C4 poaches Paul O'Grady

He may also have been booked to work on ITV's Paul O'Grady Show from March before Paul did his secret dealings with Channel 4 behind ITV's back.

I've got to hand it to you Andrew - you can turn anything around.

ITV didn't renew Mr O'Grady's contract, Channel 4 offered and he signed. Are you saying you wouldn't do the same in a similar situation?

Probably, its the fact that he thought his relationship with ITV would carry on as if nothing had happened.
"I'm leaving to go and work on Channel 4, but before I go, can I still use your studios!"
It would have been a big embarrasment having the exact same show broadcasting in the same studio, but this time on Channel 4, I can't believe Paul didn't expect this.

No it looks like Ch 4 are branding as 'New' so they don't mislead people like ITV have done.

http://www.lostintv.com/ogrady/newshowpage.jpg

I'm seeing this as a big opportunity for Channel 4. There hasn't really been anything of that genre at that time since, say, TFI Friday.

Well perhaps he should have expected some sort of game playing from ITV, but in fairness they are being far more childish than you would normally expect.

They let his contract run. Channel 4 offered him the chance to make the show with his own production company, but ITV did not. He jumped ship. So how do ITV respond? They run a string of repeats. The London Studios - available for anyone to hire - turns round and says "nope, sorry" (the fact the new show will come from BBC TVC says quite a lot, I think). They even claim that images of his dog are their copyright, and no models can be made of him. It really is pathetic on their behalf.

As people have already mentioned in various places, all they are doing is promoting his new show and increasing the likelihood of running their own 5:00pm slot into the ground.

How much room is there at the London Studios? Surely Sharon Osbourne's show will come from there?

It's quite funny that ratings for the repeats are still giving Richard and Judy a run for it's money. No way the ITV repeats will still be on when Paul starts on Channel 4...will they?

Does anybody know what studio at Television Centre the show will come from?

Surely not that many shows come from BBC TVC anymore. Most of them are surely kids programmes, such as Blue Peter and Dick & Dom (though Dick & Dom won't be there after tomorrow).

Well, the "NEW" bit looks a bit last minute, doesn't it!

Just to come at this from a slightly different angle...what a shame that channel 4 have reduced themselves to the level of ITV for the sake of ratings.

O'Grady's show on ITV was a pretty pathetic "celebrity" show, used in a symbiotic manner with the latest p!ss poor reality show and soap on the channel.

It suited ITV perfectly- money generating (from the competitions) and aimed squarely at their target audience of mainly lower social class, less well educated women.

Channel 4 through their prolonged forays into the world of Big Brother seem increasingly intent on copying their lesser rival (i.e. ITV), and so we can only presume that the new O'Grady show will be virtually identical to its previous incarnation.

Richard and Judy, despite its faults (largely the personality of the presenters) actually covers some relatively interesting topics- and their exploration of books, film and culture are a cut above frankly anything offered by the entire ITV network at any time. Of course they occassionally pander to the world of celebrity and "channel event suport" (i.e. big brother discussions), but far less than the O'Grady tripe.

O'Grady's move means less time for R&J on Channel 4, and presumably a continued shift to celebrity for channel 4.

A real shame- we have a home for sh!te celebrity nonsence on ITV- why is this manure spreading to other broadcasters?

Wednesday-

Weakest Link 3.0M
R&J 2.5M
Paul O'Grady (rpt) 1.7M