There has been much chatter on Organ Grinder blogs in recent days about BBC1 controller Peter Fincham's dress sense. Whatever the rights and wrongs of Fincham's sartorial style, he has been quietly overseeing a three month ratings revival at BBC1.
Fincham's network notched up year on year audience share increases in June, July and August - averaging 23.6% over the three months, compared to 22.2% in the same period last year.
So far this month, BBC1 is also up on September 2005 in terms of audience share - but not by as much as in the previous three months.
No prizes for guessing that June's year on year ratings boost was down to the World Cup.
In July and August, according to the BBC, the network's ratings renaissance was been driven mainly by its weekend schedule.
On Saturdays between 6pm and 8pm Doctor Who, the National Lottery show and How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? have all helped BBC1 improve on its summer 2005 performance.
BBC1 has also done well on Sunday evenings, with strong performers including dramas Silent Witness, The Chase and Murphy's Law, as well as Panorama.
Fincham will find it harder to keep this ratings revival going as we head further into autumn, as ITV1 is now offering much stiffer competition than during its summer meltdown, particularly on Saturday and Sunday nights where BBC1 has been prospering, with the return of The X Factor, Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, The Royal and Midsomer Murders.
But Fincham's summer surge is still an impressive feat, given that the norm for the five main analogue channels these days is ratings decline as viewers migrate to digital TV. Only Channel 4 has bucked the trend in the past couple of years.
