At last, the BBC see sense

Source: UK Game Shows

In many households it is the same argument on a Saturday night. Do we watch Strictly or The X Factor? So I was refreshed to read that the BBC are to change the schedules at the end of the month in a hope of combating the Strictly Come Dancing/X Factor ratings battle.

At the present time, Strictly starts at around 7:00 and runs for two hours. ITV1 have scheduled The X Factor for the past few weeks at 8:00 in a two hour timeslot. This has meant that viewers have been torn between the two shows that top the ratings every week.

Simon Cowell blasted the BBC for it’s awful scheduling last month and called for ITV to move The X Factor to a later time. However it was not enough and an overlap of over an hour between the two shows has dented ratings and affected Strictly more than its ITV rival.

Source: Mirror

The X Factor has been winning the ratings battle for the past five weeks since Strictly began. Last Saturday the ITV1 show pulled in around 11 million viewers with Strictly averaging around 8 million.

Ratings for Strictly have not been as high this year as they have in previous years but nobody can deny that by todays standards, eight million is a significant figure. The only shows rated higher are Coronation Street, EastEnders and the odd episode of New Tricks and Doc Martin.

The move made by the BBC will reduce the overlap to 45 minutes, with Strictly starting at 6:50 pm. But will it be enough? Will Strictly’s rating increase or decline? And what will happen to Merlin? One thing is for sure, no matter how compulsive the two shows are on a Saturday night and with Strictly being my favourite, I still put my money on The X Factor as being the highest rated show on a Saturday (and Sunday) night!

Retune tomorrow!

Don’t forget to retune your freeview service tomorrow (Wednesday 30 September) if you have one. If you do not you could lose access to Five, ITV3, ITV4 and some BBC Radio Channels, and we wouldn’t want that would we?

Britton quits This Morning over pay

Fern has decided to quit This Morning after 10 years (Source: Independent)

Fern Britton announced yesterday that she was to step down as host on ITV1′s This Morning. Her reasons were unclear but today it has emerged that she is unhappy with her salary which is much less than her co-host Phillip Schofield receives.

A few months ago it was reported that Phillip will get more money for hosting All Star Mr and Mrs than Fern and is is claimed that Britton is not very happy that ITV do not use her for other things like Phillip. He has become something of an ITV stalwart in recent years presenting Dancing On Ice and is set to do a new show this year. Fern has not been used that much.

Fern has hosted This Morning for 10 years and has been alongside Schofield for six. They have one of the best partnerships on television and I am sure many will be sad to see her go. But will she defect back to the BBC? She has been on Let’s Dance and Question Time…

She will step down from This Morning in July. Anyone else think this story is relative of Carol Vorderman’s decision to quit Countdown last year?

X Factor pay rise only for Cole

 

X Factor judges, Louis Walsh, Dannii Minogue, Cheryl Cole and Simon Cowell (Source: blogs.guardian.co.uk)

It has been reported that Cheryl Cole will be the only X Factor star to receive a pay rise. The Girls Aloud star will be given a 34% pay increase, meaning her wage packet will be boosted to £1.1 million. Fellow judges Louis Walsh and Dannii Minogue may not receive pay rises. Simon Cowell has already signed a mammoth deal with ITV.

The next series will see Cole taking the reigns of judge for the second time. When her place as judge was first announced there was some speculation as to whether she would be up to standards. Since then she has become the most popular of the judges and is now seen as the younger, more beautiful star of the show. A role that was filled by Dannii Minogue previously. 

An ITV source said that Cole was the only one to receive the pay rise because the corporation wanted to do all they could to keep her. She has been a huge asset. 

Following news of the recent ITV cutbacks, presenter Dermot O’Leary will take a pay cut. 

What To Watch – Thursday 5th March

RED RIDING

CHANNEL 4 9:00 PM

It is unusual for Channel 4 to make a gritty crime drama, that job is normally left up to BBC One or ITV. However they have proven us all wrong with a new drama starting tonight. Red Riding stars Sean Bean and is set in 1974. The plot follows the disappearance of a schoolgirl. There is a link between this disappearance with a similar chain of events. Journalist, Eddie Dunford (played by Andrew Garfield) uncovers this link and also a corrupt relationship between the police and a local businessman (Sean Bean). The only person the journalist can trust is the mother of one of the missing girls. With extremely strong language and brutal scenes it is guaranteed to hook you. Could this be a new era of drama for the channel? Let’s hope so.

 

THE GREEN GREEN GRASS

BBC ONE 8:30 PM

As spin-offs go, this has to be one of the best. Who would’ve though that Boycie (John Challis) and Marlene (Sue Holderness) would every give up city life to move to the country. This snobby pair have really kept viewers hooked as they try to adjust to life after Peckham. Tonight is the last episode in the current series and sees Boycie and Marlene celebrate their ruby wedding anniversary. Be prepared for some shocks along the way though and some extremely funny moments from Marlene’s mother, Doral who is played by June Whitfield. Let’s just hope that the Only Fools and Horses spin-off is back on our screens for another series.

ITV in turmoil

 

ITV to make cutbacks (picture from whatsontv.co.uk)

 

 

ITV has today announced that it is to cut 600 jobs. Around 150 jobs are expected to be lost in Leeds, with several hundreds being axed in London. The decision comes at a time when ITV announced it had lost £2.7 billion in 2008. 

The job cuts in Leeds mean that long running shows ‘Heartbeat‘ and ‘The Royal‘ could face the axe althogether. ITV announced last month that they would halt production on the two shows. As it happens there are enough episodes to run the series until 2010. After that their future in undecided. 

A programme that has not been affected is Emmerdale. The second most popular show on ITV will still be filmed in Yorkshire. This is good news because it is a show that the company cannot afford to lose.

Having talked about the losses, ITV also recorded a £167 million profit for 2008. This figure was down 41% on 2007. The current economic crisis has meant that advertising revenues have dropped and bosses at ITV are keen to cut back costs and jobs to ensure that they do not completely go under.

It invests a lot of money in top quality shows such as Coronation Street, Dancing On Ice, Saturday Night Takeaway and I’m A Celebrity but if things carry on the way they are, could a possible merger be on the cards?

Goodbye to an EastEnders legend

I know I am a bit late posting this and as a journalist should be more on the ball. However I am not and that is just the way it is. I was shocked when I heard about the death of actress Wendy Richard. She lost her battle with cancer on Thursday, a disease she has fought off twice before. She was 65 years-of-age. 

Many will remember Wendy (and as a true EastEnders fan I do) as the Walford Matriarch Pauline Fowler in BBC One soap EastEnders. She starred as Pauline for 21 years until her demise on Christmas Day 2006 under the Christmas tree. She has been at the centre of some of the shows biggest storylines. She has seen her son Mark (Todd Carty, excellent ice skater) suffer HIV and aids. Her daughter Michelle went through a teenage pregnancy and her husband had a mental breakdown and was falsely imprisoned. Some will say she was a battle-axe in the show but the most important thing to her was family.

In real life, Wendy did not have much family. Her dad took his own life when she was just a child. Wendy discovered his body. When her mum died she had nobody and had already had one failed marriage. Two more would follow including domestic violence. After leaving EastEnders she has been in ITV’s comedy ‘Benidorm’ hit drama ‘Marple’ and of course the Post Office ads. Last year she realised that her cancer had spread to her bones but she kept fighting until the end. Her death was certainly a shock to many, including her husband John Burns, whom she married late last year.

Wendy has had many other acting credits as well as EastEnders. She has played parts in ‘On The Buses’ ‘Up Pompeii’ and many will know her as the flirtatious Miss Brahms in ‘Are You Being Served’.

As an actress and a person, Wendy will be missed greatly by millions and her legacy at EastEnders will live on forever.