User:Rainchildai/testing
Broadcast
In April 2008, American broadcast rights were purchased by NBC.[1] The distributor, FremantleMedia Enterprises, also sold broadcast rights to CTV in Canada, Network Ten in Australia,[2][3][4], RTL in Germany, Canal+ in France, M-Net in South Africa, and MICO in Japan.[5] In Italy, Italia 1 began broadcasting the series on Monday 15 December 2008 at 21:10.[5] While in Malaysia, TV3 airs this series every Sunday, 9.00 pm, starting from the 25 January 2009. In Norway, TV2 began airing the series 18 January 2009 every Sunday at 8:00 pm. Merlin is also aired in the Swedish public broadcasting context on Sundays at 6.45 pm as well as on demand through the web.
| Country | TV Network(s) | Series Premiere | Weekly Schedule (local time) |
|---|---|---|---|
 Italy |
Italia 1 | 15 December 2008 | Tuesdays, 10:10 pm |
 Malaysia |
Hallmark Channel | 1 March 2009 | Sundays, 9:00 pm |
 Norway |
TV2 | 18 January 2009 | Sundays, 8:00 pm |
 Poland |
Polsat | 7 March 2009 | Saturdays, 5:15 pm |
 Sweden |
SVT1 SVT2 (replays) |
18 January 2009 |
Sundays, 6:45 pm Mondays |
 United Kingdom |
BBC One | 20 November 2008 | Saturdays, 7:30 pm |
 United States |
NBC | 21 June 2009 | Sundays, 8:00 pm |
Ratings
The series première drew an overnight average of 6.65m (30%) viewers in the 19:30 slot (and a final consolidated figure of 7.15 million) despite being scheduled against popular ITV series The X Factor.[6] The series as a whole had an average of 6.32 million viewers,[7] which is fewer than Doctor Who attracted during its first series, and slightly more than those received by Robin Hood.[8] Merlin was the fifth most watched programme on BBC iPlayer in 2008.[9]
Weekly ratings
| # | Episode | UK Air Date | Timeslot | Viewers (millions)[10] | Audience share in timeslot |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Dragon's Call" | 20 September 2008 | 19:30 | 7.15 | 30.0% |
| 2 | "Valiant" | 27 September 2008 | 18:00 | 5.40 | 30.6% |
| 3 | "The Mark of Nimueh" | 4 October 2008 | 18:00 | 6.30 | 28.9% |
| 4 | "The Poisoned Chalice" | 11 October 2008 | 19:05 | 6.48 | 25.6% |
| 5 | "Lancelot" | 18 October 2008 | 17:55 | 5.37 | 27.1% |
| 6 | "A Remedy to Cure All Ills" | 25 October 2008 | 17:50 | 6.00 | 28.6% |
| 7 | "The Gates of Avalon" | 1 November 2008 | 19:30 | 6.45 | 22.9% |
| 8 | "The Beginning of the End" | 8 November 2008 | 19:20 | 6.25 | 23.1% |
| CiN | "Merlin in Need" | 14 November 2008 | 19:00 - 19:30 | ||
| 9 | "Excalibur" | 15 November 2008 | 19:20 | 6.47 | 24.4% |
| 10 | "The Moment of Truth" | 22 November 2008 | 19:25 | 7.03 | 25.6% |
| 11 | "The Labyrinth of Gedref" | 29 November 2008 | 19:35 | 6.71 | 23.0% |
| 12 | "To Kill the King" | 6 December 2008 | 19:25 | 6.31 | 23.1% |
| 13 | "Le Morte d'Arthur" | 13 December 2008 | 19:10 | 6.27 | 22.2% |
- ^ Holmwood, Leigh (2008-04-03). "NBC buys BBC family drama Merlin". guardian.co.uk. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
- ^ "CTV secures Canadian broadcast rights to 'Merlin'". CTV. 2008-10-15. Retrieved 2008-10-26.
- ^ Hurrell, Will (2008-08-07). "BBC's Merlin heading Down Under". Broadcast Now. Retrieved 2008-09-13.
- ^ "Merlin casts spell over TEN".
- ^ a b Clarke, Steve (2008-12-15). "'Merlin' heads into second series". Variety. Retrieved 2008-12-15.
- ^ Wilkes, Neil (2008-09-21). "'Merlin' pulls in 6.6 million". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
- ^ Exact figure: 6.32230769230769, calculated from BARB figures which can be found here
- ^ Doctor Who: Series One averaged 7.95 million viewers, Robin Hood averaged 6.19 (Series 1) and 5.83 (Series 2), calculated from BARB figures which can be found here
- ^ "BBC releases list of 10 most viewed shows to mark iPlayer's first birthday". Sam Nichols. The Guardian. 12-12-2008.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Weekly Viewing Summary (see relevant week)". BARB.