Further to yesterday’s piece on the rebranding of the UKTV portfolio of channels, some numbers are in and it seems that star signings to lifestyle/drama channel Watch, Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan, have crashed and burned somewhat in the ratings game…
In the (unofficial, of course) overnight ratings, Richard and Judy’s New Position (I ask you, who came up with that one?) only managed to secure an average of 100,000 viewers across the 8pm hour, with another 43,000 popping in an hour later over on Watch+1. Erm… there’s not really a lot to say to that is there? Richard and Judy in not as popular as their employers think they are shocker!
Actually, that’s not fair - the husband and wife duo are still a polished, professional and quite watchable presenting team (although Richard still has his moments). I think the disappointing ratings are in part down to some fairly bogus scheduling on the part of Watch. Who really wants to sit down to a lifestyle magazine show in the company of a couple of veteran daytime TV stars at 8pm? Yes, even with guests like Samuel L Jackson and David Walliams.
At that time, you might not even be finished with dinner, and when the washing up’s done (or dishwasher filled if you’re a lucrative ABC1 type of person), then you want to settle down with a glass of wine or cup and tea and watch a good drama, read a book or have a conversation with your husband/wife/partner/housemate/cat/gerbil/goldfish. No, this is not an 8pm show, whereas R&J’s 5pm scheduling on Channel 4 was great, with a massively varied audience available at that time.
Sorry Watch, but I think you’ve missed a trick here. It also seems somewhat silly to have a 5pm repeat of the previous day’s edition, when really, that slot should be for first run instalments.
This is all in my humble opinion, of course - I’m not a scheduler, and not party to UKTV’s data and research, which might tell a different story. But there are some shows that have a feel, a tone, just as time slots do.
And looking at the line-up of shows on Watch, it does feel a little ragtag and mismatched, with Mistresses and Love Soup, rubbing up alongside The Bill and Cranford, with Richard and Judy plonked down somewhat conspicuously among them. With both G.O.L.D. and Alibi, there’s an obvious hook - you know exactly what you’re going to get when you tune in - comedy or crime, brilliant! But Watch feels like all the shows that couldn’t be classified under those channels and lobbed indiscriminately under the Watch banner… because you can, um… “watch” them, perhaps?
I think on the whole, this rebranding will be good for UKTV, certainly from the point of view of G.O.L.D. and Alibi (I already have Shoestring series linked on Sky Plus), but Watch, for some reason, just doesn’t gel for me.
Still, there’s always Top Gear over on Dave.
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