ITV has revealed the details of the second proposal it put to the ITC in the hope of improving news audiences. The proposal, which included an increased budget, was once again rejected yesterday (see ITC Tells ITV To Bring Forward Nightly News) as the ITC stuck to its guns and said the broadcaster must move the nightly news bulletin to an earlier time than its current 11pm slot.
Although criticisms from the ITC had originally covered all aspects of evening news programmes (see ITV Must Address News Audience Decline, Says ITC) many of the proposals were in reference to the late night news that was brought in instead of the News at Ten.
These included bringing programming forward from the Autumn 2000 9-11pm schedule to boost Nightly News audiences, extending the programme to 25 minutes and discontinuing the 10pm headlines, which are seen as a disincentive for some viewers to watch the programme later. It was also proposed that on occasions such General Elections, the Queen’s Speech and the Budget, the Nightly News would be moved to the 10pm slot.
ITV offered to pour more money into the 2001 network programme budget, to the tune of £21m. This would have brought the increase in ITV’s peak-time programming budget for next year to £42m.
Regional audiences were another cause for concern at the ITC. Measures in this area included an additional £3m investment in weekday peak-time regional programmes and a commitment from all but the smallest ITV companies not to run repeats in peak slots, with more companies adopting the network pattern at 5.30pm to improve inheritance to regional news magazines at 6pm.
ITV promised that from next year the early evening schedule would be strengthened by the introduction of a new youth-appeal soap. A research study was proposed to understand changes in behaviour towards news access and consumption, along with a strategy of consistent year round news promotion, and incentives for ITV’s executive directors linked to performance targets on the principal news programmes.
ITV has said it “regrets” the ITC’s rejection of its proposals, saying it is “considering its position” before responding in full.
ITC: 020 7255 3000 ITV: 020 7843 8000
