Looking at the viewing figures graph on Dave's spreadsheet, it's quite encouraging to see that the viewing figures are going up again.

DOND started off in November 2005 with an average of 2.5 - 3 million viewers.
It increased to an average of 3.5 - 4 million between shows 40 and 140.
It then took a dip, averaging at 3.5 million between shows 140 and 170.
It then dipped to an average of 2.5 - 3 million viewers, until about show 270.
Then it started to pick up again, and since show 285 or thereabouts, it is once again averaging at 3.5 - 4 million, occasionally peaking 4 million.

What is also more encouraging is that, every week, all the DOND shows are in the top 10 for the most-watched programmes on Channel 4, beating ratings juggernaut Paul O'Grady.

Good stuff H. It seems to be the case that most TV shows attract more viewers during the winter than the summer (I assume simply because people are inside more, unless there's another deep psychological reason I haven't thought of...). I imagine DOND's audience share must be pretty spectacular at that time of day too - it isn't exactly up against that much competition!

I was wondering if we now had the golden age of DOND, for example, somebody like Pat M having very amusing banter with Noel, what would the viewing figures be like? Approaching 5 million on a regular basis, possibly?

You could say that the viewing figures are up, due to it being winter; on the other hand, you could say that it really should be getting a lot more, now that it is winter.

Let's hope we have the same viewing figures, if not more, or only slightly less, come spring and summer.

It would be great if it did attract more, but I guess there also must be a finite amount of people who are able to watch daytime TV. Put simply, most of the population is actually out whilst DOND is on! (I only discovered it because of the stupid hours I work... )

I'm pretty encouraged by the fact that it seems to be attracting as many viewers as it did this time last year - it would be easy for the novelty to wear off after over 300 shows I think. Clearly, it's not just us bunch that are incredibly loyal to the show!

I think it'll pick up for a while then after christmas it will dip again slightly I predict. However if it continually picks up over 2M viewers then that's good for that time slot. Out of curiosty what do the other channels get like BBC2 with Ready Steady Cook and Weakest Link.

I wonder how the viewing figures will be affected now that it has been revealed that Noel will be presenting the show for another 3 / 4 years?

Based on the last week available, Weakest Link averaged around 3m and Ready Steady Cook around 2m.

Not sure about BBC1 or ITV1 as their late afternoon offerings don't register in their channels' top 30 lists.

latest barb ratings it past 4 million on wed in wekk of november

Shameless plug for my 'highest rated episodes' thread: http://www.dond.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4589

As you can see, after none since May, three episodes in November broke the 4 million mark - Gaz, Helen, and Dawn, with Rachael coming close. So things are indeed looking great.

I didn't realise Weakest LInk was still getting as high as 3,000,000

How are the ratings for Countdown doing these days?

Best rating for most recent week quoted was 1.89m. Similar to what it's been for a few years I think, since it was pushed back into that timeslot.