Attentional's ScreenWatch blog comments on viewing figures for UK TV content, using BARB overnight ratings.
Category Archives: TV Viewing
LATEST NEWS
C4 has received good news and bad news from Ofcom: the good news is the praise it has received for the range of suppliers it uses, its spend on original content and its Paralympic coverage. On the downside, Ofcom has flagged concerns over the Channel’s shrinking Share and, in particular, its dwindling Share for news viewing among 16-34-year-olds. The regulator has suggested C4 might consider alternative methods of delivering news to its audience, outside the main evening news bulletin.
LAST NIGHT’S TV
The above table shows the single top performing title in each genre selected, based on BARB overnight data. Figures are for channel totals where applicable.
The above table shows the single top performing titles each week by selected genre, based on BARB overnight data. Figures are for channel totals where applicable.
History for girls.
The White Queen is the extravagant new historical romance series for the BBC, produced by All3Media’s Company Pictures (The Village, Secret State, Skins). The drama is based on Philippa Gregory’s The Cousin’s War, and set during in 1464 during the War of the Roses, the conflict between the houses of York and Lancaster. Reputedly costing £25m, the 10-part saga is one of the BBC’s more expensive productions, but no doubt will expect strong worldwide sales with its focus on history from a more feminine perspective. The cast features some young and relatively unknown faces – Max Irons (son of Jeremy) as King Edward, and Rebecca Ferguson as his bride, Elizabeth, however there are better known stars present to help boost sales, including James Frain (The Tudors, Grimm, True Blood) and Janet McTeer (Damages, Parade’s End).
The first episode, at 9pm last night (Sunday 16th June), attracted a slot-winning audience of 5.3m (22.8%). However, the Performance Index of 95.99 showed it was just under the average Drama audience in this timeslot. The audience profile showed that it appealed to the core BBC1 audience, with the proportion of adult viewers in the age brackets from 35 upwards in line, or slightly higher than the benchmark figures.
Company Pictures’ previous “history through they eyes of a woman” series, The Devil’sWhore, aired in the UK 2008 on Wednesday nights on C4, perhaps a less obvious home for it than BBC’s Sunday-night, 9pm slot. Here it could only attract average audiences of 2.1m (9.1%), although its launch figure of 2.8m (12.3%) was above the slot benchmark. However, by the final episode, the audience had fallen to 1.8m (8.5%). What was clear was that The Devil’s Whore was more suited to an older audience, and attracted a much higher proportion of viewers in the 55+ age groups than the C4 benchmark figures, but well below those for younger audiences. This illustrates the importance of matching the programme to the slot and channel that will best suit it in terms of the available audience. For the BBC, The White Queen proved a good fit, whereas C4 was not able to match this forThe Devil’s Whore.
New Titles
Dates This is the new comedy drama from Brian Elsley, creator of Skins, about strangers seeking love. The first of nine episodes (three running Monday to Wednesday this week), at 10pm on C4 on Monday, was watched by 1.5m (8.3%), giving a strong Performance Index of 128.3.
Precision: the Measure of All Things, the latest series to be presented by Marcus du Sautoy looks at the human need to quantify the world by breaking it down into units of measurement. The first of three episodes, on Monday at 9pm on BBC4, illustrated how we measure time and distance. The Big Wave production attracted 505,200 viewers (2.2%), with a Performance Index of 124.5.
Happy Families is a new four-part series of documentaries about parenting that follows four families over the course of one week. The TwoFour production launched on ITV at 9pm on Thursday, to an audience of 2.1m (9.4%).
Compare Your Life features the former CEO of confused.com, as he advises families on how to change their lives based on the same principles as a comparison website. By analysing the families’ priorities, life coach Carlton Hood narrows down their choices to three options. The first of six programmes, at 8pm on C4, was watched by a below-par 825,800 (3.7%).
Big Brother, the granddaddy of reality shows, returned to C5 at 9pm on Thursday. The latest season has a self-sufficiency theme. Emma Willis presented the launch show, which drew in 2.1m (10%).
Harbour Lives, at 8pm on ITV on Friday, was the first in a new eight-part series presented by Ben Fogle, which looks a the lives of those who live and work around Poole, in Dorset. The programme drew 3.6m viewers (17.8%).
LATEST NEWS
With the threat of government budget cuts hanging over it, S4C, the Welsh language broadcaster, has laid claim to generating around £125m for the nation’s creative economy. S4C commissioned a report from Cardiff’s Arad Research that found, for every £1 spent on Welsh programme commissions, it generated double the return. The results will be used to lobby the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, who are suspected of proposing further cuts to its 6.7m contribution to S4C’s budget, as part of the comprehensive spending review.
LAST NIGHT’S TV
The above table shows the single top performing title in each genre selected, based on BARB overnight data. Figures are for channel totals where applicable.
LATEST NEWS
Discovery Networks International (DNI) is reported by Broadcast magazine to be ending its co-production partnership with the BBC. The current arrangement, which runs through to next year, has helped to fund landmark documentary series, including Africa, and Professor Brian Cox’s Wonders of the Solar System. The partnership helped to cement the BBC’s position is a producer of some of the best wildlife and science programmes in the world, and the loss of the funding, said to be worth around £35m per annum, could place this position under threat.
LAST NIGHT’S TV
The above table shows the single top performing title in each genre selected, based on BARB overnight data. Figures are for channel totals where applicable.
LATEST NEWS
ITV has introduced a charge of £3.99 per month for users to access ITV3 and ITV4 content via their iPhone or iPad apps. The Premium Player subscription fee allows simulcast streaming of the ITV channels, as well as the chance to watch all catch-up content ad-free.
LAST NIGHT’S TV
The above table shows the single top performing title in each genre selected, based on BARB overnight data. Figures are for channel totals where applicable.
LATEST NEWS
Robson Green is to make two new factual series for ITV with a focus on the northernmost of England’s counties. The first is to be produced by ITV’s in-house factual team at Shiver, and will take viewers on a tour of Green’s home county, Northumberland. The second series, a two-parter from Sony’s Silver River, will look at the role played by Northumberland in the age following the industrial revolution.
LAST NIGHT’S TV
The above table shows the single top performing title in each genre selected, based on BARB overnight data. Figures are for channel totals where applicable.
The above table shows the single top performing titles each week by selected genre, based on BARB overnight data. Figures are for channel totals where applicable.
Talent Scouts
The seventh season of the SyCo TV/Thames talent search, Britain’s Got Talent, came to a close with the two-and-a-half hour live final on ITV, on Saturday at 7.30pm.
The annual event, now a mainstay of the ITV schedule, began life in 2007, when an audience of 11.1m (44.3%) watched the live final in which operatic singer Paul Potts triumphed. This audience grew to 13.1m (55.1%) for the second season finale in 2008, but the show really peaked in 2009, when Susan Boyle emerged as a favourite. The Scottish singer’s story attracted a huge audience of 17.3m (67.6%) to the final, and the season ended up with an average figure of 12.4m (52.3%). However, Boyle was pipped at the post by the all-conquering dance troupe Diversity.
Since 2009, the figures have fallen away slightly, with no contestant’s story quite gripping the nation in the same way again. Audiences averaged between 10 and 11m between 2010 and 2012, and the Share saw a drop to just over 40% for Season 6. However, Season 7, while only bringing average audiences of 9.9m has seen a rise in Share of almost 3 points over its 2012 performance. It certainly doesn’t look as though the series has run its course, and it is understood that renewal talks with ITV are underway for both Britain’s Got Talent and SyCo’s other hot property, X Factor.
New Titles
Animal Heroes - First in a three-part season that started at 8pm ITV1 Tuesday 4th June, this observational series follows the work of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps. The first programmed looked at the selection of puppies to train as military working dogs, and attracted an audience of 1.9m (9.7%).
Dirty Britain - was the second of two new series for the evening on ITV, at 9pm. The first of two programmes following the work of those who clean up after us – from portaloos to houses that have fallen into a state of squalor. The audience of 1.8m (8.3%) gave a somewhat below-part Performance Index of 66.01.
The Call Centre - is a new observational documentary series on BBC3 at 9pm on Tuesday. The series follows the daily life of a Swansea call centre. Episode 1 drew an audience of 207,000 (6.4%), and a Performance Index of 95.5.
Love and Marriage – new six-part comedy drama on ITV at 9pm on Wednesday, starring Alison Steadman. Tells the story of a recently retired woman who suddenly realises that she is totally taken for granted by all those around her. The audience of 4.8m (20.6%) brought an above-average audience of 111.9.
Britain’s Secret Homes, at 9pm on Friday on ITV, tells the story of important events in the history of the UK through some of the locations where they took place. A host of famous faces are on hand to guide viewers on these historical journeys. The first programme drew an audience 0f 2.4m (11.6%).
LATEST NEWS
The Guardian reports that Apple is rumoured to be launching an ad-backed music steraming service, unsurprisingly dubbed iRadio by the industry. Details are expected to be announced at Apple’s developers’ conference next week. The new service will go up against existing names such as Spotify and Pandora.
LAST NIGHT’S TV
The above table shows the single top performing title in each genre selected, based on BARB overnight data. Figures are for channel totals where applicable.
LATEST NEWS
BBC2 is apparently reviving its documentary strand Modern Times, which was axed more than 10 years ago. The channel is hoping for producers to come forward with ideas for single films that illustrate aspects of contemporary Britain.
LAST NIGHT’S TV
The above table shows the single top performing title in each genre selected, based on BARB overnight data. Figures are for channel totals where applicable.
LATEST NEWS
Jana Bennett, the former head of BBC Vision, and then the BBC Worldwide Networks, has joined A+E Network, and has been named as president of Lifetime Movie Network and Bio. The move forms part of A+E’s latest restructure, which is said to include the creation of an in-house production division.
LAST NIGHT’S TV
The above table shows the single top performing title in each genre selected, based on BARB overnight data. Figures are for channel totals where applicable.
