I'm going to go against the grain and suggest that ITV are making the right decision putting this on at 10. I think they'll be competing for viewers who would otherwise be watching anything other than the news anyway so starting it at 10:35 would put them at a disadvantage against everything that started at 10.
The 10:35 shows rarely rate and News at Ten doesn't exactly do particularly well so I don't think they've got much to lose even if this chat show flops.
Apart from the reputation of its flagship news programme which is only just about recovering from the mistskes of a decade or two ago.
It's not recovering, hence why they constantly trail the BBC by some margin. The lead News at Ten had over the BBC back in the day is gone and is never coming back.
I said reputation, not ratings. It took along time for the revised News at Ten to earn a bit of respect back, and though people may not like to admit it the changes made since the revival of Tom Bradby have added to it's journalistic credentials too. That goes out of the window though as soon as it becomes News at When again.
Yes, I tend to agree that ITV is better positioned politically and brand-wise leaving News At Ten where it is. But then I'm not the one with sales targets at a TV station which is already making plans should there be Brexit-related economic difficulties which impact on advertising.
Think this quote from Josh Widdecombe regarding The Last Leg sums up exactly where ITV is going wrong.
Quote:
"It has slowly morphed into what it is now," he recalled. "If we had a big hard launch on Channel 4, people might not have been into it, but slowly we've worked out what works on the show and that's how people have found us, and it's worked out perfectly."
Think this quote from Josh Widdecombe regarding The Last Leg sums up exactly where ITV is going wrong.
Quote:
"It has slowly morphed into what it is now," he recalled. "If we had a big hard launch on Channel 4, people might not have been into it, but slowly we've worked out what works on the show and that's how people have found us, and it's worked out perfectly."
not sure that's a valid point as The Last Leg launched in the middle of one of the biggest events Channel 4 ever did.
But the show it launched as isn't the show it is now. I think the point that's being made is having huge launches are pretty much always destined to fail.
Any time ITV tries to make a big deal of something it tends to go badly. See the numerous attempts at relaunching ITV breakfast. People tend to have the feeling (even if it is constructed) that they are finding their own shows and presenters in this country.
The Last Leg launched into a fair wind as it wasn't the centrepoint of the Paralympics - it was part of package intended to sell the games to people who may not have watched Paralympic sport before. Channel 4 benefited hugely from the aftermath of the 2012 Olympics, when the UK was desperate to keep the party going, but did a spectacular job of selling the Games on their own merits.
Many people would have discovered The Last Leg during this period, and when it came back later would have gone "Oh I remember that, let's give it a go". It's to The Last Leg's credit that they've created a niche for themselves when the reason they were created disappeared, but you need more than that for a successful show.
The Last Leg was an unexpected success with nothing to really compare it to. A nightly ITV chat show will bring unfavourable comparisons with the US talk shows unless the booking is ****-hot and the format is perfect from the get-go. I wish them well but I fear the worst.
:-(
A former member
Lets also be fair some of the older Late night series never hit the ground running, like Craig Ferguson, heck even late night with james corden took a while to get the ideas to get right. I have to agree ITV have gotten this all wrong, it should go out at 10.40 at night with a soft launch and test the waters.
To be fair I think James Corden was pretty much a hit out of the gate but of course he had decades of history behind the show and the best part of a year to develop it before it went on air. Crucially it also had the key talent in place - very difficult to develop a format when you don't know who will be hosting from week to week.
I think 10PM is the right slot for this new show. ITV should be doing something different to the BBC, it makes little sense to put the two late bulletins against each other. Post 10:40PM seems like a graveyard slot, so its success there would be limited.
Also, at 10 this new show is mostly working off the back of shows with over 4 million viewers each night. Following NAT, there's only around 1.2 million viewers. You've got a far higher chance of success working off a 4 million plus lead in.