I am upset & angered that ITV have axed Heartbeat and The Royal in favour of cheap talent shows.
Narrowing the demographic towards younger people, i.e. creating lowly educated, sensational talent shows & other formats, just puts into place the thinking of ITV execs & bosses. It mirrors their viewpoints to such an extent that it is killing Britain's once favourite channel.
ITV have never thought of evolution, and a key part of evolution is keeping with its formats but using them in different ways. Would Fox ever axe The Simpsons? It's a long running success and a significant part of American culture. Sure, it's getting short of ideas and its ratings have told true of this. But shows dip & pick up depending on the concept.
And a concept like Heartbeat, which went from focusing on a couple moving from London, to a whole village community, is a British alternative to this, albeit one that staples older audience's wishes for a Sunday night. The show was perfect for Sunday night, I am still in school (now into Sixth Form) and I have watched ITV3 repeats of Heartbeat and all the new Heartbeats since the late 1990s. I haven't watched it since 2007, because there have been no storylines that I have got hooked on again. And from there onwards, it's been obvious that ITV have been trying to pull the show because it simply doesn't serve their desired demographic.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels a sense of anger that ITV don't realise that success has to be built over times. How do you think London's Burning was a massive 10m+ ratings puller back in the late 90s? It wasn't a GREAT programme, but it run its course (maybe a year too long). The quality wasn't great, but it was something different.
But it got those ratings because it was a feature of a highly successful Sunday night schedule, which Heartbeat was part of. London's Burning, I'm sure, reached a younger audience than Heartbeat, but the only reason London's Burning got that quanitity of viewership was the consistency of where/when it was scheduled and the lead-in from Heartbeat every time.
The Royal is a show that I have warmed to as well. My Grandmother is a big fan, and she started watching the episodes over Xmas. It's a good idea, and it builds on the Casualty/Holby City relationship. Both of these shows have seen dips through their time. There was a time when Holby was achieving less than 5m, but is now up to over 6m, whilst Casualty has hovered from 4m to 10m over the last 5 years.
And this is why ITV cannot swap a drama for a talent show. it just doesn't work. A schedule needs variety. ITV have JUST ENOUGH reality shows to get by, and if they commission more and more, all it will do will overwhelm viewers and slowly they will see the repetetive nature and will switch off. The reason ITV succeeded in its talent shows last year, was because they scheduled them brilliantly and they didn't have too many of them. Their crime was having two on at a time (Britannia High, which was more suited to the post-Britain's Got Talent slot on ITV2).
I'm sorry for this rant but it's something I feel very passionate about. Although I watch BBC1, Channel 4 and Sky Sports a lot these days, I still watch Coronation Street, The Bill and the crime dramas that ITV are renowned for doing.
I don't want to see the face of ITV radically changed, in the same way I don't want to see the British constitution radically changed. I'm not a radical person. I think adaptation is more sustainable and potentially overwhelmingly successful than anything else. Small changes like moving The Bill to 9pm (perhaps) or moving Harry Hill from late night to early evening can significantly change something. Giving a show a chance give viewers reliability and trust in the broadcaster, even axing Britannia High is going to annoy about 2m keen fans, who will probably remember that ITV never keep their programmes.
The sensible thing with Britannia High, or any programme (e.g. The Palace, Echo Beach) that appeals to a narrow demographic needs to be on a narrower channel. It would do wonders for ITV2, and despite the fact they might not have the budget, it's best because shows there will get 300K-1m viewers, and will be able to build over many series, finally being able to move to ITV1 when they are good and ready.
Take QI, The Apprentice, Who Do You Think You Are for example. Yes, sure they're high brow, older demographic formats, but still, their audience has improved. I'm sure Top Gear will reach 8m when it finally moves from BBC2 to BBC1.
Shows that don't rise and show capablities that they could be shown on ITV1, can just be kept on ITV2, hence not annoying viewers who will not return to 'new, promising drama'.
If ITV keep shows like 'Heartbeat' and 'The Royal' and keep with the 'status quo' on ITV1 (and saving budget by showing repeats of 'Prime Suspect' in primetime for example) whilst going for new things on ITV2, the long term future could be a lot more profit making.
The rule is: Established shows will establish over shows. That is how to evolve.
If ITV had a strong Sunday night schedule with regularly performing 9pm shows and 7pm shows, I wouldn't be so downhearted about Heartbeat and The Royal being axed. But it looks like Peter Fincham wants to change the face of ITV completely, and I just don't think that's the way to go.
Rant over.
