don't agree with that at all. if you're a fan of the programme it shouldn't be too much of an effort to keep up with 2 episodes a week, and they are also repeated on ITV3.
it gets around 5-6m viewers who seem quite happy with it being on twice a week.
The Bill
has been on twice a week for a while now, so I don't see why it should trimmed to once a week. Only on two hours a week, compared with Coro's 2.5hr/wk and Emmerdale's 3 hr/wk.
I'm pretty sure Emmerdale doesn't need six episodes a week ... especially when it doesn't rate as highly as Coro
No, I think twice a week is fine for The Bill - but the 8pm slot is crucial IMO to adding a bit of variety to the ITV schedule so it needs to be freed up at least once a week IMO - probably on the Wednesday after Corrie.
The best solution would probably be to move it back to Tuesdays so it airs twice a week most of the year, but is dropped in Champions League weeks.
No, I think twice a week is fine for The Bill - but the 8pm slot is crucial IMO to adding a bit of variety to the ITV schedule so it needs to be freed up at least once a week IMO - probably on the Wednesday after Corrie.
The best solution would probably be to move it back to Tuesdays so it airs twice a week most of the year, but is dropped in Champions League weeks.
Dont see how moving it from Wed to Tues will make much difference. It will be on the same number of days and still using up 2 of the 8pm slots. On Tuesday it would clash with Holby.
Besides on Wednesdays it inherits viewers from Corrie and keeps them for whatever is on at 9pm.
The best solution would probably be to move it back to Tuesdays so it airs twice a week most of the year, but is dropped in Champions League weeks.
no - it's bad enough that it gets dropped for football/awards/reality shows ad hoc as it is. Wednesdays and Thursdays are just fine - i don't get this steaming urge to change things for the sake of it?
I think ITV1 should try and bring in some new quizzes or revive those that never really got a chance. My personal vote would be for " The People Versus ".
I think Supermarket Sweep and The Price Is Right should now be laid to rest.
Of course we are in a period of change for ITV, with Michael Grade just entering the fray, and the changes he is bound to introduce not coming through until the autumn. So obviously, the nephew of the late Lew Grade, will need some advice from the TV Forum team! So here's my twopenneth.
STRUCTURE
The days of a federal ITV are over - despite what people hope or expect, it's gone, so get over it. ITV is now a brand - just like any other channel in the multi media world. ITV should ideally be in just three businesses. These are broadcasting, production and resources - despite what Grade says, I just don't see what Friends Reunited brings to the business. Broadcasting would include web and interactive services.
With this in mind, I think it is practical for ITV to take over the television parts of SMG and UTV (add Channel to complete the picture) which will give the channel the ability to compete on an equal footing with the BBC and Sky. All other activities of ITV would be disposed of (except those mentioned above) giving the executives a chance to get the channel mix right - concentrating the minds on fewer tasks will always lead to higher quality. I also think that giving up the shareholding in the Irish Can West venture was a mistake - ITV should be able to compete effectively for the whole British Isles market, and be able to compete on satellite for those areas of Europe where English is spoken and understood easily.
In addition, the franchises should be made permanent (effectively they are) as anybody who would want a franchise would be quite able to set up a satellite channel without much difficulty. GMTV as a brand should be axed and replaced with a more consistent style of programme, as seen in America. Obviously Disney would be involved, but more of this anon.
BROADCAST CHANNELS
ITV1 should be made much more prominent - it seems to be overlooked for advertising spend, and has a poor image problem. Whilst the current crop of idents are good, the music is wishy washy and has no real purpose in respect of the channel. High profile advertising, in connection with a strengthened ITV structure, should result in more viewers. The BBC has used advertising in recent years with some effect.
ITV2 and 3 seem to be just right - risky and classic seem to bring in the viewers for these channels. ITV4 seems to be a bit lost - perhaps it should be axed and replaced with a sports style channel. ITV play just seems downmarket, even though it is a valuable revenue stream. The whole point of ITV should be accessability - ask anyone about ITV in the 1970's and they will tell you that it seemed like their channel. Men and Motors is also of little value - I'm sure we all like a bit of titilation, but Bravo does this sort of crap better.
RESOURCES
The vast number of studios that ITV use to be able to field has been whittled down by the previous management to just four centres (LWT's London Studios, Granada's 3sixty, YTV in Leeds and the former HTV centre in Cardiff) in addition to the mainly news centre's elsewhere. ITV no longer controls any OB facilities (having desposed of 021) and has not made any inroads in bringing these under a common cause.
Whilst the success of the main centres in attracting business is substantial, it could be better. Instead of all these disparate brands, the whole lot should be brought together as ITV Resources, and marketed as such. As we have seen with the BBC, an integrated resource of studio and OB units can provide a revenue stream and enable massive upgrading of facilities to be implemented.
In my view, the closure of Birmingham and Southampton was a mistake - in all they fielded and extras six studios, and I am sure that they will be required in the future. As ITV still owns these sites, perhaps a expansion should be brougt forward - it may cost money, but in the long run, you can rent them out if they are empty, and as they are costing money to leave them idle now, and income would be worth the expense.
PROGRAMMING ON ITV1
The big cookie. ITV1 is at times a mess. Too many soaps in the wrong places, lack of imagination and too many independents with rubbish ideas given commissions, because it's cheaper than ITV Productions to produce.
Ideally, the ITV1 schedule should be more stripped during the week, but with more imagination. I've broken it down into areas:
Weekdays
Ideally, this should start with a mix of news, lifestyle and kids shows - similar to the old TVam. LK Today should be a stand alone show and Entertainment Today should be reinvented for a Friday teatime slot.
This shold be followed by a gameshow (Pyramid Game etc.) followed by This Morning - that Jeremy Kyle really gets on my nerves and if this sort of show is needed, Vanessa Feltz seemed to pull it off much better.
Lunchtime should be started off with News followed by some kind of entertainment show - Loose Women just appears to be annoying. The afternoon should be filled with lifestyle shows and cheap drama. Farmhouse Kitchen and Crossroads mkII could be brought back - they are better than that terrible Worral Thompson and Crossroads mkII was a lot better than some peope gave it credit for. It would be nice to see it return to its Birmingham roots, and with permanent sets it could make the Birmingham proposal seem more viable (plus it would be better than Gas Street).
Kids TV should be reintroduced, even if just for an hour. My Parents are Aliens, Big Bang etc. were very well produced, and I'm sure that quality produced kids shows can attract advertisers. The tratime slot should be filled by 'fun' shows - I can see Alan Titchmarsh turning people off, he's more lunchtime than peaktime. Entertainment Today could be used on Friday to give a lift to the weekend, with local opt outs for 'what's on' guides.
The news hour works in my eyes, but some regions output (Calendar, ITV Wales News, Central News West, Meridian South) is far better than others (Central News East, London Tonight) and needs some reshaping. Personally, I would give the news contract for London back to LNN - it was a decent show before ITN took over. The evening news is good, but I wonder if it is in the wrong place and filled with 'lifestyle' stories that should be elsewhere.
The evening schedule has too many soaps - far too much. I deally Coronation Street should be reduced to 3 x 30 minutes (Mon, Wed, Fri) and Emmerdale into 3 x 60 minutes (Tue, Thu, Sun). The rest of the timeslots should be filled with gameshows (they bring in the viewers) and Comedy - ITV desperately need a decent sit-com, perhaps they should look in the YTV archives to see how many quality, popular shows were produced in Leeds in the last 39 years.
Drama should focus on hourly formats, formed into series. The ITV way of 2 x 90 minute shows are difficult to plan around and give viewers a chnce to miss the second part. Serials fare better, and I would include The Bill in this - it is far too 'soapy' for my liking.
The News at Ten would return followed by films etc. Local programmes would make a comeback - better funded and on at times when people will actually watch them. Documentaries also need to be reintroduced - not Trevor McDonald, but serious subjects as per World in Action, TV Eye and First Tuesday. It has been proven to bring in higher quality audiences and that means higher costing advertising.
Weekends
Saturdays are for kids, sports and entertainment - the LWT way! Giving over vast hours of time to cooking seems daft to me, Saturdays are normally the only time the adults get a lie in, so filing the schedule upto dinnertime with kids shows, music shows etc. seems ideal.
Whilst Sky has bought all the sport, some lower ranking sports could now be covered by ITV. I'm not advocating a return to 'World of Sport' but amixture of sport, classic shows and films could well make this dead time for TV a bit more surprising.
The ITV evening schedule on Saturdys and Sundays seems to be quite good - especially Saturday. Perhaps it is time to retire 'Heartbeat' - but replacements should be sought.
ITV PRODUCTIONS
The mixed messages given by the joint GRANADA/ITV PRODUCTIONS tag seems ridiculous. Just call it ITV Productions and be done with it. I hate Granada, a name that lives on past glories and reputations that were higher than in reality. Personally, I didn't see a problem with the purple inspired endcaps, but as ITV Productions exists, and is now a limited company lets get on with it.
It seems ridiculous that ITV Productions produces some of it s best programmes (Countdown, The Royle Family etc) for other broadcasters. Either it should concentrate on its own channels, or live with the ITV Productions name for all its output. The BBC seems to get away with it (hence BBC America on the recent 'Sharpe' film). ITV really needs to invest on its inhouse production as well. Just as the BBC sees the north as being Manchester, ITV seems to be doing the same. ITV bases in Leeds, Cardiff and possibly Birmingham and Southampton should be used as a basis for forming a resurgent ITV.
Whilst Birmingham has already been mentioned, surely ITV could hammer out a drama or daytime soap from Southampton (a New Forsest version of 'Home & Away'?) and from Cardiff, 'Taff Acre' could be resurrected from the past. If ITV did control the Scottish and Irish franchises, a great deal of regional production could be formed from Scottish drama.
Just some thoughts - let's discuss!
:-(
A former member
a: I hope this has not been nicked form some where else?>
B: ITV does own a couple of Production company's so there also would have Stuide
c: If it was the LWT way on Saturday well there did make a bit of a mess with Saturday kids shows
tiswas being one and the other was show before that Crap strathercay & co come back um it coudl be called WOW
a: I hope this has not been nicked form some where else?>
B: ITV does own a couple of Production company's so there also would have Stuide
c: If it was the LWT way on Saturday well there did make a bit of a mess with Saturday kids shows
tiswas being one and the other was show before that Crap strathercay & co come back um it coudl be called WOW
No, it hasn't been 'nicked'! I work in management within the bus industry, and look at businesses that require change in order to survive and prosper - I just took the same principles and applied them to ITV.
- Give it a slogan, it needs something catchy that will work.
- Comedy and Dramas need to be at least 12 episodes for one series, that way giving the programme time to gather an audience.
- Emmerdale lose its Monday episode and replaced by a gameshow, not some cheap tat, something worth watching. 9pm - 10.30pm will have stayed slots...
Monday : 9pm -10.30pm Drama
Tuesday : 9pm Documentry 10pm Tonight w/ Trevor Macdonald
Wednesday : 9pm Live Show 10pm Comedy
Thursday : 9pm Drama/Documentry 10pm Tonight w/ Trevor Macdonald
Friday : 9pm Feature length Drama
At 10.30pm, your local news programmes will air - we could trial them delivering the national/international news, using reports sent by ITV News. This way we have more of a local emphasis, with the added world news.
With this happening, ITV News Summaries will be on at 8pm, 9pm and 10pm.
:-(
A former member
sorry, there just been a lot of well trolls.. ask anyone it has happen many times before
... especially when it doesn't rate as highly as Coro 