Top 30 programmes of 2008

The previous thread has been archived, so here is a new one

The final list of highest rating programmes is now available and here it is
http://www.hillyard22.freeserve.co.uk/ratings2008final.gif

The highest rating programme from BBC2 and Channel 4 is also shown

Comfortable lead for Wallace and Gromit then, which makes a really great change from the usual soap or football match at the top. Placing it in between two episodes of EastEnders was genius scheduling, even if things did run overtime.

It's so weird but amazing to see Harry Hill getting 8+ million viewers now. I still remember when he was stuck at 11pm at night on Channel 4 with a tiny but cult audience, now he's in the mainstream big time!

Was that episode of TV Burp the one that was moved to about 8.30 rather than being on about 6.30?

And how did a news bulletin on Christmas Day make it into the list? That must have been before something quite big.

The "8.28" mentioned was its viewing figures in millions, not its start time.

I'm sure he's aware of that.

IIRC, that was the night of the Comedy Awards and TV Burp aired in between the two X Factor shows, rather than before the first.

Like last year though, when you look at the bigger picture it's a fairly balanced list of sport, soap, entertainment, comedy and drama.

Agreed its nice to see something else at the top of the list other than soap or sport.

However im pleased Corrie got the highest rated soap episode - that was for Vera's death. I doubt they could get as high as that this year although I think the double on 6th Feb should pull in a few more than usual!

Anyone know how the soaps fared overall during 2008? It's pretty much guess work, but from the overnights I've seen I'd say that Corrie and EastEnders have probably recovered a bit in the ratings in the last 12 months, though Emmerdale has been hit quite badly by the success of The One Show.

Good to see a broader than usual range of programmes in the top 20- imagine how broad that range could be if the TV companies really tried- and I wonder what sort of audience figures a Christmas special of New Tricks could achieve.

Official 2008 Averages (2007 averages in brackets)

Corrie - 9.5m (10.1m)
EastEnders - 8.4m ( 8.9m)
Emmerdale - 6.9m (7.5m)

All down, predictably, but this was in stark contrast to many of the big entertainment formats which saw increases on 2007. In particular shows like The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent and The Apprentice did brilliantly last year.

I was wrong there then - from the overnight it did seem as if they were picking up more viewers again, but then again considering I can't remember what I had for tea I'm not going to remember how many watched EastEnders last year.