Good Morning Britain - the launch

It's probably not, technically, a pre-empt given that STV don't have the right to broadcast (and technically shouldn't have the ability to feed transmitters) between 0600 and 0925, and aren't just interrupting a network feed to provide local programming (though these days that's precisely what they are doing). It's more a negotiated arrangement.

And pre-empt is a very US phrase. The UK phrase would really be opting out. i.e. STV are opting out of the network to do their own thing.

So what do Scotland call it in the event of a Yes vote then?

Pre-empt in the States generally means "to drop."

One thing is for sure, tomorrow night is surely the greatest reality TV show in history.

What? Not even the most idiotic of tabloid journalists would describe it like that.

About as "real" as it gets though. And much like many a reality TV show, the public decide the winner. Somebody will win and somebody will lose.

Either way, this is history.

Oh please. Reducing significant current affairs and referenda down to a reality TV show? Really? Christ.

Oh no, they are that idiotic:



Yesterday's Scottish Sun - beyond patronising, even to it's readers.

You've raised an interesting point and I was musing on this myself. STV don't have the contractual rights to broadcast between 0600 - 0925 so I too presume ITV/Ofcom/STV have come to an amicable temporary agreement that they can on this Friday given that this is obviously a significant event for the Scottish population in particular.

I understand GMB will be extended until 1000 in the event of a 'yes' vote, after which an open-ended news programme will replace This Morning. The current plan is for ITN to produce this, with a provisional off-air time of 1400, although there is an option to remain on air until 1600 if necessary. Not sure if STV would take this or stick with its own programming ...

The simple solution would be for ITV Breakfast to commission a Scotland programme for the day, and award the commission contract to STV.

Licence and viewers satisfied.

Do STV have the resources for that, or the equipment though? The quality of their shows aren't top notch either in my opinion.

That may sound simple enough – and logistically it probably is, but given that ITV is still trying to establish the GMB brand, I can’t see it ever agreeing to the wholesale outsourcing of its breakfast programme to STV (even if only for one day). I think it would be far too unsettling for viewers in the rest of the UK to be confronted with an entirely different breakfast programme at time of the day.

We’ve all seen how difficult it has been to launch the breakfast service on Channel 3 (TV-am, GMTV and Daybreak all lost audiences and struggled to gain acceptance from viewers at the beginning). The sudden appearance of unfamiliar STV presenters, studios and graphics etc, would just serve to undermine any progress that might have been made with the latest incarnation of Good Morning Britain.

I realise ITV has opted to take STV’s overnight results programme, but that’s far from ideal, and has certainly ruffled some feathers at ITN. But I think an overnight results programme is a world away from breakfast television, when audiences want some sense of routine and familiarity …

Why are they extending only in the event of a yes vote? Surely a no vote/any outcome at all is worthy of an extended programme.