Astonished

[brionon]

Looked at viewing figures for3rd. feb. on Barb,{with thanks to those who helped me find it} and was astonished to find that Neighbours was not in the Top 30. Can this be ? I was under the impression that Neighbours is very popular !

[scoobysoo]

I think it's been given the kiss of death now it's gone to Channel 5!

[kempie]

If you check back through the 6 years to the beginning of 2002 you will notice that Neighbours only very infrequently garnered a viewing audience sufficient to propel it into the Top 30, whereas before that year it was a regular in the list.

Prior to 2002 BARB used to add the figures for the lunchtime show and evening repeat - typical figures could be 3 million and 5 million - giving a total viewership of around 8 million and thus inclusion in the Top 30.

From 2002 BARB changed this rule of aggregation for repeated showings and would only use the higher of the two figures which coupled with a slight reduction in popularity (e.g. 4 million - or fewer - evening viewers) meant the show frequently fell just below the statistical viewership threshold to be a Top 30 show.

[brionon]

Thanks for the answers,it just shows how perceptions can mislead. From all the talk about Neighbours ,both here and on other sites,I was convinced that it rivalled EE in popularity. No wonder that the BBC refused to pay an increased fee.