TV Viewing Summary W/E 24/05/98

Viewing shares stand at more or less the same levels this week. ITV continues to hold a commanding 33%. BBC1 follows with 28%, BBC2 has 10.7%, Channel 4 10.8%, and despite an overall improvement in some of its audience figures over recent weeks Channel 5 still sees no improvement and clings on to its 3.9% share.

Soap wise Coronation Street achieves an average audience of 13.38 million, with Eastenders following with 11.80 million. Oh how cruel love is, the ‘teen’ marriages of Bianca & Ricky, and Leanne & Nicky collapse in the same week. Shame really, I mean Ricky and Nicky, can you imagine either of them surviving on their own without a psychopathic partner to contend with?? They both seem to thrive on it, or maybe it’s just a masochistic male tendency. Perhaps Ricky really does take some pleasure in being screamed at everytime communication is required. Still, there is always one ultimate sanctuarary which can’t be breached ; as Norm in Cheers used to say “Women. Can’t live with ’em…pass the beer nuts”. Sadly, Nick is still under eighteen (obviously no one told him that there are major disadvantages to being married before one is old enough to enjoy the comfort of a few ales).

Where the Heart Is comes in as the top drama of the week (10.17 million). The BBC’s new dramas are really bombing now, Berkeley Square just pulls in to the top thirty with 5.67 million, Invasion Earth can’t even get that far with its dismal score of 5 million viewers. Touching Evil and Wycliffe hold on to their loyal audiences with 8.31 and 7.98 respectively.

So where can one turn for quality entertainment? Well, the Beeb are trying to find a replacement for Maureen Reece as quickly as possible, and look to have found a suitable candidate in Ray Brown the ‘camp clamper of Southwark’. 7.55 million watched his hyped up antics, but, as we all know following the alleged exposure of Carlton’s The Connection, you can’t always trust what you see. According to some of the tabloids Ray Brown is a mere office worker, and until the cameras turned up had never even handed out a parking ticket, let alone terrorised Central London with his ‘clamping equipment’.

Or you could always turn to the ITV Network’s latest light entertainment offerings. A series of shows made by that bastion of quality TV programmes Reeve Gouche International are now imported on a regular basis. Based around title names like ‘the best car chases in the world ever’, we move a stage nearer to the sort of dire shows that only the Simpson family seem to have to put up with. This week we were given When Good Times Go Bad (7.06 million), billed as ‘documentary featuring real-life tales of fun days out which ended in disaster’ – sounds great doesn’t it? Well, not to worry if you missed it, even an insider at the ITV Network Centre (who wishes to remain nameless) was pretty scathing about the programme’s low quality. Great to see they have as much faith in their programming as I do.

To make comments on this TV Summary, take a look at the Media Pub.

Subscribers can access the TV database by selecting “Television” from the drop-down box at the top of this page.