ITV Exec Chairman Michael Grade has confirmed that News At Ten will only run four nights a week. He told the House of Lords Communications Committee, “we are going to go four nights a week at ten o’clock on ITV, we will go head to head with BBC1 and the audience will make their choice.” He was giving evidence this morning.
Michael Grade. The scorecard so far:
“I started my career there [ITV] and I worked there for just under 10 years. Whether or not I end my career there, who knows?”
“Maybe ITV are pandering [to Ofcom to get CRR changed], but if they think that is the price to get CRR changed it could be too great a price to pay over what they might lose on-screen, it might cost a lot of audience,” [Chris Locke, the UK group trading director at media agency Starcom Worldwide] argued.“The world has changed. People who want news know where to find it … people don’t buy plasma screens to watch news.”
3. Wipes out a chunk of the company’s share value
ITV’s share price closed on Friday at a year-low of 96.2p, valuing the company at £3.74bn. The share price has fallen from a high of 120.9p last May and the company has lost more than a third of its value since it floated on the stock market in 2004.
Doh! Time for a private equity bid.
In the spirit of passing on hopeless rumours I have heard that the official announcement is today — and also that it will be Wednesday.
Now, at least, I can say to people under 30 that I once worked on News At Ten and they won’t gaze blankly back at me. (Then again, maybe it’s just the way I say it.)
So if you wondered where the Dermot-sized gap at Sky News was coming from, now you know. Julie Etchingham will be sitting alongside Sir Trev for a reborn News At Ten.
When Sir Trev took the helm solo in 1992, News At Ten was averaging 6.8m viewers, compared to the BBC Nine o’clock’s 6.4m viewers.
On a typical week in June 2007, the BBC Ten o’clock was winning its slot with 4.8m viewers and a 25% share.
I would be more pleased, truth to tell, if Michael Grade had announced that the money ITV had pilfered from the public was going back into restoring the coverage budgets of the only programmes it makes that still serve the public — the news.
That would send a far stronger signal about ITV’s public service intent than Grade’s feeble witterings to date.
If Grade needs a reminder, ITN journalists and camera teams still risk their lives to cover unpopular stories that advertisers don’t necessarily care for. They are public service broadcasting.
So forget the presenters and the PR, Michael — show us the money. Are you going to stick some cash back in the kitty that lets ITN really cover the news?