Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway 2015

Are they actually using Skype or is it more conventional OB links with the Skype logo added for Product Placement?

Yeah definitely Skype, you can tell by the quality of the video...

Using Skype eliminates the Satellite delay which hampers using normal broadcast equipment just like was used in the days of Noel's NTV.

Skype you can tell a mile off because it's video compressed to high heaven and back, looks grey and miserable under artificial light and can't cope with rapid movement, although admittedly this is more down to the speed of the broadband it's running on and the quality of the hardware.

The Skype balls-up let the more genuine Ant and Dec shine through, as did the innuendo exchange between them and Little Dec. I'm finding this series very over-rehearsed and it's a bit of a let down when you consider how things used to be not so long ago, which was essentially organised chaos. Now it's just an organised variety show.

And it's becoming more and more apparent that SNT is becoming a vehicle to plug other ITV shows - Catchphrase, Judge Rinder, Big Star's Little Star, and whatever show they got the adverts from.

It pains me to say this because I think Ant and Dec are great, and I've always loved SNT and what it brings to a horizon dominated by talent shows and reality drivel. But now I'm starting to understand why the ratings are slumping. I hope ITV don't start loading their gun at the end of the series with plans to execute it, and instead hope they can work on how to bring the show back to its glory days.

Why would ITV Care? its going to make loads of money from selling the format around the world.

Are they? I've not been keeping track of the ratings, but a quick look around seems to suggest the series opened with the highest number of viewers since the start of the revived series.

It's not going anywhere, ITV only has three Saturday night shows a year to run with that generate semi-decent ratings - Takeaway, BGT and X-Factor. Which probably says more about the state of ITV really, as the BBC has Voice, Strictly, Casualty, Lottery, Pointless (when it drifts into the post 6pm slot), Dr Who, other dramas, etc...

I agree, this seems to be how ITV works these days though sadly. And whenever they say "Who better to host.." or "who better to judge..." you know it's going to be the likes of Stephen Mulhern or Louis Walsh somewhere.

I've been basing it on what Digital Spy have been reporting, but according to Wikipedia where the +1 and the HD figures have been accumulated, it's been pretty steady. So I stand corrected, but it is being booted up the arse by The Voice AFAIK, and it makes me sad having to say that.

I preferred it when this was an all round Entertainment show with phone ins, music performances, Undercover, daring live elements (like when they raced from the pub during the opening titles to the studio) and the elements of surprise for Ant & Dec like the 'What's Next?' segment they used to have where they'd have no idea what they would be getting up to behind the curtain.

The first run of the series from 2002 to whenever it first ended did get a bit tiresome towards the latter series which were over reliant on Z-list celebs but all the elements were still enjoyable.

For the modern series, The End of the Show Show, Ant V Dec (Now they know what they're getting up to beforehand), Super Computer and the heavy reliance on practically the same guests, all of these I find really dull. And the fact that they're trying to become the next Morecambe and Wise just does not work for me at all. I prefer the boys just to be themselves and practically in a sense 'throw away the script'.

Yes, watching it it doesn't half feel like ITV is eating itself sometimes. Like their use of Big Star's Little Star last night. It really isn't a hugely well known or even decent show and yet it was presented like it something to get excited about.