Michael Grade could bring back News at Ten

I agree with almost everything you say there, Luke except for one thing - and even this is debatable.

I would suggest that it's ITV's reputation that was hit by this as opposed to ITN's. It was the network that made the decision to change the programme times; indeed it's the network that makes all the decisions on programming times, be it for ITN or any other programme provider. ITN simply produce the programme that ITV want. Most criticisms that ITV News is "dumbed down" and "tabloid" can probably be fairly laid at the door of ITV, because that is the kind of programme they want for their audience. Don't forget that ITN also produce the excellent Channel 4 News, which is surely the chalk to the ITV News cheese!

A new News At Ten would not work, most people watch the BBC Ten Oclock News, and have come acustom to it as such.

Bit of a generalisation there! I for one don't watch the BBC Ten O'Clock News.

I think that 10.30 is the right time for ITV News, and people wanting to change that are saying so for the sake of it.

Not really, it means awkwardly long dramas which feel like padded 60 minute shows OR a 60 minute drama at 9 then a stupid pointless 30 minute show at 10.

I say move the News to either 10pm or 11pm. If they move it to 10, at least ITV and the BBC can compete from 10.30pm onwards.

But whatever time the news is on at, they still have the same amount of time to "pad" out around it. What's to stop them having hour-long dramas running 9.30 to 10.30? That way, they carry more of an audience across the 10pm mark, running into the news.

They don't have to have this rigid 9-10 and 10-10.30 schedule you know. By your logic, they'd have a half hour to fill 10.30-11 if that's so.

There's also that, if you read the ITN book that was out last year, one of the main reasons for it's axing was Michael Green, he wanted away with the show so he could attract more viewers to the 10pm slot, as apparently many were switching off at Ten.

I can see the logic, though it was just so ill thought and done far too quickly, and nothing permanent ever replaced NaT MK 1.

Keep the 10.30, moving it back to Ten would create more damage for both ITV and ITV News, they could only ever get away with it if the BBC moved the Ten back to Nine, but that isn't going to happen as their News audience has stayed steady and seemed to have gained ratings and programme hits in that slot.

I'd hardly call it quickly - there were years of negotiations before it moved (and yet the BBC moved the 9pm news with just two weeks notice!).

And if OFCOM/ITC had stayed out of it, I'm sure the Nightly News would have been a permanent replacement. Certainly at the time it was the only bulletin providing a handy late-night summary of the news. Newsnight was there for the in-depth stuff, but the Nightly News allowed you to catch up quickly on "Tomorrow's news today" before retiring for the night!


There is absolutely no logic in bringing back News at Ten again - all it does is devalue the brand of the initial bulletin. Moving back to 11pm is a more likely option, but ITV aren't really in the position to fill the extra 30-minutes of primetime.

What ITV need to do is sort out the 10pm and 11pm slots - there are signed they are beginning to look more seriously at the 10pm slot, but 11pm is still treated like a dumping ground.

I've said this a few times in the last month or so, but I think they'd be much better off trying to launch a late-night chat show than produce a direct rival for Paul O'Grady.

Well at that time of night what can we expect. They are hardly likely to put popular programmes on. Wales use a lot of the weekeday 11pm slots for regional output and all regions do on Thursdays.