Yes.

BBC News was quite good, but I bet News at Ten got around 3 million because Taggart is a drama that brings in the older demographic.

It will be interesting to see what NaT got, and interesting to see if BBC News At 10's ratings fluctuate at all due to the revamp-either by going up or by going down or they may just stay the same.

I think the best ratings for NaT this year will be from an inheritance from BGT and after Doc Martin which brings in 10 million viewers for ITV and attracts a LOT of the odler demographic.

Is there anything on News at Ten yet?

No. Probably won't find out until tomorrow. Might not even find out at all.

I fail to see how NaT will benefit from the older demographic, BBC News is hardly down with the kids.

Simon Shaps has replied again to my latest post and said that 'he would be in close contact with the scheduling team' over my requests which were:

1. Heartbeat on Sunday at 7pm after Beat The Star concludes

2. News at Ten to be broadcast on Sunday at 10pm.

you & him are best buddies. Are you going to his leaving drinks?

Interesting... that would mean starting Beat The Star at 5.45, which is a bit early isn't it? It'd be interesting to see how News at Ten does on Sundays (if it does happen), because Sunday is traditionally ITV's best night.

By the way, I was wondering would Simon Shaps reply to anyone (providing one has his email address). Or do you work at ITV?

Yes i agree, fantastic episode last night. Had me hooked from start to finish! Well done to all those involved.

Great start to the week, can't wait to find out what happens the rest of the week

Putting Fartbeat at 7pm seems very logical. Then the two-hour dramas can go at 8pm followed by News at Ten.

Part of a media guardian article today. If the hold back much longer than May the audience will falloff dramatically.

Wasn't that the name of an SM:tv sketch?

Oops

I meant in the ratings...worded it very badly indeed!

Quite. I hope Fincham can sort out the schedule a bit to make things more organised. Let's have News at Ten Sunday to Friday - there's NO reason why it shouldn't at 10pm Friday as at the moment it's at 11pm in the middle of a film starting at 10 - why not start the film and play it uninterrupted at 10.35pm?

Not sure if Lost in Austen is a sleepy drama or more of a Life on Mars type show, so I'm not sure if it needs a weekend of weekday slot. Gunrush sounds interesting, I wonder if it's 60, 90 or 120 minutes long.

She doesnt drive a period sports car in the 1840's if that helps

Seriously its Sunday night material

Yeah I think that clears everything up

No, I don't work at ITV. Here is a delve into my personal life. I am 16 years old, and I'm doing my AS Levels at the moments (I'm a year ahead at school, did my GCSEs in Year 10).

My father is in broadcasting, hence sometimes I say 'Apparently...' and 'A source says...' without naming anybody specifically. Yes, there were plans for a 'The Bill' spin-off called 'Sun Hill General', though people did think I was lying.

But I have an interest in broadcasting, and I sent him a very nice email, though I am a little worried because I just noticed at the end of the email you must keep the contents private, hmmm.

But, Shaps did say he'd be talking to his scheduling team through an email.

Thanks for that... here was me thinking you were some big ITV employee!

You know that "Sun Hill General" spin-off, is there a reason why it wasn't commisioned?

Yes, my dad has contacts with Talkback Thames, the series producers.

ITV wanted it at teatime (5pm) while Talkback Thames wanted the show at 8pm in primetime and they couldn't agree on it. It was still in the planning stages and ITV said it couldn't find a regular 8pm slot in the week for it due to The Bill having a two hour stint. It could happen post 2010 if ITV cuts The Bill to one episode apparently but it's still doubtful.

That's a little absurd, isn't it? Tuesday at 8pm? Saturday nights like Casualty?

How lazy.

I think ITV would have taken it if The Bill was going out once a week, you see. But that isn't a possibility under the current contract.

Also, Champions League on Tuesday would disrupt it, wouldn't really fit on Saturday's.

I see. Yes, it would have been difficult to put Sun Hill in a regular 8pm slot weekly. Tuesdays at 8pm would be disrupted too much by Champions league football.

In a year's time, ITV will stop showing Tuesday champs league matches and show wednesday matches. But i think then the Bill will move to Tuesdays at 8pm, although that is just specualtion.

The Bill could be damaged up against Holby and Waterloo Road, both strong competitors.

Yes, it would be difficult for the Bill to get 5 million viewers up against holby city, although i think the shows attract to different types of viewers.

Weren't there rumours going around that the Bill could be shown on Saturdays?

It was shown on Saturdays for a while. Probably about 4-5 years ago. It didnt do that well.