The bongs are back
First-night defeat for News at Ten
Mark Lawson: Sir Trevor back - with same old news
Last night's relaunch of ITV's News At Ten may have lost out in the ratings to the BBC's 10 O'Clock News (3.8 versus 4.9 million), but bear in mind that television news bulletins are a bit like newspapers in that people tend to stick with what they know, and NAT has been off air for several years. Plus there's a credibility factor to overcome for some.
ITV may not readily admit such a weakness, but for ITV in particular, trumpeting serious news credentials nowadays is a bit like the proverbial boy crying wolf, so ITV will face a struggle in order to gain viewers for its new bulletin. But the news is only one part of the story for ITV; the broadcaster seriously wants to regain credibility for all of its channels.
Credibility and trust for ITV are so important because not only they are the basis on which viewers will treat ITV's programmes with greater importance, but that increased trust will also rub off on the products that are advertised on (and associated with) ITV's channels; of course ITV fundamentally depends on advertising and sponsorship for its income.
Also if viewers trust a particular broadcaster they will be less likely to switch channels to a rival broadcaster once a particular programme ends, which also has an impact on the effectiveness of ITV's advertising and by definition its overall revenue as a consequence.
And ITV has had a lot of bad press in recent months along with other broadcasters, therefore the new schedule is designed to try and draw a line under that 'annus horribilis' for the television and radio industry. However ITV still has the consequences of the Deloitte report to face, which could seriously further damage ITV's reputation and create a dent in its finances.
But what of News At Ten's content? As Mark Lawson said, last night's bulletin was a bit like 'Blue Peter News' with most of the main set pieces having been prepared earlier, although the Antarctica piece on research into global warming was surprisingly lengthy and a good counterbalance to the predictable Princess Diana-related opening story.
If anything, News At Ten has the long term potential to make a reasonably good companion piece to Channel 4 News, with the latter specialising in long form major news reporting both at home and abroad, with NAT shifting the main focus to a predominantly domestic human interest agenda.
Last night's News At Ten was surprisingly sober and free of gimmicks compared with current ITV news bulletins in particular, and there was a refreshing lack of ITV corporate branding throughout, even though some might criticise the presentation as being 'too retro'. Overall it works well, although the titles seem a little bit bare without that classic "NEWS AT TEN" caption.
Of course NAT has to also be viewed in the context of ITV's just-revamped schedule, and although it's too early to assess the new schedule's overall impact it is clear that Michael Grade and Simon Shaps are making ITV take baby steps towards shifting the channel in (hopefully) the right direction.
Dancing On Ice is a predictable crowd-pleaser for Sunday nights while awaiting the return of ITV's blockbuster reality TV formats, whilst Primeval provides something a bit different for ITV on Saturday evenings for the next few weeks. (The Haven Holidays sponsorship is rather amusing in an ironic sense.)
Thank God You're Here (which is shown later on Saturday evening) however seems more like something that belongs on Channel 4, although it does prove that someone who's used to live TV presenting like Fern Britton seems to be better at on-the-spot improvisation than character actors like Ben Miller and John Thomson.
ITV is a bit like a supertanker in that it takes a long time for any changes to make their presence felt, and these changes have been in the pipeline for nearly a year. The success or failure of this schedule change will also dictate the eventual fate of Simon Shaps and the commissioning team; Michael Grade has shown trust in them to deliver the goods.
Unfortunately ITV cannot afford to take risks in a climate of contract rights renewal restrictions, falling ratings, advertisers deserting television for the internet/other TV channels, loss of trust as a result of recent premium rate phone scandals (with more bad news to follow), a falling share price combined with the risk of takeover, and a threatened economic recession.
So when judged in the above context, ITV's new schedule seems just about right, even though they still weren't brave enough to cut down on the number of Corrie and Emmerdale episodes shown during the week. Maybe that's something that will be planned for the next inevitable revamp, although ITV has to try and hold its nerve for the next few months.
