6.10pm: ITV is bringing back News at Ten complete with anchorman Sir Trevor McDonald, who will be joined by Sky News presenter Julie Etchingham. More follows ...
If that's an indication of their new ideas I wouldn't bother with a mini revamp.
It seems like an extremely retrograde step to me.
The programme sounds destined to fare badly against the 10 O'Clock News on BBC 1 so would do little more than fill a space in the schedule.
I believe that ITV's real opportunity to prosper is in the Evening News slot. (I expect Ms Kaplinsky to initially increase the viewing figures at Five, though not significantly in the wider scheme of things, and for the single presenter format of the 6 O'Clock News to prove a disappointment).
My personal preference would be for Mark and Katie to present the Evening News (Monday to Thursday).
When are ITV just going to admit they made a terrible mistake axing News At Ten in the first place and leave it to rest? They already tried to revive it and it failed.
I think its good their trying to revive it, and give it another chance. They could have easily said, ok News at Ten coming back, Mark's the anchor. Which would have probably ended up being the exact same as the 10.30 bulletin. The fact that they've said, or rather Media Guardian has said that the bulletin is coming back with Trevor plus another all-new anchor, I think suggests ITV are really trying to make it a success. I also think that we will not have a copy of the 10.30, but a fresher bulletin with maybe a new set, or at least different graphics. I'm pleased its coming back!
When are ITV just going to admit they made a terrible mistake axing News At Ten in the first place and leave it to rest? They already tried to revive it and it failed.
It's better off at 10pm than anywhere else. If they move to 11pm, they have to commission relatively decent shows for 10pm. This means more money, which means LESS money for the crucial 9pm slot and the less important 8pm slot.
With the News at Ten back, not only does it become a mainstay of the schedule again and shore up ITV's credibility, but it directly follows the 9pm programming. The schedule is much more efficient. I would go one step further and axe the Corrie 2030 episode to allow 8pm onwards to be soap-free.
Then ITV can work on blocks for 8pm and 9pm - for instance The Bill followed by Bad Lad's Army for a men-skewed night or Trinny and Susannah followed by Life Begins for a more women-esque schedule.
This move is all part of changes to make the ITV1 schedules more efficient, part of the "2008 ITV1 facelift" Grade promised months ago.
If the MediaGuardian article is true, on Friday nights I'd like to see a chatshow, to rival Jonathan
W
oss.
Instead of ITV trying to do 5pm chatshows with Antony Cotton, which was a total flop, but is back for a 2nd series.
So ITV1 might as well become a clone of BBC1?
Though personally I'd prefer the Friday edition to be a more flexible Weekend News, I think for the return of News at Ten to work it has to be five nights a week to show ITV is committed to it.
As for chat shows - I've been saying a while that ITV should forget about 5pm and instead think about doing something on weeknights after the news - and perhaps partnering it with News at Ten could work well.
