ITV Backs Blind Date After Cilla’s Departure

ITV has confirmed its intention to continue broadcasting its Saturday night dating show, Blind Date, despite the announcement that its host of 18 years, Cilla Black, is set to leave at the end of the current series.

Black announced her departure live on air during last Saturday night’s show, prompting speculation that the programme, which has long been seen as the lynchpin of ITV’s Saturday night schedule, could be axed.

Blind Date has experienced a significant drop in ratings over the past year and now draws an audience of around 5 million compared to regular audiences of around 8 million in 2001 and 2000.

ITV recently re-vamped the programme in an attempt to win back audiences, with more interactive elements giving contestants the opportunity to ditch their date after meeting them. ITV2 also launched a spin-off version of the re-vamped show, Blind Date: Kiss and Tell, which airs on Sunday nights and features the more risqué aspects of the programme (see ITV2 launches Blind Date Spin Off Show).

A number of high profile presenters such as Dale Winton and Cat Deeley have been named as contenders to replace Cilla and ITV will be anxious to re-capture the show’s popularity and increase its audience share.

Early figures from BARB released last week show that BBC1 beat ITV1 in the annual ratings with an overall share of viewing of 26.2% for 2002, compared to 24.1% across all hours for ITV1 (see BBC1 Extends Annual Ratings Lead Over ITV1).

ITV: 020 7843 8000 www.itv.com

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