Channel 4

[octothorpe]

Forgot to post this last night, but the continuity VO before A&E said that Strangers... had been put back to 11pm tonight because they wanted to 'put the parent's health first' (I paraphrase). Quite vague, but then again they've actually offered an excuse for why ep 2 was moved later than eps 3 and 4; I surmised either one of the participants has fallen ill and doesn't want the publicity, or C4 are trying to limit any further social media abuse or harassment towards them - shamefully prevalent across reality TV at the moment - by shunting it into a later, less trafficked timeslot.

[Ash101]

Last nights Bake Off rated 3.2m. A&E afterwards was 920,000.

So slightly better than Strangers last week, but again not amazing. You’d like to think a post-Bake Off show could break the million mark. Especially considering other channels are already 15 minutes into their 9pm show? So do many just switch the telly off at 9:15?

[Brekkie]

Have to wonder whether that extra 15 minutes for Bake Off is actually harming it's effect as a lead in - what they gain from inheriting a fairly large audience they lose from the junction not being aligned.

[iloveTV1]

On a different note, the new series of Ackley Bridge will air in ‘a teatime slot’. Could this mean The Simpsons gets two weeks off?

[Brekkie]

It's airing at 5.30pm as well from this week so suspect they'll drop the 6pm airing for a couple of weeks, and possibly air a double bill from 5pm.

[Johnr]

Despite the low ratings, The Circle does well with the all important 16-34 demographic which is probably why Channel 4 are happy enough to keep it going (along with as mentioned they probably film the Netflix series back to back to save on production costs)

Not even sure why they're so generous with the £100k prize fund - £50k as per the first series would probably be more than adequate! (they're only in there about half a month aren't they?)

The only problem is I wonder just how many twists and turns they can throw into the show to keep it fresh

[jsnbts]

Despite the low ratings, The Circle does well with the all important 16-34 demographic which is probably why Channel 4 are happy enough to keep it going (along with as mentioned they probably film the Netflix series back to back to save on production costs)

Not even sure why they're so generous with the £100k prize fund - £50k as per the first series would probably be more than adequate! (they're only in there about half a month aren't they?)

The only problem is I wonder just how many twists and turns they can throw into the show to keep it fresh

Personally I’m a huge fan of The Circle and this series seems as fresh as ever - the twists have added to the show rather than going too far. It also seems to trend on Twitter every evening it airs which probably adds to the overall success of the show in Channel 4’s eyes. Interesting that they advertised for contestants to apply for a “possible” series 4 last night, I’m guessing it hasn’t yet been recommissioned yet?

[Brekkie]

I suspect it does well on All4 too. They need to sort out the strategy around supporting content though - they repeatedly plug a podcast which seemingly isn't very good (though seem to have stopped doing so in the last couple of days) and the app hasn't been updated since the last series.

The best content is the Reveal Room which really should be a short spin off directing people to All4 rather than an awkard shaped video on their socials which gets lost. I follow them on Twitter but only found out about them due to someone creating a GIF of Tally's reactions.

https://twitter.com/C4TheCircle/status/1...5738562561

[jsnbts]

I suspect it does well on All4 too. They need to sort out the strategy around supporting content though - they repeatedly plug a podcast which seemingly isn't very good (though seem to have stopped doing so in the last couple of days) and the app hasn't been updated since the last series.

The best content is the Reveal Room which really should be a short spin off directing people to All4 rather than an awkard shaped video on their socials which gets lost. I follow them on Twitter but only found out about them due to someone creating a GIF of Tally's reactions.

https://twitter.com/C4TheCircle/status/1...5738562561

Totally agree on the Reveal Room being the best parts and I too thought it odd I only randomly came across it on their Twitter account. Seems weird it’s not even mentioned in passing as part of the show or even after by the CA.

[Johnr]

Ooh thanks for the pointer on the reveal room videos, much quicker getting their reactions in a 5 minute video than an hour and a bit live show every week too!

[Ash101]

https://twitter.com/broadcastnow/status/...1935763460

The way things are currently, they probably could’ve done with this on the main channel. But, either way, great performance for More4 during a time when ratings overall are tanking!

[PATV Scunthorpe]

they repeatedly plug a podcast which seemingly isn't very good (though seem to have stopped doing so in the last couple of days) and the app hasn't been updated since the last series.

The podcast isn't daily anyway, but the release does seem to be quite random. I do think it is a good companion though, I like that it doesn't lean too heavily on what is actually happening in the series but rather the themes of what is happening, and is a good move to have Alex host as an experienced person of the format.

As suggested before, it would be nice to have some sort of side show which does discuss what has happened, similar to BOTS, this could then incorporate the Reveal Room, as I do really enjoy seeing players reactions and Tally's was definitely one of the best.

I guess there just isn't the need for the app this year, it won't add much to what they can already do on their social media channels, if this series was live, then as it was with Series 2, it would have a purpose of providing live data and interactive elements.

[XIII]

More4 seems to have become a pipeline for Channel 4, both Devon and Cornwall and The Great Pottery Throwdown both ended up moving to Channel 4 after debuting on More4.

[Rick]

Are they trying to move in on Channel 5's territory by making farming related content, knowing this is rating well for Channel 5 currently?

[XIII]

Are they trying to move in on Channel 5's territory by making farming related content, knowing this is rating well for Channel 5 currently?

TBF farming programming isn't exclusive to Channel 5, This Farming Life has been a success for BBC Two and of course Countryfile is very successful for BBC One. It's more that this sort of lifestyle programming has become more popular in the last year or so.