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ITV scoops best Saturday night ratings of the year

(December 2005)

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CY
cylon6
johnofhertford posted:
PMDAVIDWILLIAMS posted:
From what ive read, X Factor was struggling against Strictly Come Dancing when put on simultaneously, so having them shown at different times would make an impact....

Would be interesting to see BBC1 figures.


SCD got 9.3m (40% share). Results show got 6.6m (28%)


So SCD rated higher than Harry Potter? That's interesting. Next week will be a different story and Christmas Eve should be interesting.
CY
cylon6
Brekkie Boy posted:
Banksoriginal posted:
Thats a first


Well, not really!

On the whole ITV generally perform better on Saturday nights than the BBC - it's only Doctor Who really that completly caused the ITV schedule to collapse.

And for every Celebrity Wrestling there is a He's Having a Baby!


I assume Saturday Night Takeaway will return sometime in the Winter, though the planned ITV talent shows "SoapStar Superstar", "Star Duets" and "Stars on thin Ice" really don't appeal at all.

Aren't ITV also planning an early evening drama for Saturday nights?


And as for ratings as a whole these days - it's not that long ago that the general rule was anything less than 10m and your axed! Now, programmes are a hit with half that figure!


I remember the last truly big ratings battle on Saturday nights was Noel's House Party and Blind Date and they both got higher ratings than these shows on now.
JO
johnofhertford
deleted
CY
cylon6
Johnofhertford where is the rest of your message?
JO
johnofhertford
deleted
PC
p_c_u_k
It was very clever - and brave - scheduling.

First of all showing Harry Potter at that time was not the graveyard slot many would reckon. it was surely calculated to get as many kids of all ages to watch it. So while their parents are making their tea, they sit them down in front of the telly to watch Harry Potter - and during every commercial break they would be subjected to a scary amount of adverts for toys, which they could then pester mum and dad about. The date was also perfect - just into December, when most sane people have only just started thinking about Christmas. (we'll ignore those nutters who've had their Christmas trees up since October). They weren't after a family audience - they were after easily-impressionable kids. (I should point out that, while I can see a problem with that, in terms of ITV doing what's best for their shareholders it was spot on)

Moving The X Factor was dangerous - regular viewers may have tuned elsewhere, and a lot of younger viewers may have been out at the pubs etc, but it worked out, especially (as pointed out elsewhere) in getting it away from Strictly Come Dancing.

Well played ITV.
JO
johnofhertford
cylon6 posted:
johnofhertford posted:
PMDAVIDWILLIAMS posted:
From what ive read, X Factor was struggling against Strictly Come Dancing when put on simultaneously, so having them shown at different times would make an impact....

Would be interesting to see BBC1 figures.


SCD got 9.3m (40% share). Results show got 6.6m (28%)


So SCD rated higher than Harry Potter? That's interesting. Next week will be a different story and Christmas Eve should be interesting.


Well for a fair comparison you'd need the figure for Harry Potter during the time it was up against SCD. The figure quoted for Harry Potter is an average; at 7pm it's likely it was higher than the average, and not necessarily behind SCD.

X factor's not on Christmas Eve, finishes 17th.
CY
cylon6
p_c_u_k posted:
It was very clever - and brave - scheduling.

First of all showing Harry Potter at that time was not the graveyard slot many would reckon. it was surely calculated to get as many kids of all ages to watch it. So while their parents are making their tea, they sit them down in front of the telly to watch Harry Potter - and during every commercial break they would be subjected to a scary amount of adverts for toys, which they could then pester mum and dad about. The date was also perfect - just into December, when most sane people have only just started thinking about Christmas. (we'll ignore those nutters who've had their Christmas trees up since October). They weren't after a family audience - they were after easily-impressionable kids. (I should point out that, while I can see a problem with that, in terms of ITV doing what's best for their shareholders it was spot on)

Moving The X Factor was dangerous - regular viewers may have tuned elsewhere, and a lot of younger viewers may have been out at the pubs etc, but it worked out, especially (as pointed out elsewhere) in getting it away from Strictly Come Dancing.

Well played ITV.


It also shows how well shows could do if they don't go against other shows. If ITV and the BBC see how well certain shows can get massive ratings then it might be an idea to keep them away. Emmerdale and EastEnders both get big ratings but when they go opposite each other the audience dips and it is nothing more than a pyrrhic victory for ITV. It's clever scheduling on ITV's part because the audience will build through the evening; it's a hark back to the BBC1 Saturday night schedule of the 70's and how that was constructed to lock the sudience in early and keep them there.
CY
cylon6
johnofhertford posted:

X factor's not on Christmas Eve, finishes 17th.


I know that I'm just thinking that Christmas is a very high viewing period and I wonder how big the audiences will be for the evening. I can see Christmas Day having a big drop but Doctor Who, might get an audience similar to what we've been reading about. Sorry I'm a bit of a ratings junkie! Very Happy
MA
mansoor
pad posted:
5.15 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - 8m (37%)
8.00 The X Factor - 10m (42%)
9.00 I'm a Celebrity - 10m (42%)
10.30 The X Factor Results - 9m (44%)

Truly brilliant ratings for the night.


For some reason you have round off the number to the nearest whole number, here without rounding them off to the nearest whole number:

5.15 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - 8m (37%)
8.00 The X Factor - 9.7m (42%)
9.00 I'm a Celebrity - 9.6m (42%)
10.30 The X Factor Results - 8.9m (44%)
PO
Pootle5
cylon6 posted:


I remember the last truly big ratings battle on Saturday nights was Noel's House Party and Blind Date and they both got higher ratings than these shows on now.


The higher ratings for House Party and Blind Date was 10 years or so ago when there were less TV channels, fewer households with cable/SKY, no Freeview, fewer other distractions such as the internet, shops stay open later...
CY
cylon6
Pootle5 posted:


The higher ratings for House Party and Blind Date was 10 years or so ago when there were less TV channels, fewer households with cable/SKY, no Freeview, fewer other distractions such as the internet, shops stay open later...


You're absolutely right but I meant a battle in terms of two popular shows on each side going toe to toe in the ratings on a Saturday night, not a one sided battle that we've seen recently on some Saturday nights.

The figures for Saturday show that even though SCD doesn't have massive numbers of young viewers watching, it still has massive numbers of people watching. There is an audience out there that aren't usually catered for on a Saturday evening, but have the right show and they will come. Perhaps if networks weren't so youth obsessed and tried to be more inclusive ratings might be higher on Saturdays generally.

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