TV Ratings 2023

I used to be upset that they stopped the Hollyoaks Hunks calendar years ago. Now there's hardly anyone on it I particularly want to look at shirtless.

It's probably unlikely we'll see Rishi Nair in his pants in Grantchester, but I'm certainly still hoping for it.
 
Slave said:
@A Lolly Dolly Christmas I haven't seen the ratings for Hollyoaks on DS - they're not included in the main soap ratings thread, although I suspect that's largely because it's impossible to tell these days.

It's still routinely in the weekly top ten of E4 shows, with ratings hovering around 400,000. Unless it's doing outstanding numbers on the Channel 4 app, I can't possibly see how it continues for much longer, though.
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Yes, I've looked occasionally on thinkbox at the E4 figures, but I haven't been paying attention over time to see how it is holding up.
 
A Lolly Dolly Christmas said:
The Apprentice certainly did have its viewing figures commented on last year.

And The Mail and The Express love a reason to attack the BBC for pretty much any reason, viewing figures included.
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Yes. Where is this (false) impression that the gutter press are lauding the Beeb coming from? It is quite the opposite in fact!
 
Eddie said:
Yes. Where is this (false) impression that the gutter press are lauding the Beeb coming from? It is quite the opposite in fact!
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the BBC lean to the right. The likes of The Sun also lean to to the right, and it is NOT the opposite! Wake up!
 
Rita said:
the BBC lean to the right. The likes of The Sun also lean to to the right, and it is NOT the opposite! Wake up!
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This is a very skewed view and it really is not as simple as that. For a start, despite their news coverage appearing otherwise, the BBC is MEANT to be impartial.

Also in general you will find far more Tories who want the BBC DEFUNDED than Labour.
 
Eddie said:
This is a very skewed view and it really is not as simple as that. For a start, despite their news coverage appearing otherwise, the BBC is MEANT to be impartial.

Also in general you will find far more Tories who want the BBC DEFUNDED than Labour.
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it is skewed in what way? Because you disagree? In a recent yougov poll this year only 20% believed that The BBC favoured Labour and 80% believe the BBC favour Conservative.
 
But The Mirror LEANS LEFT! :D

When I refer to the gutter press, largely because of my own political views, I generally mean The Express, The Sun and The Mail.

There is absolutely NO distinction between The Sun and The Mail despite what they may have you believe.
 
Eddie said:
But The Mirror LEANS LEFT! :D

When I refer to the gutter press, largely because of my own political views, I generally mean The Express, The Sun and The Mail.

There is absolutely NO distinction between The Sun and The Mail despite what they may have you believe.
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pressgazette.co.uk

Is the BBC left-wing? Not according to 80% of the British public

Is the BBC left-wing? Patrick Barwise and Peter York argue not, citing the results of a recent Yougov survey.
pressgazette.co.uk pressgazette.co.uk
 
Not just me that thinks it Ed. Maybe it’s you that’s in the minority? Just a thought.
 
A Youguv survey of the people who voted for Brexit means next to nothing in my opinion.
 
Anyway @Eddie my love. This is a TV RATINGS THREAD if you want to talk any more on politics take it to the relevant thread. I was at least talking in context when saying that certain press favour The BBC as I was discussing the jump on on ITV ratings.As I said it’s not just me that thinks that, and a quick google brings up a lot of results and I just posted the first.
 
Listen, I'm not claiming that the BBC doesn't have huge issues to resolve but it isn't clear cut as you seem to think and I DEFINITELY think you are wrong in your perception @Rita.
 
Eddie said:
Listen, I'm not claiming that the BBC doesn't have huge issues to resolve but it isn't clear cut as you seem to think and I DEFINITELY think you are wrong in your perception @Rita.
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We shall agree to disagree. In my opinion they are almost as corrupt as our government but as I say that isn’t for this thread.
 
ANYWAYS,

What do we think The Traitors will open with tomorrow evening?

I am going 7 million live viewers.
 
Rita said:
ANYWAYS,

What do we think The Traitors will open with tomorrow evening?

I am going 7 million live viewers.
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I'd be very happy with 5m, and don't think that's unambitious.
 
it certainly seems to be getting a lot more publicity than the first season did so am hoping for BIG NUMBERS. :disco:
 
Going back a few posts, but I'm quite fascinated by the next few years for ITV. The soaps do seem to have reached a tipping point and be in permanent decline, but they are so central to ITV (in its current form's) programming. Will ITV keep them at the current rate and just burn them out, or will they scale back and go with a more focused, quality-driven approach (i.e. 3 x 30 min eps of Corrie a week, perhaps - despite that surely meaning a downsizing of cast) to try and claw back viewers and turn the tide. My guess is the former, as much as I'd love to live in a world where Corrie is good again and I can keep up with it.

But at the same time they've pumped so much money into making ITVX a thing, and it does seem to be paying off in some capacity, in the sense that there's suddenly LOADS that I'd happily watch on ITVX. I'm just not sure if the finances work fully and I expect it's currently running at a loss - because honestly there are suddenly SO MANY SHOWS, including whole original dramas and comedies that you never hear a thing about, and I'm not sure enough people are watching them. ITV have seen that the future is streaming though so are trying to futureproof themselves as ITVX, and be ready for a post-linear world where they can just release things on streaming as and when, and don't have channels that need to be filled for 24 hours, and therefore soaps aren't needed to anywhere near the current level. I imagine Corrie and Emmerdale will live on in some form even when the channels are switched off.

Also I'm v sorry to Madame Rita, but the idea that the mainstream press are pro-BBC is so utterly mad that I can't ignore it. So many UK press outlets are demonstrably, vocally anti the BBC. The Mail, Sun, Telegraph, Express, The Times, TALKradio/TV, GB News and The Spectator are obsessed with picking holes and doing all they can to bring it down entirely. It's down to a mix of it being a main competitor to them (they'd fucking love it if the BBC News site alone did not exist to pull away traffic) and because it's funded in a way that's ideologically left wing / socialist, and not for profit.

To hone in on The Sun alone (since it's been mentioned), a quick google throws up so many examples of anti-BBC stories accusing it of being biased to the left, and whole leader comment pieces about scrapping the licence fee. There's a 'THE SUN SAYS' column from the past month alone titled 'The licence fee is out of date and a regressive tax that hits the poorest hardest' that's all about why the 'woke, failing BBC' must not be allowed to carry on in its current form. And that's replicated across all the above titles. And it's not like there are other outlets publishing pro-BBC pieces to anywhere near the same level - even BBC News itself doesn't give itself an easy ride during the BBC's scandals, for fear of being seen as not impartial.

BBC bias-wise, as Ag hinted, the above outlets and lots of union flag people on twitter think it's lefty and woke and constantly bumming the EU, whereas all the FBPE types think the BBC is in the government's pocket / institutionally racist / tory as fuck. Personally I think its drama and entertainment output is left-leaning and progressive overall (if only because basically ALL leading creatives in this country seem to be lefties) while its news is pretty centrist, to often erring on the side of the establishment (and therefore somewhat conservative to that extent). But if you compare how it reports on the stories of the day to how the right-wing news press report on the same stories, and actively campaign on the issues covered, you'll again see it's mad to lump the BBC in with them. And if the BBC is in cahoots with the right-wing press and a mouthpiece for the Tory government, why does the right-wing press and the Tory government take so many opportunities to damage it? It simply wouldn't survive another 5 years of the Tory party in anything near its current form.

Fuck me WHAT A LONG POST.
 
I'd guess an overnight in the 4s or 5s for the Traitors, and shitloads more when iplayer is added.
 
:padam::padam::padam::padam::padam::padam::padam:

Anything to get my 2024 moopmoji count up for this hun
 
Finn said:
Personally I think its drama and entertainment output is left-leaning and progressive overall (if only because basically ALL leading creatives in this country seem to be lefties) while its news is pretty centrist, to often erring on the side of the establishment (and therefore somewhat conservative to that extent).
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I think that's a pretty accurate take. I also feel there is a degree to how some of the content is viewed; taking clips - particularly news and current affairs - out of context and sharing them on social media can distort the balance. I've never seen an episode of Laura Kuenssberg's weekly show, but my perception of it as right-leaning (or right-sympathising) has been entirely shaped by what I've seen of it on social media. That may be an accurate depiction, but even if it is, I suspect the reality is nowhere near as pronounced.
 
May I ask what the outpouring love for The BBC is? Is it because you pay a license fee to keep it running, or mainly because of its news outlet? I see a lot of outright hate for ITV and was just wondering if there was something that I have missed? Yes, the breaks are a pain but recording and watching slightly behind solves that problem. It shows a lot of tosh at times but as does the BBC so it can’t be that. The drama series on both are definitely equal?

I shouldn’t have gone in to politics as I don’t know enough about it. I generally avoid that topic on here as I know some are very much more educated in that field than I, but am always keen to learn to an extent. Going back to the yougov poll is that not something that we would generally go by now? Is there a bias towards the BBC? I stand by the fact that when discussing entertainment programmes I struggle to remember any press having a go at the BBC. ITV is consistently getting griped at for losing viewers on this that or the other, and also in a way like they are LOVING every second of the fact that something is “flopping” even though viewing habits have changed, and it is still the most watched programme of the week. I don’t recall the same with a BBC programme. Lolly did mention that last year The Apprentice got a going over because of falling ratings. I can see plenty about how it apparently had its biggest launch show in years in 2022, but nothing regarding how that has dropped about 4 million plus in the past few years.
 
Rita said:
May I ask what the outpouring love for The BBC is? Is it because you pay a license fee to keep it running, or mainly because of its news outlet? I see a lot of outright hate for ITV and was just wondering if there was something that I have missed? Yes, the breaks are a pain but recording and watching slightly behind solves that problem. It shows a lot of tosh at times but as does the BBC so it can’t be that. The drama series on both are definitely equal?

I shouldn’t have gone in to politics as I don’t know enough about it. I generally avoid that topic on here as I know some are very much more educated in that field than I, but am always keen to learn to an extent. Going back to the yougov poll is that not something that we would generally go by now? Is there a bias towards the BBC? I stand by the fact that when discussing entertainment programmes I struggle to remember any press having a go at the BBC. ITV is consistently getting griped at for losing viewers on this that or the other, and also in a way like they are LOVING every second of the fact that something is “flopping” even though viewing habits have changed, and it is still the most watched programme of the week. I don’t recall the same with a BBC programme. Lolly did mention that last year The Apprentice got a going over because of falling ratings. I can see plenty about how it apparently had its biggest launch show in years in 2022, but nothing regarding how that has dropped about 4 million plus in the past few years.
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Leaving the politics aside, I don't think the BBC is exempt from ratings criticism. You only need to type in "BBC Survivor flop" to find reams of articles from a range of outlets, including - but not limited to - The Mail, The Sun and GB News, branding the recent series a disaster. Similarly, EastEnders (which is where this whole discussion started) was in the doldrums for years up until 2022 and you can find many similar articles from various sources reflecting that.

With regard to The Apprentice, it hasn't dropped as much as many other annual flagship shows. The highest series average (not the series high) from 2011 was 8.8 million viewers, last year, it was 6.54. But I suppose it depends entirely on how and what you compare. You could make the argument that Britain's Got Talent has fallen further (over the same period, it's dropped from 10.4 million to 5.98 million) but then its peak average (13.36 million in 2009) was higher than The Apprentice has ever achieved.

I suppose in a broader (and perhaps anecdotal) sense, the main difference between the BBC and ITV in terms of quality control is, generally, ITV seems much more impulsive and persistent in rinsing a successful formula. For example: Love Island rates well, so you get a Winter series to go alongside it. The Masked Singer does well, so The Masked Dancer appears. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? draws millions of viewers across 11-12 episode series' so then it's on all year round.

I don't think anyone is questioning why ITV do that; they're a commercial broadcaster, so their aim is always going to be to try and load the schedules with proven hits that command premium advertising slots. Would the BBC do the same thing if they could? Probably. But they're limited by the licence fee (in terms of having the money to buy/commission multiple variants of a format) and their charter. They can't just flood the schedules with multiple series' of The Traitors, for example, despite there being an obvious incentive to try and capitalise on it after its success early last year.

It also means the BBC are (generally) more responsive to shows that have lost their appeal or aren't cost-effective. I don't think Dancing On Ice, for example, would still be on-air if it was on the BBC because it's past the point where the investment would still be justifiable. ITV would probably defend the decision to continue despite reduced ratings because, from an advertising perspective, they don't have anything better to fill that slot in their schedule.

The business models for the BBC and ITV haven't, inherently, changed in the last two decades. But linear TV as a whole is stuck in a race to the bottom now, and I suppose it's how the BBC and ITV are managing that (whether they want to or not) which highlights the differences in their output and perhaps invites criticism. Just to take it right back to where this started with the soaps, as much as Chris Clenshaw has done great work with EastEnders, the main drive with the show is to demonstrate that it's value for money and getting the most out of what they've got. The focus with Coronation Street is to drive costs down so that the show stays as profitable as possible for as long as possible.

Neither the BBC nor ITV is perfect institutionally, we saw that in 2023 and there are still issues with both that remain unresolved. But purely in terms of content, the challenges facing ITV seem to have had a more pronounced, negative impact on its output.
 
IACGMOOH was a very strange one as it still had an average consolidated viewership average of 8.4 million this year which although lower than last year is still a fantastic figure in this climate and one that will still bring in a great amount of revenue from advertisements.

When I was looking at The Apprentice figures I was looking at a series high of one episode that hit 10.2 million. Like most other reality tv ( if not all) ratings ARE still dropping. Nothing has changed in the format and the BBC seem happy to just carry on with it until it’s dead completely. I am assuming again as they have nothing else to fill its place.

@Slave where did you hear about The Corrie sets? I still watch and they still do a lot of scenes from all characters houses and The Rovers/ Kabin/ Bistro etc. Is this something that is coming in rather than has already been brought in as up until now there have been zero changes in regards to characters on different sets.
 
Rita said:
@Slave where did you hear about The Corrie sets? I still watch and they still do a lot of scenes from all characters houses and The Rovers/ Kabin/ Bistro etc. Is this something that is coming in rather than has already been brought in as up until now there have been zero changes in regards to characters on different sets.
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It's mostly observational from the all-encompassing Coronation Street thread on DS in terms of sets. It's not to say they don't ever use characters' houses, but certain sets appear infrequently. They often use communal spaces like The Rovers/Kabin/Bistro/Cafe as a location regardless of the time of day or how logical it is that the characters would be there. It's more cost-effective to have three groups of characters in one location than it is to erect three different house sets. The Rovers has just gone through a storyline where it closed...but what difference did it make? All the characters just hopped over to a different location and the storylines carried on as normal. It didn't feel as if anything was missing because a lot of the communal sets purely exist as places to put the actors.

Tying into that is the reduction in extras, which has been confirmed by several who jobbed regularly on the show up until Covid. The Rovers closed because business was slow...and now it's reopened, and it's still as empty as ever (in fairness, they did go to some effort to make NYE look a bit busier than usual). Many of the day-to-day scenes consequently feel relatively sparse and isolated. I commented at the time of Stephen's final episode that despite a serial killer running around the Street, there were only about 10 characters actually featured in the final 'showdown'; nobody standing at their door or peering out of a window. It sounds minor, but that's one of the (many) things criticised about EastEnders up until fairly recently. So many of the characters felt compartmentalised in their own little bubbles, and there was no real sense of a wider community existing.
 
I haven’t noticed about the sets at all. They moved Jenny and Daisy in to Rita’s which is a house you don’t usually see. We always get scenes in The Barlows, Sally and Tim’s, The Dobbs, usually with them having breakfast/dinner. They are always in the cafe, bistro, Kabin, Devs, the factory or the garage so can’t place how it has changed at all in terms of the sets BUT yes, I have noticed very few extras in the background of The Rovers especially. The Bistro, and The cafe less so.
 
EastEnders, Vigil, Rick Astley Rocks New Year’s Eve, Call the Midwife and Doctor Who drive record-breaking festive viewing on BBC iPlayer

Viewers flocked to BBC iPlayer during the Christmas week (25-31 Dec 2023) setting a new all-time iPlayer record.

That week saw programmes streamed a record-breaking 177m times, up +7% on the same time the year before – and beating the previous record (2-8 Jan 23) when 173m streams of programmes in a week.

More broadly, throughout the ‘festive fortnight’ (19 Dec 23 - 1 Jan 24), the dramatic reveal of EastEnders ‘The Six’ storyline on Christmas Day topped the chart as the most popular episode on iPlayer (2.96m) – followed by the climax to the second series of Vigil (2.19m), Rick Astley bringing in the New Year (2.02m)- and Call the Midwife (2.01m) and Doctor Who’s Christmas specials (1.79m).

EastEnders was also the top title on iPlayer (26.28m streams) for the ‘festive fortnight’. Vigil (10.96m), Doctor Who (from 2005 onwards) (10.01m), Mrs Brown's Boys (4.64m), Death in Paradise (3.98m), Gavin & Stacey (3.96m), Call the Midwife (3.85m) and Ghosts (3.82m) also made the top ten – along with children’s favourites Bluey (10.42m) and Hey Duggee (10.12m).

The BBC also revealed:

  • New Year’s Day had its best day (during a ‘festive fortnight’) ever – with programmes streamed a record 29.8m times on iPlayer
  • Christmas week saw a massive 16.5m BBC accounts signed into to watch programmes on BBC iPlayer - up +5% on the same time the year before
  • 4.9m of those accounts were from people under 35 - up +7% on last year, making it the best week ever seen within a ‘festive fortnight’ as well as being the highest week of 2023
Dan McGolpin, Director of BBC iPlayer and Channels says: "It’s wonderful to see that viewers came to BBC iPlayer in record numbers over the festive period. Nowhere else would they have found the same range of high-quality British programming to keep them gripped, make them laugh or to provide companionship and news at that special time. And with a whole host of compelling drama, comedy, factual programming, entertainment and sport landing on iPlayer in 2024, viewers can look forward to a great year ahead."
 
The top 20 programme brands throughout the ‘festive fortnight’ on BBC iPlayer were:

ProgrammeStreams (millions)
1​
EastEnders
26.28​
2​
Vigil
10.96​
3​
Bluey
10.42​
4​
Hey Duggee
10.12​
5​
Doctor Who (2005+)
10.01​
6​
Mrs Brown's Boys
4.64​
7​
Death in Paradise
3.98​
8​
Gavin & Stacey
3.96​
9​
Call the Midwife
3.85​
10​
Ghosts
3.82​
11​
Match of the Day
3.79​
12​
Bing
3.76​
13​
Two Doors Down
3.58​
14​
Shetland
3.07​
15​
BBC News
3.06​
16​
Yakka Dee!
3.01​
17​
Numberblocks
2.97​
18​
Breakfast
2.93​
19​
Rick Astley Rocks New Year’s Eve
2.93​
20​
Kin
2.89​
 
The top 20 episodes per series throughout the ‘festive fortnight’ on BBC iPlayer were:

Episode name
Streams (millions)​
1​
EastEnders - 25/12/2023
2.96​
2​
Vigil - Series 2 - Episode 6
2.19​
3​
Rick Astley Rocks New Year’s Eve - Part 1
2.02​
4​
Call the Midwife - Christmas Special 2023
2.01​
5​
Doctor Who 2023 Christmas Special: The Church on Ruby Road
1.79​
6​
Murder Is Easy - Series 1 - Episode 1
1.52​
7​
Death in Paradise - Christmas Special 2023
1.45​
8​
Match of the Day - 23/12/2023
1.36​
9​
Mrs Brown's Boys - 2023 Specials - Mammy's Mare
1.34​
10​
Strictly Come Dancing - Series 21 - Christmas Special
1.16​
11​
Tabby McTat - The Animated Adventure
1.15​
12​
Beyond Paradise - Christmas Special
1.12​
13​
Ghosts - A Christmas Gift
1.11​
14​
New Year's Eve Fireworks - 2023/2024
1.01​
15​
The King - 2023
0.88​
16​
Charles III: The Coronation Year
0.87​
17​
Toy Story 4
0.76​
18​
Not Going Out - Wilfred
0.76​
19​
Jools' Annual Hootenanny - 2023/24
0.74​
20​
The Graham Norton Show - Series 31 - New Year’s Eve Show
0.73​
 
I wouldn't have expected the Xmas Call The Midwife to have more iPlayer views than Doctor Who.

That is pretty good for Rick Astley, though it looks like not so many bothered with part 2.
 


Be interesting to see the figures for this after a week.

Really glad it’s had an impact!
 
I saw that EE had almost 7 million viewers with iPlayer included. That's surely the highest number for a soap in years.
 
It's going to be huge, isn't it?
PercyPig said:


Be interesting to see the figures for this after a week.

Really glad it’s had an impact!
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Yes, very impressive figures considering pre-broadcast figures aren't included for the second, third and fourth episodes. And it's still getting great word of mouth, so I'm sure it will pick up even more than drama usually does on catchup. Plus there's the attention it's given the story - a couple of the tabloids today had calls for Vennells to lose her CBE on the front cover.
 
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