Originally Posted by rzt:
“It is pretty odd that so many of those shows have been down year on year, including long-running shows which have until that point been so steady year after year. Naturally, you'd expect some returning shows to be down due to scheduling factors and fatigue but not all of them! The soaps rating badly are doing some of those 9pm shows no favours - even though Corrie finishes at 8.55pm so it's lead-in isn't the be all and end all, it is still an important lead-in. And the fact that Corrie has been down 1m+, some days 2m or so, down from the previous year, will be making it tougher for the shows following it. Also it means that on a day to day basis, fewer people are watching the promos for other ITV shows compared to 18 months ago. Corrie is ITV's most important show, more so than XF, BGT etc, because it has a big influence on how many people tune into the channel on a nightly basis, the impact of shows around it that it has, as well as providing a promotional tool for other ITV shows. I'm surprised Stuart Blackburn is still there and there doesn't seem to have been an active effort to turn the show around based on the declines it's been getting. It should be the channel's number one priority because a stronger Corrie will have a positive impact on the rest of their schedule.
Other reasons why so many of their shows have been down? Perhaps, because their schedule was so poor in Spring and Summer when they basically had a load of filler (besides the World Cup), it resulted in people not tuning into the channel for long periods of time and that effect is still in play now. Total TV audiences have also been down across the board in the last year (last night total tv audience was down 1.5m vs 2014), maybe BARB's methodology has altered slightly which has effected the numbers for everyone (but is more noticeable for the bigger channels). On weekends, the lack of tea-time support makes it very difficult for the 7pm show which essentially needs to be a self-starter due to lead-ins of 10% or so, where as 5-10 years ago the lead-in from the 6pm slot would've been around 15-20% as they actually used to air new material in that slot back then. The BBC has the News which attracts guaranteed 20%+ shares to the schedule three or four times a day, which can help the shows around it (i.e. Now You've Seen It). ITV News gets a much poorer share, and it's not suddenly going to do much better, so what ITV need is to air some half decent shows in the outskirts of primetime so that there is some kind of half-decent audience going into primetime rather than shares of c10%.
What ITV really need from this year is a couple of new formats coming through (whether they are LE, factual or relatively cheap drama) which get reliable numbers without needing much hype/fanfare/press coverage and can air at least 13 hours per year, returning year after year. Broadchurch is a great show but it airs 8 hours in total every 2 years, that's it. Having a show which can get even just 4m for about 15 hours would do them the world of good and is just as important. They have a serious lack of these kind of shows in the schedules right now. The emergence of Countryfile for BBC1 is one of the best things to have happened to them in the last 5 years as it has helped turned around their Sundays, as they know it is a guaranteed 5m+ week after week which has a positive impact on what else follows it. ITV needs something like that on one of its nights - I'm not saying a rip-off of Countryfile because those kind of shows don't seem to work for them anyway. But a show with the same kind of values of being able to return week after week and doesn't need to have any hype or press coverage - easier said than done, I know!”
Agree about Corrie (and to a lesser extent Emmerdale) not helping. It is ITV's main shop window and they need to do something fast to halt the decline. I too am surprised they haven't sacked Stuart Blackburn as it is a major issue at this point. The lower lead-ins probably have contributed to the declines. You've got a point about teatime as well. They need to make more of an effort here. Celebrity Chase and Tipping Point: Lucky Stars must be pretty cheap. They should just put those at 6pm on Saturdays (half the year each) where they'd get perfectly solid numbers. That would give them a decent base to build from. You've Been Framed to 5.30pm. Sundays are less of an issue. The news runs at 6.30pm normally - I'm not sure how it rates there. Planet's Got Talent might do okay next week but it won't make much of a difference.
I think they definitely need some new hits this year. Not sure where they'll come from but it's important. Obviously in drama Jekyll & Hyde is the big new title of this year. Drama isn't particularly an issue though really. It's entertainment, comedy and factual where they are lacking. In entertainment obviously there's Get Your Act Together next week and then Ninja Warrior in the Spring. Not sure about Summer/Autumn yet. It is very difficult to find that kind of show though. Piers Morgan's Life Stories used to average 4m across 13 episodes a year but that show seems to have crashed recently. I think they have some shows with potential to get that kind of numbers that they don't utilise that well though. All Star Family Fortunes and Celebrity Chase stand out as shows that could average 4m+, but they often get put in difficult slots (Chase against Strictly, ASFF against Call The Midwife) whilst weaker formats like The Cube get better treatment for some reason.
They could do with a Sunday night anchor too. Now DOI has gone they don't have any kind of anchor from January-August. Catchphrase and the 2 hour dramas are fine in April & May but that's about it. Ideally they'd put the soaps back there but then that just weakens the schedule elsewhere. It's very difficult to get the balance right and now the bigger shows are falling the cracks are starting to show. If they could find a factual format that could do lots of episodes a year (like C4 have with 24 Hours in A&E) it would do them the world of good.
