Daybreak relaunch with Lorraine and Aled

They've changed the animation on the LIVE bug. Instead of the 'LIVE' part dropping down, and the location sliding out from behind it, it now slides down, and then the location fades in. It's a tiny detail, but I don't like it.

According to DS! enough said

The posters in the Ratings Thread, especially DMN, are actually quite accurate and post very detailed ratings posts. They even criticise DS itself for the quality of their articles.

They are the exception to the DS rule. However a lot of them do seem to take sides (in terms of broadcasters) which is why I don't post there often.

Richard Arnold has been announced as a Strictly contestant this season.

Didn't do Dan Lobb much good (for me anyway, he seemed churlish), but we'll see if Richard comes out a winner.

Richard Arnold - I could take him or leave him.

Personally I get annoyed by his loose lips.

Isn't it obligatory for an ITV breakfast show presenter to appear on Strictly, seems that way anyway.

Too early to put a bet on Ranvir or Helen doing next years? They haven't had a female GMTV/Daybreak presenter for a while.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Matt or Ranvir do Dancing on Ice though, to try and up their profile a bit more.

Week one verdict from very limited viewing...

A bit too GMTV for my liking (I was one of the few that liked Daybreak v1) that said like the better version of GMTV back then as others have said.

Having been in a small audience where Aled was doing a q&a session a couple of years ago, it was very clear he had a very endearing way about him, so when he was announced as presenter I thought what a good choice. And I still believe that. I think he is ITV's ace in the pack.

Lorraine is Lorraine, you know what you are going to get.

Ranvir and Matt have done well and Ranvir is better on this than NWT.

So a decent start for me.

I think Aled is brilliant. He's just *so* lovely, he just makes me smile. He reminds me a bit in his style of a male version of Angela Rippon.

I didn't think Aled would work out on Daybreak, and still didn't on Monday. He seemed nervous, but nice enough, so I watched again for the rest of the week, and already, he's relaxed, and I really do like him. The little smile as his eyes light up and he says 'Hello, welcome to Daybreak' is so natural, and he really is very warm. As I've said before, he is one of the best things to come from this.

I echo many of the sentiments on the forum, my overall verdict is that the re-launch has been done successfully. There seems to be much more relevant news items and a better balance between light / serious features compared to the previous incarnations of Daybreak.

In reference, to Kate Garraway I have always believed she was a great presenter full of journalistic experience. However, towards the latter stages of Daybreak (version 1.5) both her and Dan were cringeworthy to watch. Their jokes and gimmicks were so cringeworthy and their chemistry though evident seemed quite forced. Although, this morning she seemed to have much more natural, warmer and fresher chemistry with Aled. I know people have commented on Aled's nervousness which is understandable. But, I think he has got better and with confidence will settle in fine.

What has surprised me most has been the chemistry between Matt Barbet and Ranvir Singh during the news hour. At first, they seemed quite stiff and competent. But, now they have strong chemistry which is very evident.

With regards, to the ratings, they are clearly down on this time last year. It will be a massive challenge for ITV to build their core audience moving forward. As I said before it will take many weeks if not months before Daybreaks ratings will rise (if they rise at all). The key challenge is to consolidate the core audience and keep the format intact. The last thing executives should do is change the format creating inconsistency. It will be very interesting to see how ratings evolve over the next few weeks.