GMTV (1993 - 2010)

In the know to an extent.

The extent is that the faces are being kept under wraps but its ITV's Daytime Director Alison Sharman who is in charge of the whole situation. And what she says goes!

Her plan is to make ITV Daytime big, with names across the whole spectrum but that fact of the matter is that she has basically the same budget she had before GMTV got piled into the deal.

So when you think of it, the only savings she has made is the saving in salarys between Fern Britton and her replacement Holly on This Morning.

That's why she will need to be classey and make faces of ITV Daytime and not just GMTV.

So are we going to get Stapleton presenting Loose Women or something?

Well that happens anyway, but I hope to god Holly just sticks to This Morning. I like her very much but shes an entertainment presenter, and presenting every daytime show going is going to cheapen her career.

They should bring back the 'ITV Day' branding or something similar. I know it didn't work out the first time around but their schedule was crap. And if they just used that until 1.30pm then it could work a bit better. Then they can plug it all in one trailer.

I'm really impressed with GMTV's coverage of the election campaign so far. John's interviewing and on the road, with a dedicated Labour Party 'Correspondent'. However, after seeing Elaine Wilcox almost every day a few months ago, she seems to have almost disappeared.

Agreed. the coverage has been superb. I have also thouroughly been enjoying seeing Helen on the news desk all this week!

If they could do this in general, I reckon GMTV would get more viewers. And as said as it will be to see John leave the sofa, it shows he's a great reporter, and will boost coverage in this role.

I managed to catch some of the Newshour today. Whilst it isn't exactly high brow news or anything, if they stuck with that format until about 8am then I think GMTV wouldn't get half the flack it does. Newshour is always much stronger than Today, but I agree the election coverage has been strong. It has been strong on ITV News too- I think when the two come together on May 7th its going to be quite something.

Looks like Helen could be leaving soon too, it would be sad if she did, I think shes really good.

http://twitter.com/LadyFosp/status/12155130140

Suggests shes only a temp ...

Hopefully Helen wont be leaving anytime soon. From the looks of her Tweet she says she doesn't know how long for and no doubt due to the review currently being undertaken at GMTV.

But definitely Helen is the best recruit that they have had in a long time.

GMTV and Sky News reporting live next to each other, can faintly hear the other Channel's reporter speaking.

Just thought of a great GMTV Combination:

Eamonn & Helen

Wonder if it'll be the usual ITN presenters that do the news, when it switches to them. Maybe that's why Helen isn't sure about how long she's going to be there