WH
Don't give up the day job
Sorry but it's absolutely true. I was fully supportive of GMB when it launched, and I watched it for about a week before the novelty wore off (as many here said would happen). The format and style is just not gelling with the audience. There is no chance of its popularity turning around on any great scale without a massive retooling.
It doesn't need major retooling. It just needs time to bed in properly, and settle down. They're still tweaking it at the moment, and in my honest opinion, they are doing all this at the right time, when television viewing is at it's lowest ebb in the year. Come September when the 'new season' officially starts, I think everything will be nailed down, and you'll see probably the stage 3 campaign begin then to seriously attract people back to GMB.
I struggle to think of a programme in the history of live television that has started poorly, got worse and then slowly over time 'bedded in' by more than doubling its viewing figures as a result of just a few tweaks.
Overwhelming consensus on Twitter is that Susanna is unpopular, and I'm tempted to suggest that the only way for ITV out of this mess is to swallow some pride and revive GMTV wholesale with John & Penny in the first hour and Kate & Ben in the second, or try something more radical on a lower budget, Big Breakfast-style.
Whataday
Founding member
Don't give up the day job
Sorry but it's absolutely true. I was fully supportive of GMB when it launched, and I watched it for about a week before the novelty wore off (as many here said would happen). The format and style is just not gelling with the audience. There is no chance of its popularity turning around on any great scale without a massive retooling.
It doesn't need major retooling. It just needs time to bed in properly, and settle down. They're still tweaking it at the moment, and in my honest opinion, they are doing all this at the right time, when television viewing is at it's lowest ebb in the year. Come September when the 'new season' officially starts, I think everything will be nailed down, and you'll see probably the stage 3 campaign begin then to seriously attract people back to GMB.
I struggle to think of a programme in the history of live television that has started poorly, got worse and then slowly over time 'bedded in' by more than doubling its viewing figures as a result of just a few tweaks.
Overwhelming consensus on Twitter is that Susanna is unpopular, and I'm tempted to suggest that the only way for ITV out of this mess is to swallow some pride and revive GMTV wholesale with John & Penny in the first hour and Kate & Ben in the second, or try something more radical on a lower budget, Big Breakfast-style.
AN
Overwhelming consensus on Twitter is that Susanna is unpopular, and I'm tempted to suggest that the only way for ITV out of this mess is to swallow some pride and revive GMTV wholesale with John & Penny in the first hour and Kate & Ben in the second, or try something more radical on a lower budget, Big Breakfast-style.
Utter nonsense.
If companies did the back of a fag packet research you consume from 'Twitter' the world would be like the one swilling around in your head. Thankfully, it's not.
You don't understand broadcasting, you don't get commercial broadcasting, and you have no grasp of why ITV, a commercial broadcaster, would be willing to spend millions of pounds on a programming brand for breakfast television (twice), and publicly state it is in it 'for the long haul'.
Just ask yourself why that would happen? What's in it for ITV?
Do you get the sense that you really are out of the loop?
Overwhelming consensus on Twitter is that Susanna is unpopular, and I'm tempted to suggest that the only way for ITV out of this mess is to swallow some pride and revive GMTV wholesale with John & Penny in the first hour and Kate & Ben in the second, or try something more radical on a lower budget, Big Breakfast-style.
Utter nonsense.
If companies did the back of a fag packet research you consume from 'Twitter' the world would be like the one swilling around in your head. Thankfully, it's not.
You don't understand broadcasting, you don't get commercial broadcasting, and you have no grasp of why ITV, a commercial broadcaster, would be willing to spend millions of pounds on a programming brand for breakfast television (twice), and publicly state it is in it 'for the long haul'.
Just ask yourself why that would happen? What's in it for ITV?
Do you get the sense that you really are out of the loop?
WH
Overwhelming consensus on Twitter is that Susanna is unpopular, and I'm tempted to suggest that the only way for ITV out of this mess is to swallow some pride and revive GMTV wholesale with John & Penny in the first hour and Kate & Ben in the second, or try something more radical on a lower budget, Big Breakfast-style.
Utter nonsense.
If companies did the back of a fag packet research you consume from 'Twitter' the world would be like the one swilling around in your head. Thankfully, it's not.
You don't understand broadcasting, you don't get commercial broadcasting, and you have no grasp of why ITV, a commercial broadcaster, would be willing to spend millions of pounds on a programming brand for breakfast television (twice), and publicly state it is in it 'for the long haul'.
Just ask yourself why that would happen? What's in it for ITV?
Do you get the sense that you really are out of the loop?
Without being as unpleasant and person as you're being to me...
Twitter can be very useful in gauging the public's perception of a programme or any other product. On launch day I tracked the words "Good Morning Britain" on Twitter and the response was overwhelmingly negative, pretty much 9:1 negative to positive. Now that's not an exact science, but there is NO exact science to calculating people's views, no matter how much money you spend on viewer surveys and such like.
Since launch day, audiences have declined, quite dramatically. Of course, this could have all been about the 'long term plan' but very few programmes in the history of television have done well using this 'slowly slowly' strategy, let alone at breakfast. With this plan, the only way in which GMB's ratings can substantially improve is that the BBC drops the ball.
I understand commercial broadcasting enough to know that being in something 'for the long haul' is something that only lasts as long as the personnel are involved with the company, and from history we know this can change at any time, irrespective of contracts or meaningless soundbites.
ITV has spent millions on launching and relaunching the various incarnations because not only do people within the company realise they need a good, solid breakfast offering, but they are also operating a franchise which entitles them to advertising revenue. If ITV Plc gave up, STV and UTV would have a very good case in having the licence reviewed. This is a point that has been raised by other members in this thread previously (and in older Daybreak/GMTV threads).
anoilyrag, you are a much respected member of the forum, and as I have said in the past your insider info is much appreciated, but it doesn't make you holier-than-thou and working at ITV (or any affiliated organisations) does not automatically make you right. In fact it makes you slightly biased.
Whataday
Founding member
Overwhelming consensus on Twitter is that Susanna is unpopular, and I'm tempted to suggest that the only way for ITV out of this mess is to swallow some pride and revive GMTV wholesale with John & Penny in the first hour and Kate & Ben in the second, or try something more radical on a lower budget, Big Breakfast-style.
Utter nonsense.
If companies did the back of a fag packet research you consume from 'Twitter' the world would be like the one swilling around in your head. Thankfully, it's not.
You don't understand broadcasting, you don't get commercial broadcasting, and you have no grasp of why ITV, a commercial broadcaster, would be willing to spend millions of pounds on a programming brand for breakfast television (twice), and publicly state it is in it 'for the long haul'.
Just ask yourself why that would happen? What's in it for ITV?
Do you get the sense that you really are out of the loop?
Without being as unpleasant and person as you're being to me...
Twitter can be very useful in gauging the public's perception of a programme or any other product. On launch day I tracked the words "Good Morning Britain" on Twitter and the response was overwhelmingly negative, pretty much 9:1 negative to positive. Now that's not an exact science, but there is NO exact science to calculating people's views, no matter how much money you spend on viewer surveys and such like.
Since launch day, audiences have declined, quite dramatically. Of course, this could have all been about the 'long term plan' but very few programmes in the history of television have done well using this 'slowly slowly' strategy, let alone at breakfast. With this plan, the only way in which GMB's ratings can substantially improve is that the BBC drops the ball.
I understand commercial broadcasting enough to know that being in something 'for the long haul' is something that only lasts as long as the personnel are involved with the company, and from history we know this can change at any time, irrespective of contracts or meaningless soundbites.
ITV has spent millions on launching and relaunching the various incarnations because not only do people within the company realise they need a good, solid breakfast offering, but they are also operating a franchise which entitles them to advertising revenue. If ITV Plc gave up, STV and UTV would have a very good case in having the licence reviewed. This is a point that has been raised by other members in this thread previously (and in older Daybreak/GMTV threads).
anoilyrag, you are a much respected member of the forum, and as I have said in the past your insider info is much appreciated, but it doesn't make you holier-than-thou and working at ITV (or any affiliated organisations) does not automatically make you right. In fact it makes you slightly biased.
MA
Let's not forget that the reason we've had three (and a half) new shows in the past four years is because the glory days of GMTV were over and it was losing viewers. Sure, it had more at its lowest point than anything that followed, but viewers were still heading elsewhere, and no doubt would have continued to do so.
I doubt it would make a difference if ITV revived GMTV, put Eamonn Holmes and Fiona Phllips on a sofa and got Penny Smith to do the news. Those days have gone, and so have many of the viewers. ITV's only real option is to look to the future and offer something a bit different, which is what GMB is.
mark
Founding member
Overwhelming consensus on Twitter is that Susanna is unpopular, and I'm tempted to suggest that the only way for ITV out of this mess is to swallow some pride and revive GMTV wholesale with John & Penny in the first hour and Kate & Ben in the second, or try something more radical on a lower budget, Big Breakfast-style.
Let's not forget that the reason we've had three (and a half) new shows in the past four years is because the glory days of GMTV were over and it was losing viewers. Sure, it had more at its lowest point than anything that followed, but viewers were still heading elsewhere, and no doubt would have continued to do so.
I doubt it would make a difference if ITV revived GMTV, put Eamonn Holmes and Fiona Phllips on a sofa and got Penny Smith to do the news. Those days have gone, and so have many of the viewers. ITV's only real option is to look to the future and offer something a bit different, which is what GMB is.
BA
It's not that easy to gauge reaction from Twitter - you'd need statisticians to interpret any data from there, and by then you might as well be running a survey.
I've picked a random selection of Tweets. For all I know, they could be completely representative of what the country's thinking, or completely unrepresentative - I don't know if people who don't like the programme are more likely to Tweet in than those that do, or vice versa.
I'm not even a fan of Good Morning Britain, but I can see that Twitter doesn't necessarily give you an accurate picture of the audience's opinion.
I've picked a random selection of Tweets. For all I know, they could be completely representative of what the country's thinking, or completely unrepresentative - I don't know if people who don't like the programme are more likely to Tweet in than those that do, or vice versa.
How many more times is Laura Tobin going to walk past the Rovers Return? #GoodMorningBritain
— 🅰🅽🅳🆈 1QDG & LI (@Rioghal) July 1, 2014
#goodmorningbritain
— Helen (@CylonTrickster) July 1, 2014
No influence from America on this early morning show then.
How dare #GoodMorningBritain steal the theme tune, #HansZimmer, from #TrueRomance for their poxy advert >:@ #justwrong!
— Kerry Evans (@KerryEvans79) June 30, 2014
@ITV why do you have an #absolutvodka pen in your #goodmorningbritain ad? #subliminalmessages?
— Giacomo Maria Sanna (@JackSanna86) June 30, 2014
I'm not even a fan of Good Morning Britain, but I can see that Twitter doesn't necessarily give you an accurate picture of the audience's opinion.
WH
Whataday
Founding member
It's fairly easy to get at least a jist of the public's opinion on Twitter, and many companies use it for that reason. As I said, not an exact science but it's not the huge ball of nonsense anoilyrag is making out. At the very least it gives you a general idea and a starting point to adjust your strategy.
But ultimately when you put ratings, social media, word of mouth, critics and viewer research together, and it all points to the fact things are not working out, saying it's still bedding in at this stage seems laughable to me.
But ultimately when you put ratings, social media, word of mouth, critics and viewer research together, and it all points to the fact things are not working out, saying it's still bedding in at this stage seems laughable to me.
IS
Twitter's users are of course members of the public, but that doesn't mean it is a good gauge of public opinion. Twitter users are a from a very narrow demographic and by no means representative of the general public as a whole.
Viewer feedback in whatever form isn't necessarily a reliable way of gauging how good a programme is either, to be proactive enough to express an opinion that opinion is either a negative one or extremely positive. No-one ever writes to a TV station or puts something on social media saying the x programme 'was quite good' or 'alright'.... especially with something ephemeral like a daily magazine show. Proper representative viewer research is the way forward, which of course must include those who don't already watch the programme.
You might not agree but it is still early days and it can take a while for a programme to get settled into a successful format. Very few successful daily shows appear on air fully formed, it took TVam, GMTV, This Morning etc years to settle down.
GMB has the advantage that there's now a few months during the summer to continue to work on the format with a lot less pressure ready for the autumn. Knee-jerked decisions based on the opinions of a few 'Twitterati' aren't the way forward.
It's fairly easy to get at least a jist of the public's opinion on Twitter, and many companies use it for that reason. As I said, not an exact science but it's not the huge ball of nonsense anoilyrag is making out. At the very least it gives you a general idea and a starting point to adjust your strategy.
Twitter's users are of course members of the public, but that doesn't mean it is a good gauge of public opinion. Twitter users are a from a very narrow demographic and by no means representative of the general public as a whole.
Viewer feedback in whatever form isn't necessarily a reliable way of gauging how good a programme is either, to be proactive enough to express an opinion that opinion is either a negative one or extremely positive. No-one ever writes to a TV station or puts something on social media saying the x programme 'was quite good' or 'alright'.... especially with something ephemeral like a daily magazine show. Proper representative viewer research is the way forward, which of course must include those who don't already watch the programme.
Quote:
But ultimately when you put ratings, social media, word of mouth, critics and viewer research together, and it all points to the fact things are not working out, saying it's still bedding in at this stage seems laughable to me.
You might not agree but it is still early days and it can take a while for a programme to get settled into a successful format. Very few successful daily shows appear on air fully formed, it took TVam, GMTV, This Morning etc years to settle down.
GMB has the advantage that there's now a few months during the summer to continue to work on the format with a lot less pressure ready for the autumn. Knee-jerked decisions based on the opinions of a few 'Twitterati' aren't the way forward.
OW
The #GMBNewsdoesntsleeporwhatever advert, has this actually aired on ITV? If so I haven't seen it, I have seen it on itv.com.
MA
mannewskev
The show's 2 months old. Of course it's still bedding in!
TW
Was on last night between Corrie and You've Been Framed.
The #GMBNewsdoesntsleeporwhatever advert, has this actually aired on ITV? If so I haven't seen it, I have seen it on itv.com.
Was on last night between Corrie and You've Been Framed.