Good Morning Britain - the launch

Joey Essex is his actual name, so doesn't really need the inverted commas.

It stops the studio lights in the ceiling from being reflected back into the camera lenses.

Edit: always assuming there's glass in the panels to start with.

I stand corrected!

Given that Good Morning Britain has been on for over a month now and it is been poorer in the ratings than Daybreak was towards the end, I'm surprised that ITV hasn't announced a relaunch.

To be fair, I have tried to get into it - watched it a couple of times for 15 or so minutes but I keep going back to Breakfast for several reasons. The problem is four presenters seems too many and they all have a practically identical role anyway, it isn't that newsy, 'lighter' sections are too frequent and seem forced and more focus seems to be placed on presentation and format than actual content - a format that isn't really suited to the British audience which isn't really giving viewers what they want - Weather, Travel and a bit of news.

On the other hand BBC Breakfast gets it right on most things - clearly more emphasis is put on the content than on the presentation - given it comes from a simple but purposeful set with minimalist and simplistic graphic and music package. Unlike GMB which is broadcast from an OTT set with too many graphics, a pompous music package and too much emphasis on the presentation team.

Also with the BBC you know exactly what you are going to get and when and it is what people want in the mornings. Viewers don't want celebrity gossip or competitions in the mornings - most viewers tune into Breakfast for half an hour or less a day or have it on in the background and what they want to know is how are they going to get work (Travel News), what will the weather be like today and maybe what are the main news stories of the day. The BBC gives you 4 Weather Forecasts an hour (Two Full, One Full Regional and One Regional Summary) and gives you the regional travel headlines concisely and to the point and gives you headline recaps and so forth.

ITV need to get it into their massive portfolio of poorly researched ideas that Britain and America are separate markets and thus things don't always work transatlantically and News is definitely one of them. ITV also need to realise that constant relaunches doesn't help in fact it hinders viewing figures which is why GMB's viewing figures are even less than Daybreak's last reincarnation and why the BBC have treble the number of viewers.

Yawn! OK, GMB hasn't done itself any favours at all with the Wheel of Cash, Richard Arnold and some of the celebrity stories but they've pretty much mimicked the schedule of Breakfast now so you can get pretty much everything you need to know in the same 10-15 minute period.

I do think one of the (many) reasons Breakfast is so dominant now in the slot is it's older profile - a significant chunk of it's audience isn't leaving for work or having to do the school run, so they are watching for longer - and add that the reach itself is significant there is a lot of ground for GMB to make up.

There is work to be done but I think most of that is off screen rather than on screen in tightening up the editorial of the programme. I wouldn't be making any hasty on screen changes - but I do think they'll be down to three presenters before long. It'll be interesting to see actually whether they put anyone in Sean's seat while he's in Brazil - I think I'd go for the three then and stick with it, as over the summer presumably each of the main hosts will get at least two weeks off anyway so makes more sense IMO to use three of the four rather than bring in the stand ins.

on gmb to be fair you do get 4 weather forecasts in the 6 and 7 hours and regional travel if its applicable of course - you also have for want of a better word the city by city forecast bug on the bottom of the screen whilst news is happening - itv does more regional news than in the daybreak era and you know when the entertainment will be on - some people will want to know it of course - bbcs entertainment stuff mostly happens after 8.30 whilst itv run lorraine. On the whole 1 month gmb has its issues yes like 4 presenters, possibly too much entertainment and too much adverts and too much andi peters. Its biggest problem is its competing in a full market place and the british public are set in their ways and it takes a while to change thing like this.

They're in it for "the long haul."



There has always been at least 3 presenters on ITV morning programmes. 2 main + 1 newsreader has been the norm in the past. Now why not make use of that third person for the whole of the programme rather than segmenting them off for 10 minutes an hour?

The fourth they've added - Shaun, the Sport guy... well, his role does seem unsubstantial, but they're going for a zoo format, so that's why he's at the desk for the whole show. Personally, I don't mind 4 presenters. I'm not stupid enough to feel baffled by having a different presenter do each item. Yes, it's probably superfluous to have 4, but I don't see any real issue with it.



I disagree on the graphics point. A ticker - news channels have this, and it's useful. Weather updates, again useful and hardly intrusive in the bottom corner of the screen (especially now they've toned the animations right down). Clock and logo - standard. The only thing that isn't really needed is the #GMB and website animation - but, again, this doesn't take up acres of screen estate, does it?

Pompous music package? Well that's a point of view. Personally, I don't find it pompous.

ITV is a channel based around its personalities nowadays, so I think that a degree of emphasis is to be expected. I don't find the "I'm Charlotte Hawkins" etc statements at the start of the hour annoying, and I don't get what the problem is that some people (not necessarily the OP) have with this.



Citation needed. There needs to be a lighter alternative, and I think that GMB are getting the balance for their demographic about right now. 6-7 mins of entertainment news at the back of the hour isn't excessive imo.



Yep, there's clearly an American influence, but it's certainly not the first time that breakfast TV has been presented from behind a desk. The studio, yes, again, an American influence in the design no doubt (designed by an American firm, after all). I don't see the problem with it though - it's bright, has a few presentation areas, and doesn't feel cold like Daybreak V1's studio did.

So, if ITV need to realise that constant relaunches don't help, what do you propose... another relaunch?

I rather like GMB.

I'm not sure whether this has been mentioned previously in this mega-thread, but in April ITV plc changed the name of their 6-9:25 channels from ITV Breakfast to Good Morning Britain (and associated variants), as shown in Ofcom's monthly update.

http://i60.tinypic.com/14y07dd.jpg

Does anyone know the reasoning behind this change? It's not as though the channel names are actually shown on any EPGs, and the company is still called ITV Breakfast.

I think the fact that the main channel is called 'Good Morning Britain (+1)' is just a typo.

8 minutes+ at the top of the hour spent on Freddie Starr or a tabloid paedophile piece is mimicking Breakfast? The best example was the non story about child maintenance story from 2 weeks ago, which was their top story, it got 10 seconds on Sunrise and Breakfast in their round ups! Lots of blame being put on Peters and Arnold when there is a far bigger issue.

Indeed a 3 line summary from a presenter doesn't cover a story.

Comparing little watched news channels to a what is supposed to be a mainstream show? I think the producers have a similar mentality hence why GMB is rating even worse than Daybreak.
After the content, the graphic overload is the worst thing about GMB and the weather update is utterly pointless. Sunrise and Breakfast did them 13+ years ago and they were dropped for a reason. It must look absolutely ridiculous on small screens.

Weren't you saying the same about Lorraine and Aled 6 months ago? Poor Aled dropped from your affections already.

There will be no relaunch in the short term. But the tinkering began from week 2. The side areas seem to have been abandoned in favour of the sofa for Interviews and the content is definitely screaming 'struggling mums' now.

OK maybe next time I'll put a little footnote when I'm being sarcastic.