Looking at Media Guardian’s round up of last night’s TV ratings landscape, there are some interesting points to consider, especially in light of ITV’s desire to reposition and the continuing battle of the 10pm news bulletins.
The nexus point for the evening is centred on the 9pm slot, which has become a bloody battleground of late, with all channels slugging it out for whatever spoils they can get. And this isn’t good news for an ITV desperate to reposition itself, thanks to some pretty stiff competition across the board.
Amanda Redman starrer Honest tumbled further in the ratings on its third ITV outing, taking in 3.7 million viewers compared to a starting innings of 6 million. Redman’s BBC vehicle, New Tricks, can easily knock on the door of 10 million, week in, week out, so it’s slim pickings over in the independent sector.
I put Honest’s performance down to some genuine alternatives across the terrestrials, with BBC1 topping the hour with Crimewatch stealing 4.5 million viewers. I don’t expect the venerable magazine show to gain this many viewers every week, but the curiosity of Kirsty Young’s first outing in the anchor’s chair will have been a pull for some. Pity her publicity shot looks like it’s been culled from an episode of Blake’s 7.
Channel 4 took second place at 9pm with that old dependable banker Grand Designs. There’s nothing really to say there – it’s one of the few Channel 4 shows that can pull in decent figures, and long may it continue. At number three on the night, Honest must be looking over its shoulder at the big, black SUV with flashing blue lights coming up on the outside in fourth. Yes, that would be Torchwood, dropping just 300,000 viewers between episodes to tempt 3.4 million. I reckon there’s a chance that the Doctor Who spin-off could edge past Honest next week. Whatever, any drop-off from Torchwood will probably be picked up on the repeat at 7pm the following Wednesday.
The poor performance of Honest impacted further into the evening’s schedules when News at 10’s troubled figures eroded further, with 5.1 million choosing Auntie over 2.1 million setting their cap at ITV. It wouldn’t have helped that Gordon Ramsay was swearing his way through Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA on C4, netting a tidy 3 million. However, it doesn’t matter how you look at it, the retooling of the 10pm slot on ITV is an abject failure.
Am I just regurgitating figures here, or is there a point to all this? What does all this actually mean for ITV?
It’s early days in many respects, but ITV’s refloating of the weekday schedules has fallen a bit flat. The channel wants a new, younger audience, but in doing so, can’t risk alienating the viewers it does have. I applaud the introduction of new dramas that provide a bit of variety – The Palace, Moving Wallpaper/Echo Beach and Honest do offer something different. Sadly they have all, without exception, slumped to below 4 million viewers, sometimes less than three. This is clearly not good.
The weekend situation is very different, with Primeval performing healthy, if not stellar ratings on Saturday, and the Dancing on Ice/Wild at Heart/Kingdom trinity doing good things. Yes, I know I had doubts about moving Dancing… to Sundays, but I am prepared (sometimes) to say when I’ve got it wrong.
The frustrating thing for ITV is that between 7pm and 9pm last night, they pretty much ruled the ratings roost. Why is that frustrating, you ask? It’s good news in many respects, obviously, but these stellar ratings were all pulled in by Coronation Street, Emmerdale and The Bill, amassing 10 million, 8 million and 6 million respectively. Put in context, the network is relying on a trio of shows that between them have around 107 years on air. Meanwhile, the new weekday dramas have more tank than the British army about them.
There’s clearly only one solution to ease ITV’s problem – commission a full series of The Outsiders immediately. Nigel Harman, you’re needed! My work here is done…
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