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It hasn’t been a good year for ITV. In fact, so much
has gone wrong that it’s hard to know where to start,
reports Matthew Bell
In no particular order, the
broadcaster lost viewers,
advertisers, ITV Digital, heaps of money and a programming chief in David Liddiment.
New soaps Crossroads and Night and Day failed to make the grade, while the once regal Coronation Street found itself slumming it with EastEnders and Emmerdale for company in the ratings charts.
In the absence of funding for new dramas, veteran policemen Morse and Frost were wheeled out to fill the gaps in the sched- ules. The result was that audi- ences switched off, or turned over. In fact, over the summer, the unthinkable happened - more people watched BBC1 than ITV.
This is not entirely ITV’s fault. Under director general Greg Dyke the BBC has became a ratings hungry broadcaster. This was some- thing that clearly riled Liddiment.
In an interview he gave to the Guardian in August, shortly after announcing that he was leaving ITV, Liddiment said: “He [Dyke] is providing a terrible disservice to range and quality and cultural values in Britain... What matters to the people who decide what programmes are shown on BBC 1 and BBC 2 is the absolute per- formance in terms of millions of viewers. Not a lot else.”
While this may seem a little rich coming from the program- ming chief of a network that commissioned Celebrities Under the Knife, it is easy to understand Liddiment’s frustration.
While the BBC has a guaran- teed income in the form of the licence fee, ITV has been badly hit by falling advertising revenue. So, at a time when the BBC has decided to take ITV on at its own game by churning out populist primetime programming in a bid to get ahead in the ratings, ITV found itself unable to compete.
ITV’s future, however, is not bleak. There are hopes that the network’s two major companies, Granada and Carlton, will resume the merger talks they abandoned last February. If unifi- cation can be agreed – and
approved by the regulator Ofcom – ITV will become a stronger beast.
“A merger is in its best com- mercial interests,” says one ana- lyst, who adds that some opera- tions, which used to be carried out wastefully by both Carlton and Granada, have been merged already. Unification could also give ITV power to boss the advertisers and force up the price of ads.
Salvation was widely expected to come in the form of C5’s feisty chief executive Dawn Airey who was strongly tipped to take on the top ITV job. But, in a shock move, she has opted instead for BSkyB running all non-sport broadcast- ing. At time of writing, the con- tenders for ITV now include, it’s believed, Michael Grade, Capital Radio’s David Mansfield and even presently US-based Michael Jackson, late of Channel Four.
In a multichannel TV world where the other terrestrial chan- nels are struggling to stop viewers defecting to Sky, UK Gold and the other TV minnows, this is a sizeable achievement. ITV, which a decade ago had 40 per cent of the market, is now watched by less than 20 per cent of the audi- ence who have cable or satellite in their homes.
In the end it comes down to bums on seats. Airey’s solution to stop ITV “shedding audiences faster than a snake can get rid of its skin”, she told the Times recent- ly, would be to introduce new entertainment and drama to replace much of its bland output. She has a point. Blind Date is into its 18th series and dramas such as Heartbeat and London’s Burning are on their last legs. Even Cold Feet is showing signs of age.
The problem with drama though is that, more than any other, it’s a hit and miss genre. Earlier this year, ITV took a risk and broadcast the intelligent and entertaining Bob And Rose from Queer as Folk writer Russell T Davies. The critics loved it, but the ratings didn’t measure up.
At Home With The Braithwaites, which hit the spot for both critic and viewer alike, is a rarity.
Yet another doubtful show- case for the talents of ex- EastEnder Ross Kemp, this time as an SAS sergeant in Ultimate Force, is probably not what the doctor ordered. At least the upcoming £7 million adaptation of Dr Zhivago should win ITV some kudos and attract some much- needed ABC1 advertisers.
Returning bankers such as
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
and even war horses such as Stars In Their Eyes, however, will deliver the audiences. And the seemingly endless procession of themed shows – ...From Hell, After/Before They Were Famous, Britain’s Worst... – may rile the cri- tics, but the primetime viewers love ‘em.
Boosted by an extra £25m to its programming budget for the autumn schedule, ITV kicked off the season with I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here.
For many it marked a new low-point for British TV (though this dubious honour only lasted until ITV aired the breathtakingly dumb Britain’s Sexiest... series), but by the end of the series 12 million viewers were listening to the inane drivel of D-list celebs. Next up was Popstars: The Rivals, which drew eight million viewers to its first outing. If the experience of Popstars and Pop Idol are repeated, this figure is sure to rise.
As more viewers turn to digi- tal TV, ITV will face greater multi- channel competition. Just revealed plans for BBC3 are causing particular concern. The days when the network lorded it over the commercial sector are long gone.
But with imaginative program- ming, it should be able to hold onto its current audience share in the mid-20 per cents and com- pete with BBC 1.
“It comes down to program- ming,” says another TV analyst, “and ITV are really good at pro- ducing mass market program- ming.” There’s life in ITV yet.
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Photos from top: David Liddiment; Dawn Airey