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ITV slashes jobs and top dramas
Jonathan Prynn and Nick Goodway04.03.09
ITV spending on prime-time dramas such as Sharpe and Wire In The Blood is to be slashed in the biggest cutbacks in the broadcaster's 54-year history.
Boss Michael Grade effectively admitted that his vision to take ITV more upmarket had failed and that "feelgood" entertainment will dominate its schedules in future.
He said programme budgets will be slashed by £135million over the next two years after the company announced a £2.7billion loss for last year. It follows a massive downturn in advertising because of the recession and increased competition, especially from the internet.
The cutbacks are in stark contrast to Mr Grade's promise in September 2007 to give ITV "a major facelift" with fewer repeats and more long-running drama series.
The cuts are affecting even stalwarts such as The Bill, which has been moved from its 8pm slot to 9pm and is losing one episode a week.
ITV also revealed plans to sell its networking website Friends Reunited, which has suffered falling revenues because of competition from free rivals such as Facebook and Bebo. It is also selling online directory Scoot.
There will be 600 ITV job losses, of which 450 would be in London, and the rest at regional bases such as Leeds.
Gerry Morrissey, general secretary of the broadcasting workers' union Bectu, said he was "outraged" at the scale of the job cuts. "We will do everything we can to protect our members and we will protest to Ofcom about ITV's claim to be investing more in programmes when they are cutting back," he said. "Michael Grade has abrogated his responsibility to ITV's staff. We desperately need a new management model."
Bectu said it believed one-off drama programmes planned from this autumn would now be shelved.
Media experts said ITV faced huge challenges responding to the massive shifts in media spending in the online age.
Martin McNulty of online marketing agency Trafficbroker, said: "The shrink in ad revenues at ITV isn't simply the result of a global deterioration in the economy, but reflects a fundamental change in the mindset of advertisers.
"ITV's biggest competitor, these days, is Google and that's a major cause for concern."
ITV's accounts reveal that the board was paid a total of almost £2.9million last year including £100,000 for former HBOS chief and government City adviser Sir James Crosby, who worked for around 20 days as a non-executive director.
However, executive director pay was frozen and there were no bonuses. Mr Grade, who was paid £934,000 last year did not get a bonus.
He said today the focus in future would be on proven audience pleasers such as Britain's Got Talent, Coronation Street, I'm a Celebrity and X-Factor and Champions League football.
Chief operating officer John Cresswell said: "While there have been some successes, including The Fixer, Wired and Place Of Execution, midweek drama at 9pm did not perform as consistently as had been hoped during 2008." Mr Grade also confirmed that long-standing dramas Heartbeat and The Royal will not be recommissioned but insisted that ITV was not giving up on drama altogether.
He said: "We will be winding down our stock position. Basically we already have two years of Heartbeat and Royal on the shelves so there is no point in making any more at the moment. We currently produce eight hours a week of original drama and that will come down to seven. This will not damage our ability to steam ahead when conditions turn around."
Reader views (32)
Show me the justificatoion in cutting the ''Bill'' down from two excelent shows a week, to one ?The excuse given is that it is too expensive !How many years did it take for the 'powers that be' reach this decision ? At the same time 'dross' shows like the evening 'soaps' were promoted to five or more shows a week, including twice a night on two/three times a week.Is it cheaper to have people standing in front of each other shouting inane drivel and showing the lack of script expertise, than it is to have real actors doing a difficult job, and being realistic ? People coming home from work do not want to sit down in 'prime time' and watch this 'TAT'.If television is for mass entertainment, then entertain the masses !
- J Hudson, Southend Essex.
A good idea would be to stop having a break every fifteen minutes, and to put better quality programmes on, which start at EXACTLY the time that they are supposed to, rather than five minutes late. It also doesn't help when they have a break every two minutes when they show live boxing (which I don't know how that they actually get away with!)
- Eric, Southall, Middlesex
Cutting back on the good stuff (which costs more) so they can afford to produce more of the bland and the old hat material (read, "cheap"). Yep - they certainly have their eye on the consumer (you know - the people they are 'serving'), don't they!
Anything will do for the herd, though. As long as they have moving images on the screen and they can see the adverts, that's all that matters.
- Rogan, Irving
Surely it doesn't make sense to cut The Bill from five days to one? The staff, writers, technical team and actors are all in place. Surely it would cost more money to assemble them on a weekly basis rather than the present arrangement
- Peter Gooch, Castelnaud, France
ITV are perfectly capable of making excellent programmes - just last week the drama Whitechapel was very good. So why don't they do more of this and less celebrity sexy cooking ? surely market forces such as viewing figures dictate ?
- Squiz, Islington
I worked in an ITV company for thirteen years, and TV production for another twelve. So here goes...
ITV runs far too many ad breaks and far too often. Get rid of the intrustive graphics and promotions that spoil the last five mins of any programmes. Drop the chav TV. Go up-market, not down.
Put older people in charge and invest in quality programmes that will win viewers. Ditch the celibs. Please.
Stop the reality TV and home improvment rubbish. We really don`t care anymore...
Restart children`s television and don`t rely on American shows to fill the gaps.
ITV used to employ thousands of terrific and dedicated professionals who made TV for the world. Make British shows with British staff.
Oh, and just stop chasing "formats". There are none.
TV was better 20 years ago. Copy those successes and the viewers will return.
- Stuart Andrews, Nelson, New Zealand.
Once again we have a CEO lacking any vision or expertise who can only balance the books by off-loading staff. Grade should resign as it is obvious that he is just a man in a suit totally unfitted to run a TV newtwork.
- James, Braintree UK
ITV has really lost it's way and Micheal Grade is not the man to bring them back.
Great shows like entourage are moved to nearly midnight or later on ITV2 and not promoted at all. Who decides these things?
- Mark, St Albans
Mr Grade is blaming everything but the overpaid and obviously inept management of the company.
There is enough X Factor type related shows.
There is enough sport.
There is not enough quality programmes similar to Sharp & The Wire.
Terminating your rank and file is not the answer
It's not difficult to get it right.
Implement competative advertising rates or even lower.
Get the right people in to do the right job at sensible salaries .... there are enough good people seeking employment..... From the Sales People to the Writers and Creators.
This is not Rocket Science .... Is It ?
- Howard Middleton, Lampeter. Ceredigion
The only time I watch ITV on a regular basis is when I watch "The Bill," one of the BEST programmes on television and it is very regretful that the programme will only be screened once a week and at 21.00 hrs (22.00) Belgian time.
Nevertheless I am grateful that I am able to see it here in Belgium through the Freesat satellite system. Thanks ITV.
- Arthur Lincoln, Roeselare? Belgium
A good start would be to get rid of Ant & Dec as they are severely overpaid and boring. They dared to try and do a copy of The Likely Lads and failed miserably.
- Mark From London, London,England
Can't remember the last time I watched ITV so this was rather inevitable wasn't it? Who cares except the poor people losing their jobs and that I'm afraid is just the tide of development. The newspapers gave way to TV and now it's being usurped by the Internet.
- Mark, London
"Cater for those people who have a better memory attention span than a hamster."
You're thinking of goldfish. Hamsters have very good memories and are highly intelligent unlike viewers of ITV (Morse and A Touch of Frost excluded, my hamster Jarvis and me are big fans of both).
- Jack, London
I think it's hightime the license fee was either scrapped, or distributed appropriately amongst all the free-to-air broadcasters.
- Scott, London
It's good that the slump has caused a reality check within ITV, however not good for non-managerial levels for those that work their.
They should immediately do the following:
-Fire all talentless celebrities and their programmes(we all know who I mean)
-renegotiate the overinflated salaries of the rest.
-Cater for those people who have a better memory attention span than a hamster.
-Stop trying to cater for the 'lowest common denominator'
-Be innovative and different, but intelligent.
That way we might get back the ITV we once had.
- Paulb, London
I agree with another comment, I do not watch ITV as the majority of the output is Tabloid trash aimed at the stay at home dole brigade.
- Peter, London, UK
TV has been terrible for ages now. Why do I see the same programs repeated so often?! its always the worst stuff they repeat too.
If you are going to repeat something repeat some documentaries where people may actually learn something!
- Serox, London
I can`t remember the last time I watched ITV1 for anything other than the occasional film. The channel seems dominated by vapid "feelgood" programming as is...
- Glyn, Hackney
Why not cancel ALL reality /game shows and soaps. Keep proper drama and replace the yawning chasm with decently written (actually funny - which may well mean American imports) sit-coms and re-runs of classic films. Throw in something like Question Time as well. Stop the ferkin dumbing down and appealing to the lowest common denominator alcopop airheads.
Hang the expense, if you provide real quality I believe the adverts will follow. It's a chance to be better than the beeb which I find hopelessly banal and politically biased and condescending.
- Ethan, UK
Bring back some of the quality that was Granada TV and you might bring back some credibility!! You are assuming that your audience and advertisers are brain dead.
- Expensive, Manchester
So the man who got rid of Doctor Who on the BBC is having a bad time.... shame! When they cut out of football games and F1 to go to a break what do they expect the audience to do. The standard of programming is poor. Look at the schedules 25 years ago, much better quality than now without the likes of Ant and Dec and shows like X Factor that are basically ripping people off. First thing I would do is get rid of ITV3 and ITV4, stop broadcasting after midnight and start showing some american shows on ITV1 to pull audiences back instead of a whole night of soaps and cop dramas, which is what we seem to have an option to watch Monday to Thursday. Its the level of programming that turns people away... are they so thick that they dont actually realise this. At least the BBC have an alternative for all programmes shown on ITV and besides BBC have the One Show! ITV seems adamant that Coronation St and Emmerdale Farm are on every night and in some cases with double episodes. Repeated on a Saturday on ITV1 as well where World of Sport used to be shown!
Please do us a favour, look after the viewer for once and liven up your schedules, they are stale and repetitive now. I know you wont listen.
- John, London
Do ITV still exist? Having not watched it or spoken to anyone who watches it, I assumed they had folded under the sheer weight of dross they produce.
- Bob, Cheam
I know ITV is rubbish but please don't scrap Wild At Heart! It might not be high brow but I love it - especially on a Sunday when I like to watch a bit of gentle entertainment to take my mind off Monday!!
- Isabel, Woking
Blimey, if TV Burp is one of ITV's highlights then they should give up now. That programme is horrendous!! British TV once produced the best serious quality drama in the world. Now? Well I am glad there are still plenty of shows from the past I have yet to see, but they won't last long.
- Stephen, London
Bet that all the accountants, pen pushers, executives (especially at Head Office) etc will keep their jobs and the actual productive ones will lose theirs.
- Nigel, wimbledon
Why cut the best programs, cut the rubbish instead and the viewing numbers will rise and therefore more advertisers will buy time.
- Barbus, Liverpool
"Feel good" TV? Only for those with an IQ of around room temperature.
What's the betting that cutting salaries and pensions for senior ITV staff was NOT considered a viable option for reducing costs...? Oh, I see, they didn't get their bonuses - which, of course, they really need with their 6- (and in some cases, approaching 7-) figure salaries.
- Helen, London, UK
While I'm sorry for the people who have lost their jobs, it can't come as a surprise that ITV is suffering. You're only as good as your product and ITV's is dreadful, lowest common denominator tosh.
Except for TV Burp and Champions League footie there is nothing worth tuning into. Dancing on Ice? Ant and bleedin' Dec? Celebrity this and celebrity that with people who aren't even celebrities. Even when they appear to be producing something worth watching, they then go and make it naff. i.e Law and Order UK. With Bradley Walsh! It all reeks of lazy and unimaginative programming and I wouldn't miss it if it disappeared from our screens. Don't even get me started on ITV 2 who are paying Paris Hilton, Jordan et al a fortune for the biggest pile of dross to hit our screens.
- Dunc, London
I don't see Ant & Dec & Simon Cowell on the list.
- Fly, london
Made my day - it's not all bad news then!
- Frederick, London
Oh, what joy. ITV will concentrate on Coronation Street (dull as you can get soap), Britain's got [no] Talent and the X Factor. Pass me the rope now.
- Adam, Harrow, UK
Please don't axe heartbeat.
- G.Diamond, Romford Essex
