ITV Secures Ant And Dec For Next Three Years
ITV has renegotiated a new multi-million pound deal with two of its biggest entertainment stars, Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, to keep the comedy duo exclusively on the network for the next three years.
ITV has had an exclusive relationship with Ant and Dec for the last four years, during which time they have presented a number of hit shows for the network including two series of Pop Idol and I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!.
Two years ago the duo, in partnership with Granada, developed and launched their own primetime format in the form of Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, which regularly attracts an average of more than eight million viewers in its early evening slot.
Commenting on the deal, Nigel Pickard, ITV’s director of programmes, said: “Ant and Dec are an enormous asset to ITV and we’re thrilled to extend our partnership with them. They have a unique appeal to our audience and are loved by everyone from kids to grannies. They are immensely talented presenters who really do get better with every series. And as everyone who meets or works with them knows, they’re also incredibly nice guys.”
Claudia Rosencrantz, ITV’s controller of entertainment, added: “The last four years have allowed us to build some great shows with Ant and Dec. They have become synonymous with the channel and I’m really pleased they still feel so at home with us. We have a terrific working relationship and we’re all very excited about the next three years.”
The deal will come as a relief to ITV which has seen audiences decline recently in the face of the BBC’s highly successful Olympic coverage and a bumper summer for Channel 4. The broadcaster has also recently been forced to drop reality-TV flop The Block from its peak-time slot amid ongoing fears that a dip in viewing could mean it has to pay as much as £100 million in compensation to some of the UK’s biggest advertisers (see ITV Drops Peak-Time Shows To Avoid Viewing Slump).
ITV: 020 7843 8000 www.itv.com
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