Ok, this is not a site about TV shows, nor is it a site about Richard and Judy, but I do have an interest in the show where it concerns books and the book club, so I have been monitoring the ratings.
Here’s the latest:
Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan’s new chatshow on digital channel Watch has averaged just 47,000 viewers since it launched a fortnight ago, with its lowest rating episode pulling in only 21,000.
The show, Richard and Judy’s New Position, launched with a big publicity campaign on new UKTV channel Watch at 8pm on Tuesday October 7, when it attracted 100,000 viewers.
However, for the following four days Richard and Judy’s ratings dropped quite dramatically, to 53,000 on the Wednesday, then 45,000 on the Thursday, 37,000 on the Friday and 32,000 on the Monday.
Ratings improved on Tuesday October 14, to 53,000, but then fell again to 48,000 the following day and 44,000 on the Thursday, perking up slightly on the Friday with 46,000.
Madeley and Finnigan’s new Watch show fell to its lowest ratings so far on Monday last week, October 20, with just 21,000 viewers tuning in.
Things picked up on Tuesday last week, with 49,000, but fell again to 33,000 on Wednesday before jumping to 58,000 on Thursday – the show’s best performance since its launch night.
However, things again deteriorated on Friday when the show gained just 35,000.
The final edition of Madeley and Finnigan’s Channel 4 daytime chatshow attracted 1.5 million viewers on Friday August 22.
On certain days since it launched, Richard and Judy’s New Position was beaten by other multichannel services such as The Military History Channel, Discovery Knowledge, Zone Reality and the Crime and Investigation Channel.
When the ratings for time-shift channel Watch +1 are added in, the show hit a high of 143,000 for its launch night, with its worst performance coming on October 20 with just 31,000.
UKTV defended the show’s performance, saying it needed time to grow.
“We are very proud of Richard & Judy’s New Position,” the UKTV controller, Matthew Littleford, said.
“It’s a great show – extremely well made, full of the inimitable Richard and Judy magic and a very high calibre of guests. We’ve already had the likes of Helen Mirren, Samuel L Jackson and Josh Harnett and have some fantastic bookings coming up,” Littleford added.
“Like all great shows, from The One Show to the Big Breakfast, it takes time for a show to bed in and we are very confident that ratings will rise as awareness about the show grows.”
A UKTV spokeswoman said that since its launch, the show had reached 2,272,000 people and had brought 304,000 new viewers to the UKTV network.
She added that its ABC1 profile peaked at 80.3% on Thursday October 9 and had averaged 56.6% at 8pm since its launch.
In terms of 16- to 34-year-olds, Richard and Judy’s New Position peaked at 34.4% on the same day and had averaged 18.9%.
Watch is not available on Freeview but can be seen on both Virgin Media’s cable TV service and Sky’s digital satellite offering, where it is on the front page of the electronic programme guide.
The show was not helped after “technical delays” meant Watch was put in Virgin Media’s premium XL channel package instead of its standard L package for a full week after its launch, meaning more than a million cable customers were unable to access it.
Watch finally launched on the L package on October 15. (from the Guardian)
In my opinion, this is a disaster especially for the very well loved and influential Book Club. People aren’t watching the show, people are therefore not feeling the connection, or the Richard and Judy love, and therefore this is hurting the book club!!!
The first title in the New Writers Book Club (Mudbound by Hilary Jordan) is not even in the Official UK Top 50! Perhaps the Daily Mail should have kept their book club separate instead of hooking up with R & J. What a disaster it has been so far. (Yes I know that’s only the first book, but you know, by this stage the book would have been in the top 10 with the old book club). Where is the promotion? Where are the in-store displays? I’ve seen the book in one shop and that was a supermarket three weeks after it was published!
The other problem is that the Richard and Judy Book Club forum is still down! Apparently it will return in time for the Christmas book selection but will anyone care by then?
DO SOMETHING
This is not a criticism, this is a cry for help. Do something before you screw up years of hard work and lose the supporters you had who are now 1. cut off from the show unless they subscribe to satellite or cable TV packages, and 2. cut off from the only official outlet they had for discussing the books!
We have been reading and discussing Mudbound on our forum, and we enjoyed the book overall. We will soon start our discussion of The Marriage Bureau for Rich People, even though on the face of it, it’s not really the kind of book we would usually pick up. We are at least willing to make an effort and give it the benefit of the doubt. I have one sitting right here on the desk.
Forum Admins, Richard and Judy producers, get your act together before you lose the support of your loyal members and fans! btw if you need any tips drop me a line!
