Michael Grade Reveals Major Schedule Relaunch For ITV1
ITV1’s schedule is to be relaunched next year, according to executive chairman, Michael Grade, who was speaking at the MediaGuardian Changing Broadcast summit in London today.
“We have been planning for a year to relaunch ITV1’s schedule next year,” he said. “We have been desperately trying to keep this a secret, but hopelessly. This is a very sensitive commercial secret for us.”
Grade denied the return of the 10pm News bulletin was a concession to the regulators. Instead he said it was because there had been few programming successes at 10pm since the bulletin moved to 10.30pm permanently in 2004.
“Can anyone name me one 10 O’Clock show in midweek that we are so proud of over the last seven years?” he asked.
“It makes commercial sense for us to do it. It makes every kind of sense for us when you see the 2008 schedule and how it fits in.
“You don’t move one piece without everything falling apart. This is part of a huge strategic rethink to streamline the ITV schedule. It is part of a much bigger move.”
The ITV director of television, Simon Shaps, said the focus of the ITV1 relaunch would be on new programming, although there were no plans to dump shows wholesale or change the channel’s branding.
Shaps added that he had been thinking about the move since he took on the job and had been planning it for a year, with moves to order shows to fit into the new schedule.
In September, Grade revealed a three to five year content-led plan to restore growth to the business.
The plan outlines ITV’s growth strategy in its content, broadcast, and online operations. ITV said that in its content business its objective is to double content revenues, including internal productions to around £1.2 billion by 2012.
The broadcaster intends to invest approximately £1 billion across its channels this year and has set itself a target of delivering a 38.5% share of commercial impacts across its channels in 2012 (see ITV Outlines Five Year Plan To Grow Business).
Earlier in the year, Dawn Airey was confirmed as ITV’s new director of global content, with responsibility for developing ITV’s UK and international production, distribution and content exploitation businesses (see