TWO MILLION News Posted by Seb Patrick on 11th April 2009, 11:23 TWO. FUCKING. MILLION. VIEWERS. And a further 300,000 for the 10pm timeshift. And 1m for the Gunmen repeat! So there we have it. Red Dwarf : Back to Earth is an absolutely HUGE FUCKING SUCCESS. As far as I can see, it’s second only to Torchwood as the highest ever rated UK-originated non-sports multichannel broadcast.* That’s a lot of conditions, but it’s still far more impressive than any of us could ever have anticipated. *EDIT : “Fourth-highest”, according to Mike Warren’s research. Still, though. Bear in mind this is comparing overnights to final figures…
Wonder what this means for the show’s future – would any future episode stay on Dave, or Doug take it to the BBC and the larger audience, given the chance? (and let’s hope the figure stays high for tonight’s episode…)
Would be bloody impressive for a show on a BBC digital channel. And this is Dave we’re talking about. Would’ve been amazed at anything near 1 million. 2 MILLION?! Christ. I hope tonight sees similar figures, though I doubt it.
I think the figures for tonight and tomorrow could be crucial really couldn`t they. It would be unrealistic not to expect a small drop after all of the hype for the show yesterday but if they can keep the majority then surely somebody would want to make more.
And by all accounts the show didn’t lead with its best. Which is good, but also might have turned people off. Well, we’ll see.
>I think the figures for tonight and tomorrow could be crucial really couldn`t they Tonight and tommorrow will be the real test, IMO. Congrats to GNP and Dave for hitting 2 million, though. Fantastic result.
2 Million viewers is big! This big!! No, this big!! Oh man, what’s the word… Okay, so it seems that the 1st ep is the weakest (hopefully by a long way), so here’s hoping that the viewer attrition off the back of that isn’t too high. I’m predicting maybe 1.2 mil for ep 2, and high 900K for ep 3. Still, for a digital freeview channel… that is phenomenal.
Tonight’s might have a bit of competition, though, seeing that Doctor Who Confidential actually overlaps BTE part 2 by twenty minutes, and that always pulls in high figures for BBC Three. Good thing it’s being repeated tomorrow night… ETA (more): Doing some research on the BARB website – it looks like fourth highest (there a Shite Factor Xtrapleasepleasewatchussomemore beating it in December, a Britain Has Even More Lack of Talent in June). I can’t go back any earlier than January 2008, though.
Doctor Who Confidential is repeated at 4.10am. Sadly, Doctor Who takes the back seat this weekend. Although I’m currently listening to David Tennant, Catherine Tate and guest John Barrowman.
So Mr Stabby was close, underpegged it though, Steve Harris closest but overshot the runway by a .04 million, and singing potato nailed the fact that there was a 6 in it!! if 2.06 is confirmed. Heres a recap of those March guesses. Mr-Stabby / Sun, 2009-03-08 00:00 – I think the absolute best we can hope for is 2 million. Jonathan Capps / Sun, 2009-03-08 00:02 / – Two million, I think, is far too high. I think 1 million is the pie in the sky target for now. Carl / Sun, 2009-03-08 00:23 / – I?ll be optimistic and say this will be Dave?s highest ever rated show, and approach the 1.5m mark at its peak. I will be even more optimistic if it gets a fair amount of mainstream publicity closer to airing SoundableObject / Sun, 2009-03-08 00:33 / – I think it will be about a million and a half, with the amount of interest from the media I think it will have the pull. Seb Patrick / Sun, 2009-03-08 00:40 / – 600,000, and then around 3-4million when BBC decide to buy it and repeat it on BBC2. performingmonkey / Sun, 2009-03-08 01:35 / – Anything pushing 1,000,000 would be a huge success. Ian Symes / Sun, 2009-03-08 01:49 / – I?m feeling incredibly optimistic, and I?ll plump for 1.3 million. ori-STUDFARM / Sun, 2009-03-08 01:58 / — I think they?ll do a personal best. performingmonkey / Sun, 2009-03-08 02:15 / – A further 90,000 from Dave ja vu viewers? Pete Part Three / Sun, 2009-03-08 03:36 / – 7 Somebody / Sun, 2009-03-08 05:02 / – Dave?s record viewing figures to date are 756,000 for a QI repeat on Monday 28th Jan last year. Their top show of a week tends to be in the 450k-600k range. I think One Million Viewers has to be the target for RD:BtE. hummingbird / Sun, 2009-03-08 08:57 / – I?m going for 800,000. Ben Paddon / Sun, 2009-03-08 09:36 / – Nine. si / Sun, 2009-03-08 11:33 / – 932,078. Roughly. Arlene Rimmer B… / Sun, 2009-03-08 11:48 / – Somewhere between three and a hundred and twenty-five squillion, give or take a few. Danny Stephenson / Sun, 2009-03-08 11:52 / – I?m no good at estimating, but i?d reckon we?ll get 78 million of them. Steve Harris / Sun, 2009-03-08 17:20 / – I reckon it?s going to smash all expectation (given the right advertising) and am going to go for 3 million?(on the main episodes) Ben Paddon / Sun, 2009-03-08 21:36 / – Twelvety. John Hoare / Sun, 2009-03-08 21:39 / – I?m going for 1.5m for the first episode. Austin Ross / Tue, 2009-03-10 13:39 / – 4,691 irradiated haggis. SingingPotato1979 / Tue, 2009-03-17 17:06 / – It?ll have a six in it, but it won?t be six thousand. Jonsmad / Wed, 2009-03-18 03:27 / – 1.8 million.
Astonishing viewing figures! I remember Torchwood episode 1 setting lots of records in 2006 (coincidentally, as I write this Tennant, Tate and Barrowman are on Radio 2, filling in for Jonathan Ross). However, Wikipedia says that ITV2’s broadcast of Bionic Woman later got 35K more. Does anyone have a full list of the highest-rated Freeview/multichannel programmes?
WOOHOOOO! 2mil is great. The very top end of what I was expecting, the figure I really hoped it would reach but honestly didn’t think it would quite make it. I’d have been happy with anything approaching 1.5mil to be honest so this is very good. Hopefully there won’t be any more than a 500k drop-off tonight. Very excited for RD’s future now too.
Does anyone have a full list of the highest-rated Freeview/multichannel programmes? Here’s what I’ve got, based on my research: Bionic Woman – March 2009 – 2.55 UEFA Champions League – 30/04/08 – 2.49 Torchwood – “Everything Changes” – 2.4 Ford Super Sunday – 23/03/08 – 2.39 Ford Super Sunday – 11/01/09 – 2.38 Live Carling Cup Final 2008 – 2.35 Ford Super Sunday – 13/04/08 – 2.31 Torchwood – “Day One” – 2.3 Live Carling Cup Final 2009 – 2.29 Ford Super Sunday – 23/03/08 – 2.24 Ford Super Sunday – 01/02/09 – 2.19 Britain’s Got More Talent – 31/05/08 – 2.17 Xtra Factor Result – 06/12/08 – 2.11 Ford Super Sunday – 30/11/08 – 2.09 Red Dwarf – Back to Earth Part 1 – 2.06 (the 0.34 from ja vu doen’t get counted by BARB) The Colour of Magic – Part 1 – 1.98 Xtra Factor Result – 13/12/08 – 1.96 So, take out sport, and non-UK productions, and you get: Torchwood – “Everything Changes” – 2.4 Torchwood – “Day One” – 2.3 Britain’s Got More Talent – 31/05/08 – 2.17 Xtra Factor Result – 06/12/08 – 2.11 Red Dwarf – Back to Earth Part 1 – 2.06 Xtra Factor Result – 13/12/08 – 1.96 And, for a bit of comparison: Doctor Who Confidential – 05/07/08 (i.e. the one after “Journey’s End”) – 1.46 Dead Set – Episode 1 – 1.46
I’m concerned that those disappointed by the first episode won’t give episodes 2 and 3 a chance. Someone, claiming to have seen all episodes, started a thread on the main board. It vanished rather quickly. ;) They didn’t actually spoil much at all, mainly encouraging us that in the new episodes the gags come in fast reminiscent of series 5 and 6. They claimed their sister was involved in the production, so I suspect they might have been at the premier. (And the quick vanish also suggests they weren’t having us on.) Not that I’m one of those who disliked this first episode. (Overall, I felt positive.) But I know many seemed to really not like it. On the other hand many loved it too, and I think the haters are more likely to voice their opinion.
Brilliant figures. Fantabulous figures actually! With the timeshift added on later, it’ll probably be closer to 2.6 Tonight will i’m guessing see a drop in figures, but seeing as though Friday ratings are always rubbish compared to weekend ones, hopefully it won’t go down by far. But then there is a lot of competition this weekend. Aren’t Sky One also showing an original series of their own this weekend?
And what of G&T’s ratings was there any tracking beyond the podcast comment? of the traffic? did I count 150 users on site.
The real test is how many stick with it to Part 3, isn’t it? But it’s reassuring that over 1 million stayed to watch Gunmen afterwards. > And what of G&T?s ratings I counted ~180 at one point, of which 150+ were guests, which was about 40 minutes after the end of the ep. It gave me a warm feeling inside. Or maybe that was too much curry.
>Seb Patrick / Sun, 2009-03-08 00:40 / – 600,000, and then around 3-4million when BBC decide to buy it and repeat it on BBC2. I will point out that : (a) On the preview podcast I upped this to 1.5m based on the publicity (b) I stand by my prediction that this is going to be on BBC2 before the end of the year.
The overnights are 2.2 according to Doug and Robert. This could still mean they break the record I think…
> I stand by my prediction that this is going to be on BBC2 before the end of the year. I said it first. :P
> I stand by my prediction that this is going to be on BBC2 before the end of the year. I think that would only happen if the BBC comissioned a new series.
Meanwhile: http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/2009/04/bbc2_suffers_peaktime_collapse.html Please enjoy the irony.
Who in the name of heck could predict that Back to Earth would achieve nearly 3 times the viewing figures of BBC 2’s output in the same time slot? My flabber is well and truly ghasted.
Dave, really is becoming everyone’s best friend. 2.2 Million what a showing. The boys from the Dwarf are well and truly back.
It’s amazing figures when you put it in context. I think this is such a reward for all the hard work.
Yeah there’s a bit of competition tonight with Doctor Who Confidential and Britains Got Talent both overlapping the first 15-20 mins of Back to Earth. Hopefully it won’t have too much effect though or, at the very least, a lot of people watch it later on Dave Ja Vu instead.
It’s an incredible sign. I would have thought 1m would have guaranteed a series but 2.2m!!? Does anyone know how bbc two did in the same slot?
i have no idea how the viewing figures work but im glad to hear its a good sign i guess chances of it going up aint likely, lets hope it dont go down due to critical people :( its pretty sad when people gotta complain about no “canned laughter” in order to make them laugh, and then u got alot of people saying “i dont know if i will watch the 2nd part” like on the red dwarf and doctor who board on imdb :S
> its pretty sad when people gotta complain about no ?canned laughter? in order to make them laugh I don`t think it`s about that for most people. I think it`s just that some shows suit an audience and some don`t. Now the Dwarf ep last night, apart from the grave scene perhaps, was no less traditional sitcom than any of the other series. It featured a massive number of typical sitcom gags (some very old) and so I can understand people saying that it missed the audience. Of course tonight and tomorrow may be different…
> Does anyone know how bbc two did in the same slot? Says here http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/a152469/new-red-dwarf-pulls-in-over-2-million.html that at the same time the golf on BBC Two attracted 1.85m. SO WE BEAT THE BASTARDS! :p
>Yeah there?s a bit of competition tonight with Doctor Who Confidential and >Britains Got Talent both overlapping the first 15-20 mins of Back to Earth. >Hopefully it won?t have too much effect though or, at the very least, a lot of >people watch it later on Dave Ja Vu instead. Didnt someone say that dont count Dave Ja VU? or is that they dont add Dave Ja Vu to the total who watched Dave. I think the audience might shift to laters showings given the interest in other shows mentioned. But I also think it’s possible new people will tune in because they meant to watch this and didnt realise it was on and mates have told them it was good now, so they will watch parts 2 and 3 and the cliffhanger was suitable that people could perhaps still pick up whats happening and enjoy the whole “earth” parts of it still after any recap thats due.
> Didnt someone say that dont count Dave Ja VU? or is that they dont add Dave Ja Vu to the total who watched Dave They don’t officially add Dave Ja Vu to the total who watched Dave. But say if RD got 1mil on Dave tonight and then maybe another 600 000 on Dave Ja Vu it would probably be reported “OMG RED DWARF’S AUDIENCE IS HALVED!!”. Meanwhile Dave would probably consider that 1.6mil and still pretty bloody good.
A disquieting thought: bobbyllew mentioned that RD still holds the BBC2 record for biggest audience… for season 8. That don’t decide (by itself) how this ends.
So what your saying is that we need to watch it on BOTH to boost viewing figures! Well, that works for me!
> So what your saying is that we need to watch it on BOTH to boost viewing figures! Well, that works for me! Only if you’re one of the 5,100 that influences the statistics.
One million viewers on a 15 year old episode is brilliant, but two million on a new one is even better.
would it still be good if it drops down to 1 million by part 3? :S or would the drop from 2 to 1 mean a risky dissapointed for future red dwarf projects? im very curious
Brilliant news. Ha fucking ha BBC Two. Ha fucking ha! Well, more specifically, its the previous head of comedy that let BBC Two down right? By not being interested in Dwarf? So shame on them. HERE@S THE PROOF THAT THE BBC IS COMPLETLEY OUT OF TOUCH WITH ITS AUDIENCE!
But I’m sure RD hopes to return to the BBC at some point (maybe as a joint Dave/BBC venture)? I’m not sure rubbing it in is the right attitude – that is, unless GNP want to stay completely on Dave.
Oh I will rub. Its seriously important that the person that said ‘sorry, not interested’ realises that they’ve made a serious mistake.
> would it still be good if it drops down to 1 million by part 3? You expect that it’s going to drop anyway, but considering that up until recently none of us thought it would top a million in the first place, and the fact that 1 million is good ratings for Dave any day of the week, I’d say yes.
So what your saying is that we need to watch it on BOTH to boost viewing figures! Well, that works for me! You didn’t do this already? I recorded and watched both, just in case!
All I can say is that GNP and Dave deserve all the praise they’re getting for attracting such a massive audience. I honestly wasn’t expecting 2 million viewers at all. I mean, when you consider their rather small budget and 2 week shoot, 2 million is pretty incredible. I suppose it goes to show that Red Dwarf is still very much remembered by viewers.
What is good is that everyone I know who used to watch Red Dwarf, heavily or casually, knew about this reunion. Job done.
(b) I stand by my prediction that this is going to be on BBC2 before the end of the year. Isn’t this rather unprecedented? Blackadder Millennium rights are with the BBC now, aren’t they? I think that’s the only comparable situation.
> Only if you?re one of the 5,100 that influences the statistics D’oh!! I can’t influence the result!! > You didn?t do this already? Hell, I didn’t even watch it at 9 O’clock! I had somehow booked to go out, and for the sake of my marriage, couldn’t even complain about it! First time I’ve enjoyed being out and not minded when the music stopped!
> I can?t wait to find out the ratings for part 2. And, dare I say it, I?m a little nervous. This. Whether or not it can sustain an audience is the real acid test in terms of prospects of a Series 9. I mean 10. No, 11. Is it?
> A disquieting thought: bobbyllew mentioned that RD still holds the BBC2 record for biggest audience? for season 8. That don?t decide (by itself) how this ends. Depends how you look at it – that figure included same-week repeats, while they’re listed separately now. Given that Top Gear gets a same-week repeat @ 7pm, they’re probably ahead on a direct comparison. > Isn?t this rather unprecedented? Blackadder Millennium rights are with the BBC now, aren?t they? I think that?s the only comparable situation. UKTV’s half-owned by BBC Worldwide, remember – and primarily survives because they have a first-look deal with the BBC-proper for all their shows (i.e., the moment the BBC decides to lease their shows, then UKTV can buy it before anyone else gets the chance). It wouldn’t entirely shock me if the BBC had the same rights for any of UKTV’s output…
