ITV Meeting – New Schedule Backed

Yesterday’s special ITV council meeting unanimously approved the new autumn schedule. The special meeting had been held in the face of criticism from advertisers about falling ratings and rising airtime prices, but ironically the meeting was held in the week when ITV achieved its best ratings so far this year; in peaktime ITV had a 14.2% point advantage over BBC1 of 44.5% to 30.3%. The new schedule, which will not be revealed until July 6, includes several hit films.

Leslie Hill, chairman of the Council, said, “Our advertisers need mass audiences and audiences have to be won in an environment of increasing choice. We are aware of the concerns and the problems faced by advertisers and we shall continue our discussions with them over the coming weeks.” ITV: 0171 843 8000