Every Monday, Attentional Ltd will highlight the most interesting programmes of the previous week, across the terrestrial platform

Monday 04th June 07

Coronation Street rarely fails to deliver bumper audiences for ITV1, and ITV capitalises on this by showing two episodes every Monday. The current storyline focuses on Paul Connor (the archetypal ‘nasty piece of work’), Leanne Battersby (a prostitute) and her boyfriend Liam (who had no idea his girlfriend was a prostitute). The soaps have a strong track record of putting across public service messages as part of their storylines – in the past Coronation Street has dealt with such issues as underage pregnancy and the debilitating effects of dementia. Last night’s message was clear as Paul lost his temper and bundled Leanne into the boot of his car, which he subsequently crashed while answering his mobile: don’t use your mobile phone while driving. And don’t bundle prostitutes into the boot of your car. The first part of the double episode went out at 7:30pm, attracting 9.4m viewers and a 50.1% share. Street fans could then catch their breath for half an hour, before the second installment at 8:30pm (9.3m, 41.9%).

Tuesday 05th June 07

Fashionistas Trinny and Susannah returned for a second outing on ITV1 last night with the first in a three-part series of Trinny & Susannah Undress at 8pm and, in a masterpiece of cheeky scheduling, they went head to head with How to Look Good Naked on Channel 4. Since switching from BBC1 to ITV1, Trinny and Susannah have added a large dose of ‘relationship counselling’ into their fashion format, often looking to boost self-esteem and put the spark back into a flagging relationship with a decent bra and some snazzy clothes. This takes it firmly into the territory of _Gok Wan’s How To Look Good Naked, although presumably if you follow his advice you don’t have to spend a fortune on clothes. Trinny & Susannah Undress attracted 2.8m (14.3%) to ITV1, which was down on an average series one audience of 3.9m (17.5%).

Wednesday 06th June 07

The old adage has it that ‘all publicity is good publicity’, and ITN Factuals’ documentary Diana: The Witness In The Tunnel certainly got plenty of publicity prior to its screening on Channel 4 at 9pm last night. The programme opened up an ethical debate on the rights and wrongs of dwelling on the fateful events of 31st August 1997, focusing on what the press called ‘graphic images’ of the aftermath. Of course, those ‘graphic images’ were taken by the army of press photographers who shadowed Diana’s every move, and this documentary was based largely on their perspective. An appeal from Princes Harry and William further fuelled the media hype surrounding this documentary, and judging by articles in the trade press it has also divided opinion within the television industry. Opinions may have been divided, but the audience was united as Diana: the Witness In The Tunnel was watched by 3.8m (16.6%), making Channel 4 the second most-watched channel in the 9-10pm slot.

Thursday 07th June 07

Ratings for Endemol’s reality show Big Brother received a boost last night amid news coverage relating to the expulsion of contestant Emily for using a racially offensive word. Emily’s comments seemed devoid of hurtful intent, but following the controversy surrounding the last series of Celebrity Big Brother, the producers had little option but to remove her from the house. The whole episode inevitably hit the headlines in the tabloid press, and the publicity helped last night’s show to an audience of 4.6m (25.7%) between 10pm and 11:10pm on Channel 4. This was up by 1m on the Wednesday evening show, and enough to win the timeslot for Channel 4.

Friday 08th June 07

Channel 4 managed to improve its Friday peaktime (7 – 11pm) performance by two share points compared to the previous week, despite an unchanged schedule. Last week saw an England international football match steal Friday peak viewing for BBC1, and it was Channel 4’s Big Brother and Ugly Betty that picked up viewers this week, illustrating the ratings impact a major event like international football can have. The first hour of Big Brother at 8:30pm attracted 4.1m (20.1%), up from 3.3m (14.9%) last week. This was enough to win the second half of its slot between 9 – 9:30pm. This gave a lead-in audience of 4.4m for the last in the current series of Ugly Betty at 9:30pm. Betty capitalised on this with an audience of 3.1m (14.7%), up from 2.4m the previous week.

Saturday 09th June 07

After witnessing shows such as Pop Idol, X Factor, Fame Academy, How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria, Any Dream Will Do?, Strictly Dance Fever and Grease Is The Word, there’s little doubt that Britain is home to some talented individuals (although surely we must be running out of diamonds in the rough?). We can now add Britain’s Got Talent to the list, although the latest talent format (coming over from NBC in America) does add a few twists.

For a start, it’s open to all types of talent (singers, dancers, comedians, magicians – you name it), so it’s a good old fashioned variety show (a la Lion TV’s Let Me Entertain You on BBC2, and harking back to the days of Opportunity Knocks in the 1960’s). Second, as well as the obligatory cash prize (£100k), the winner gets to perform at this year’s Royal Variety Performance. Thirdly, it marked the return of the ever-popular Ant and Dec to a talent format (they previously presented Pop Idol). The judging panel will also be familiar: Simon Cowell (who had a hand in developing the format), Piers Morgan (who also appears in the US version, where he caused outrage by making an 11-year-old cry), and Amanda Holden (because someone’s got to be nice). Perhaps the most unusual aspect of Britain’s Got Talent is the scheduling: the show will air every evening this week, making it a definite ‘event’. The opening programme attracted 4.9m (22.9%) between 9:25 – 10:25pm, and it will be interesting to see if subsequent shows benefit from an earlier start time.

Sunday 10th June 07

An earlier start time than Saturday evening, and the absence of rival talent shows, helped ITV1’s Britain’s Got Talent find its audience Sunday evening. The Saturday debut picked up 4.9m (22.9%), not helped by a late start at 9:25pm. Sunday’s show, in a family-friendly 8:30pm slot, improved on this to bring in a slot-winning 6.4m (28.1%). ITV1 will be hoping to maintain this level of interest for the rest of the week, replicating the success of America’s Got Talent on NBC (currently in its second season).