OMG - ITV Milking it again!

Or more accurately, they can make money from the 0900 premium rate phone calls to the quiz channels, and make more profit for their shareholders. (Or mitigate the money they aren't getting from advertisers on ITV1 as people turn off)

I understand that people like yourself, myself and indeed probably alot of people on the Forum cannot stand this kind of Television, but if there is a market for it, then why not? Frankly if the lowest common denominator finds it entertaining and then phones up, there's a market for it, which has been proved in the amount of channels that it takes up on Sky and more scarily on the Freeview platform.

ITV after about 17 or 18 years has now found a cheap and easy way to make a profit from Night Time Television. Though this new ITV Play isn't a venture like Channel 4's Quiz Call, where the profits I'm guessing are going back into the main Channel 4 service, but thus makes ITV more money, quickly, easy and cheaply. Granted this money isn't going into Programmes or being boosted into ITV1 as a whole, but if it can help ITV Plc to keep that bit more financially stable, then I don't mind.

Though todays £300 Million profit is good news for ITV and good for the overall value of the company, you have to see how the company will be in 5 to 10 years from now. Unfortunately as it is now and openly ran as a Business rather than a Public Service, then it has to see other ways of making an income, granted ITV Play isn't a long term solution or indeed it isn't an answer to ITV's long term finances. ITV is a business if they see a gap of a niche in the Market, then go for it, this is what they're clearly doing with ITV Play. Though I think it is a sad sign of the times, they cannot afford to throw money down the drain or keep with loss leaders in a tough market, the main being competition from Sky.

Overall it's not going to be much of a change, just that Quizmania (ITV1) and Play Sudoku (ITV2) are going to be replaced with ITV's own version where all the money goes to them rather than the other broadcasters here.

So in the meantime, we, the viewer, have to suffer the consequences of poor programming, trashy repeats etc. Doesn't wash with me.

Unfortunately the answer is yes, but some people like that and in does bring in the viewers. If you don't like it, then go elsewhere, somewhere that is less commercial and less down market and less trashy. More and more people are switching off which is ITV's biggest problem.

Oh stop defending them! Charles

I think ITV still haven't figured out why viewers are turning away from ITV1, simple... The programming standard has slipped dramatically they have relied on cheap and cheerful (or should I say dreadful) programming. If they want viewers they need to rethink badly.

They're obviously taking a leaf out of BBC "Davina" One's book.