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Christmas Pres launched (Page 411) (October 2007)

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BR
Brekkie
pad posted:
rojerwilko posted:
Why is Michael Grade so adamant to keep the whole schedule changes under wraps and "top-secret". What would be the reasons for doing so - to avoid early criticism, to dupe rivals - or is it all to build up publicity and media attention?


He's said it's a "sensitive commercial secret" so he probably doesn't want to give the BBC any time to respond to anything he may do.



Exactly - as someone else said sooner or later rival channels would react to it anyway if big changes were planned.


And Michael Grade may have saved the BBC back in 1763, but all his moves at ITV so far show it's only the shareholders interests he care about.

Axing kids programming and plotting to slash regional programming may save a few quid, but it's doing ITV as a brand no favours at all.
JO
Joe
Pad, why are you so excited about this schedule thing?

You realise the same old crap will still be on - The X Factor, I'm a Celebirty et cetera - along with new crap such as Moving Beach and Echo Wallpaper?

The News at Ten will still be the same old ITV News at 10.30, only half an hour earlier. There'll still be phone-ins, various reality shows, and far too many soaps.

Settle down. Wink
PA
pad
I think it's exciting to be honest. The Metropolers can have a good bitch about it if they want, I'm not asking them to read the thread. Wink A lot of changes are afoot.

For example, Dancing on Ice - it's starting on Sunday 13th January. That's one rather large change to the schedule I believe. Wink Someone on DS also posted a viable schedule for Sundays:

6.00 Dancing on Ice
7.30 Heartbeat
8.30 Coronation Street
9.00 Dancing on Ice: The Skate Off
9.30 Foyle's War

A strong line-up. It also leaves Saturday free for the following shows, which are all due to start on the 12th: Duel, Harry Hill's TV Burp, Thank God You're Here, Primeval and (probably) Millionaire.
JO
Joe
But the thing is - it's the same old stuff, just in different slots! What's the exciting part pad?
PA
pad
Jugalug posted:
But the thing is - it's the same old stuff, just in different slots! What's the exciting part pad?


Exciting? New commissions? I can't possibly say either way as they haven't aired, but they look intriguing and I will watch all three:

The Palace - a fascinating look at a fictional monarchy, a new series

The Fixer - from the makers of Life on Mars and Spooks, new series

Lost in Austen - a series focussing on a twist on the classic 'Pride & Prejudice' story

And before you say it, I've not watched an ITV drama series since Bad Girls. And while Moving Wallpaper/Echo Beach might not be to your tastes, it's certainly something new and original plus it's made by Kudos and has a very strong cast.
JO
Joe
True, but these are only a few commisions - surely to keep this fresh, they need to be ongoing. I for one don't hold out much hope.
BR
Brekkie
pad posted:
I think it's exciting to be honest. The Metropolers can have a good bitch about it if they want, I'm not asking them to read the thread. Wink A lot of changes are afoot.

For example, Dancing on Ice - it's starting on Sunday 13th January. That's one rather large change to the schedule I believe. Wink Someone on DS also posted a viable schedule for Sundays:

6.00 Dancing on Ice
7.30 Heartbeat
8.30 Coronation Street
9.00 Dancing on Ice: The Skate Off
9.30 Foyle's War

A strong line-up. It also leaves Saturday free for the following shows, which are all due to start on the 12th: Duel, Harry Hill's TV Burp, Thank God You're Here, Primeval and (probably) Millionaire.



So great - the news will be pushed out of primetime on Sunday nights too. Never mind though - it'll be on at 10pm four days a week - and Trevor will host, so that's fine!


And Saturday nights will be crap without Dancing on Ice anchoring the schedule.


BTW Pad - where is this info from, because the Digital Spy forums are about as reliable as Wikipedia!
BR
Brekkie
pad posted:
And while Moving Wallpaper/Echo Beach might not be to your tastes, it's certainly something new and original plus it's made by Kudos and has a very strong cast.



Martine McCan'tSing and Jason Donovan are hardly a strong cast!
PA
pad
I've looked on the ITV Press site and there is a gap on Sunday evenings, there is no Emmerdale either on Sundays. This all points towards it being on Sunday. I also read somewhere that the official site of someone who's doing Dancing on Ice has the Sunday as the launch date.

It makes a lot of sense - how would you fit Duel, Harry Hill, Thank God You're Here, Millionaire, You've Been Framed, Primeval, Dancing on Ice and Dancing on Ice's results into one Saturday night?

RE: News, it looks like they're going for a fixed 11pm slot on Friday which IMO is fine. The Friday night schedule looks good from January:

8.30 Coronation St
9.00 Moving Wallpaper
9.30 Echo Beach
10.00 Al Murray's Happy Hour
11.00 ITV News

That's better really, and as long as News at Ten airs Monday to Thursday every single week of the year, which I think it will, it will be no problem.

Brekkie Boy posted:
Martine McCan'tSing and Jason Donovan are hardly a strong cast!


Er... try...

Hugo Speer (Bleak House, The Full Monty)
Johnny Briggs (Coronation Street)
Ed Speleers (Eragon)
Ben Miller (Armstrong And Miller, Primeval, The Worst Week)
Marcus Patrick (Hollyoaks)
Susie Amy (Footballer’s Wives, Hotel Babylon)
Laura Greenwood (Prime Suspect 7)
Christian Cooke (Where The Heart Is)
Jonathan Readwin (Robin Hood)
Naomi Ryan (Dream Team)
Chandeep Uppal (Anita And Me)
Raquel Cassidy (Party Animals, Lead Balloon)
James Lance (Teachers, Sensitive Skin)
Sarah Hadland (Saxondale, Peep Show)
Elizabeth Berrington (The Dinner Party, The Office)
Lucy Liemann (The IT Crowd)
Dave Lamb (The Smoking Room)
Sinead Keenan (Trouble With Sex).

The cast is pretty good.
BR
Brekkie
pad posted:
I've looked on the ITV Press site and there is a gap on Sunday evenings, there is no Emmerdale either on Sundays. This all points towards it being on Sunday. I also read somewhere that the official site of someone who's doing Dancing on Ice has the Sunday as the launch date.

It makes a lot of sense - how would you fit Duel, Harry Hill, Thank God You're Here, Millionaire, You've Been Framed, Primeval, Dancing on Ice and Dancing on Ice's results into one Saturday night?



Mmmm - they won't! Millionaire hasn't been on Saturdays for months (it'll fill that Tuesday slot I talked about!), You've Been Framed is usually dropped during TV Burp and Saturday nights are always jam packed anyway. Duel isn't even confirmed for a Saturday slot AFAIK - if we're getting the revamp you so think we are, won't it be on Wednesdays at 7.30pm or something!


Anyhow, for the sake of argument...

5.30pm TV Burp
6pm Dancing on Ice
7.30pm Primeval
8.30pm Duel
9.30pm Dancing on Ice Skate Off
10pm Thank God You're Here

... and then probably something else so the news isn't on too early!!!


pad posted:
RE: News, it looks like they're going for a fixed 11pm slot on Friday which IMO is fine. The Friday night schedule looks good from January:



If we hadn't had the history of what happened last time I'd agree, but I think they really did need to show News at Ten a serious commitment - and that meant a Friday edition too.

It's also pointless if they don't take advantage of the extended Friday night slot by showing post-watershed films and drama, uninterrupted by news.

Personally I think they'd be better off sticking with News at Ten and then showing a film from 10.30pm. I know in the old, old days of News at Ten I quite often found myself watching the late Friday film - however crap it was!


It's back to the point about commitment to news though - News at Ten is only a headline commitment, and only because it's convenient to ITV at the moment. What they really need to do is restore a half decent weekend service as well to show they're not focusing all their efforts on the one bulletin.
JE
Jez Founding member
pad posted:
]And while Moving Wallpaper/Echo Beach might not be to your tastes, it's certainly something new and original plus it's made by Kudos and has a very strong cast.


Im looking forward to Echo Beach/Moving Wallpaper. Its something different to what we normally get on a Friday night and its nice to see them make an effort. A couple of the other new dramas look good too.
PA
pad
Brekkie Boy posted:

Mmmm - they won't! Millionaire hasn't been on Saturdays for months (it'll fill that Tuesday slot I talked about!),


Wrong. Tuesdays are for Sandbanks and Ladette to Lady, probably for 8pm and 9pm, unless Sandbanks goes to 10.30pm.

Quote:
You've Been Framed is usually dropped during TV Burp


Wrong. It's in the AB lists for January.

Quote:
Duel isn't even confirmed for a Saturday slot AFAIK

It is. It launches Saturday 13th with TV Burp and Thank God You're Here. While you are right, Millionaire might be moved away from Saturdays, and probably will with Duel going out then, it still leaves Primeval, TV Burp, You've Been Framed, Thank God You're Here and Duel... not to mention Ant and Dec beginning in February!

Dancing on Ice could still just about fit there though, at a squeeze, granted.

Quote:
It's also pointless if they don't take advantage of the extended Friday night slot by showing post-watershed films and drama, uninterrupted by news.


Who says they aren't? Al Murray's moving from Saturdays to Fridays but when that ends I'm sure we'll see 2 hour dramas and films from 9pm.


We also haven't discussed where the US dramas they've commissioned for ITV1 will go - specifically I'm talking Pushing Daisies here. Friday 10pm?

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