ITV Discussion Thread

I agree 4 would be enough - Emmerdale Monday-Thursday and Corrie Sunday, Monday, Thurs and Friday (1 episode per night).

On special occasions they could use the Monday/Friday double episodes for Corrie and Thurs double for Emmerdale or have 1 hour special like they did in the 1990s.

As much as too many soaps can be overkill, you have to think what else can be put into the slots that the extra episodes currently take up that will cost the same amount as the rolling production, but will also bring in the same amount or more viewers. I'd love to see ITV taking more risks, but in their business, are they in a position to risk getting rid of quite a few episodes?

Five is fine - Mon to Fri in the same slot, though surprising really considering Emmerdale has had six for so long now Corrie hasn't followed suit.

Won't it stretch the production teams, if it doesn't already?

Though with Champions League football, I'd have the Soaps running on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday personally. I think ITV need to take a risk with their programming in order to find new hits to place alongside their Soap Operas.

I agree, I think ITV need to take risks and make programmes so there is more variety. Otherwise they might just as well have 2 hours of soaps every night in peaktime.

I disagree that 5 is ok, when people complain that Corrie (and Emmerdale) have bad patches its because of the amount of episodes they have to fill. Emmerdale manages 6 episodes a week a lot better than Corrie sometimes manages 5 which is prob why they keep Corrie at 5.

Except that Champions League moves to a Tuesday evening from Autumn 2012!

If anything i would re-introduce the 630 slot back to primetime TV (which would mean slightly altering the daytime line up to accommodate early evening news and regional evening news) then between 630pm and 730pm could be a soap hour - and the rest of the schedule would be a mix of various other genres.

Some will now say that could hit both Hollyoaks and Home & Away - so what!!! ITV is competing with these channels and if they can win viewers over and garner more advertising money for various other projects/programming then so be it.

The last thing they need is an awkaward half-hour in the early evening schedule - they've only just got rid of that at 10pm!

7-8pm for soaps would be fine, then ideally a greater variety of "primetime" shows from 8-10pm - but the reality is ITV need to prop up nights with the soaps, and also in some slits just admit defeat and play out cheap content and accept low ratings. From a ratings perspective though ITV really do need to restore the Sunday soap hour as in the Spring and Summer without Dancing on Ice or The X Factor (and indeed now before The X Factor) ratings just collapse.

They already do have the programming for the so-called awkward half-hours....
Tonight
The Lakes/The Dales/Little England
Mayday, mayday
That Alan Titchmarsh gardening programme

All they would need to do is find "hits" for new hour long programmes for the hour long slots that would be freed up by moving aforementioned programmes to a 730pm slot. It could also mean bringing Exposure into primetime (an more decent hard-hitting current affairs and it is a formulaic programme that seems to work elsewhere in the world - best example being 60 Minutes in the US), for example the 8pm slot could look like....

Monday - Gameshows such as High stakes and Millionare
Tuesday - Award Ceremonies, Feature-length Drama's, Champions League
Wednesday - Exposure
Thursday - Travelogues Series, Countrywise and other Documentaries
Friday - Other 60 minute Gameshows

Are Scotland opting of the Football again on Tuesdays?

If it's the UEFA Champions League then I would have thought not, it's only the FA Cup and England Home games STV opt out of.

Then I can the hour getting moved....