Boy Blue in that Monday slot with Fearless on Thursdays. I wouldn't want Good Karma Hospital to face Death in Paradise so if it does get Thursdays I hope there's a 2 week filler after Unforgotten. They've already started trailing it though which suggests it'll be on soiner than that and the only free slots are Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. They never put drama on Tuesdays and I was thinking Benidorm for Fridays once T&B is done, so Wednesday seems most likely. Not a bad slot in principle but the week off for the Brits would be really irritating. I didn't think Good Karma was a perfect Sunday show but that seems unlikely now.

I think Grantchester might get Wednesdays after Good Karma, like it did last year. After the Brits there are 3 Wednesdays until ITV have an England match (so perfect for scheduling a 6 parter like Good Karma around the Brits) so I think Grantchester will start after that and run through to early May. Fearless and Little Boy Blue for Mondays/Thursdays as I mentioned earlier. Lethal Weapon for Fridays once Benidorm is done (I think they've already said Lethal Weapon is going on Fridays). Then Sundays could be The Durrells and Prime Suspect 1973 once Vera is done, with the two spare Midsomers, Maigret and a couple of filler bits thrown in to fill the gaps.

There's also the four parters Safe House and Innocent to fit in somewhere, and the crime factual season (Trevor McDonald's Mafia Women, An Hour To Catch a Killer, Undercover Prisoner, Killer Women with Piers Morgan) which might have to go to Tuesdays.

I will be watching Let it Shine I am kind of curious of how the "15 Stars to progress" idea works. Plus the studio looks nice. Where was it filmed? I think there should be another program on instead of Let it Shine but that has already been discussed here. What I do like is that there is a job for the 5 winners but I am unsure how popular a "Take That Musical" would be.

Not keen on The Voice: UK judges. Will.i.Am was getting on my nerves on BBC. Gavin Rossdale looks boring. I was totally put off Tom Jones after his attitude after being axed and Jennifer Hudson just seems too loud but even on BBC the live shows were a chore and "The Battles" were just "Scream Offs" I think The Voice: UK had it's day. I might drift in and out.

But Let it Shine will not beat The Voice: UK.

Shouldn't that be BBC "Ever Decreasing Circles"...

Forgive me.

It's the type of pre-watershed sitcom that the BBC doesn't seem to make anymore...one area where the BBC has lost its way - exemplified perhaps by their failure to pick-up Goodnight Sweetheart...

Well I wouldn't define it in the way that you do. 1. Sitcoms are very expensive to make and the money isn't around. 2. The classic BBC sitcom of the 70s, 80s and early 90s would probably appear dated now. They are all classics though. I have a lot of them on DVD. Fawlty Towers, Some Mothers..., Keeping Up...Ever Decreasing...'Allo 'Allo...Dibley...One Foot...

Mrs Brown's Boys and Miranda are a nod to the sitcom of old aren't they?

You might be in for a surprise. Let It Shine could get 5/6 million at launch. The Voice perhaps 4? Is the ITV audience ready for another singing show so soon after TXF? The Voice switching channels will give many an excuse to cut ties with it.

What's the ohno and target audiences for these shows? By that I mean the *in trouble now* and *should be getting* numbers.

Taking in to account that these are first episodes so should do well, I'll go for..

LIS - ohno 5.2m, target 6.3m
Voice - 5.4m, target 6.5m
Taboo - 4.8m, target 5.5m
Dance³ - 3.3m, target 3.8m
Endeavour - 3.9m, target 4.5m

Ninja - ohno 3m, target 3.6m.

Not sure I agree.

1. Sitcoms aren't more expensive than drama as far as I'm aware.

2. You think? Depends on the show itself I would say. Dads Army pulls in c2million on a Saturday night on BBC2, repeats of other classic shows pull good figures when shown. IF the BBC put a few pre-watershed sitcoms on they might find modern day versions of some of the classics you mention.

MBB and Miranda aren't currently producing regular series though and even if they were, that's 2 shows. In the 80s / 90s when I was growing up, the BBC had a plethora of early evening sitcoms to choose from. It wasn't just Only Fools and Horses and A.N.Other. The lack of comedy options at Christmas for the BBC stems from the lack of comedy shown all year. The BBC comedy cupboard is pretty bare in my view.

I never warmed to GS to be honest. It wasn't laugh out loud was it really. It was a bit like BBC As Time Goes By...another gentle/light humoured show that never really grabbed me.

The Beeb have a difficult one really. They have to be seen to be creative and not just bringing back old shows. They did do a one off did they not? Not sure how it did ratings wise. I certainly gave it a miss.

But the BBC have virtually no "old-fashioned" family sitcoms at all. It's an area neglected by ITV and the other commercials, so surely an area where the BBC should be leading the way in terms of creativity...

Which they're not so the question still stands:

Which evening were you referring to when you said ITV's evening is just soaps.

4 Million? Seriously?

Sitcoms are probably not as expensive as drama but they are more expensive than stand-up/panel shows I would suggest...not that I am a fan of all stand-up/panel shows.

I agree...and it's wonderful that Dad's still pulls in such numbers. As I say, I think it is down to budgets and probably a shortage of ideas. I would certainly flock to a family sitcom in the vain of Keeping...Dibley...Only Fools...One Foot...Open All...Some Mothers...in a heart beat. We need a giggle amongst all the doom and gloom don't we.

P.S. BBC W1A was very good. I thoroughly enjoyed that.

Well the live shows last year were about 4.5m so it there is a bit of reasoning.

But yes, in this instance that suggestion is crazy. It will start in the 6s and then who knows how it will continue - it will plunge into the 4s at some point, I'd be very surprised if it didn't.

Yes...I agree with you...but is there still a market for the traditional sitcom? Would many not deem them dated? Finances etc?

I had high hopes for Nan (Catherine Tate) and the half hour eps last year were fantastic. Is a full series likely? Probably not.

Rick, I was merely demonstrating the amount of time ITV gives over to soap. It is (or will be soon) the equivalent of one prime time evening a week. That's a lot.

Itv (itn), the BBC and sky news have taken it in turns to produce the queens speech for about at least decade now on rotation

I wonder, if Voice hangs in the 4s-6s as expected, whether this thread will call the numbers out for what they are.

Or whether they will be whitewashed as "still higher than most other things" - the same extreme generosity of which would not be spared to other well-known shows in similar genres, for which figures like that would produce (very justified) pages of mauling.

Correct, and this has happened since 1997 from a quick look at Wikipedia. 20 years ago.

YAAS! Preach it!