ITV Admits BBC Threat At Schedule Launch

David Liddiment, ITV’s director of channels, admitted to the serious threat that BBC1’s recent rating successes are posing to ITV1 at yesterday’s launch of the winter schedule.

Liddiment spoke out against the BBC’s populist approach at this year’s GEITF McTaggart lecture (see GEITF 2001 MacTaggart Lecture). At the time he claimed to be worried for the “soul of British television”, but now, with BBC1 overtaking ITV1 in audience share, key programmes Cold Feet and The Premiership failing to perform as hoped and new quiz show Shafted dropped only weeks after launch, it may be his own skin he is concerned about.

ITV’s hopes are pinned on its winter schedule, with its bottom line of £240m-worth of investment. This will include adaptations of the Forsyte Saga and Lucky Jim, a profile of the Queen in the run up to next year’s Golden Jubilee and the return of detective series Frost, Taggart and Poirot.

ITV: 020 7843 8000 www.itv.co.uk

Subscribers can access the Television database by selecting “Television” from the drop-down box at the top of this page.