ITV’s All Old Dumbest Blunders
5 May 2004 tbs.pm/618
Black Tuesday for ITV as ratings crash
Whilst a ‘ratings crash’ can happen to any channel at any time, it was rather amusing to notice that ITV1’s share of the audience fell below 10% during a programme entitled “All New TV’s Naughtiest Blunders 17”; a programme title that sounds as if it comes straight out of some bad broadcasting parody but is sadly all too real. It’s a stupid title for starters; what if “All New TV’s Naughtiest Blunders 17” was actually a repeat of a previously-aired programme entitled “All New TV’s Naughtiest Blunders 17”?
ITV stopped showing anything intellectual (‘proper’ current affairs, arts programmes, etc.) during peak time many moons ago supposedly because Channel 4 was going to show them instead (but look what’s happened recently…), but surely showing something that requires a bit more intelligence than “Tonight with Trevor McDonald” – like that purely commercial broadcaster Channel Five does sometimes – would have performed better in the same slot than “All New TV’s Naughtiest Blunders 17”?