[Scarlett.]

MUCH-loved telly shows are under threat as ITV prepares to axe up to 700 jobs today.

X Factor and Coronation Street could be hit as the broadcaster battles to stay afloat.

ITV chief Michael Grade will announce the cuts this morning. He is expected to reveal revenues have plunged 15 per cent in a year as fewer advertisers spend money on TV.

Insiders said ITV must cut at least £30million off its annual programming budget of £1billion.

It will struggle to renew X Factor judge Simon Cowell’s £20million golden handcuffs deal when it runs out in December.

Favourites Ant and Dec — also on a £20million exclusive deal — have already hinted they may not stay.

Flagship soaps Corrie and Emmerdale will have production budgets slashed by about five per cent — hitting stars’ salaries. Coronation Street will halt filming today to watch the annual results meeting via a live link.

Wild At Heart may be shelved despite drawing nearly nine million viewers — because filming the drama in South Africa is too expensive.


The show, starring Stephen Tompkinson, was expected to start shooting again in summer, but a source said: “Who knows what will happen?”

ITV may also be forced to close its Leeds studios, keeping only the Emmerdale set. It has already announced it is shelving Yorkshire-based Heartbeat and The Royal.

ITV cut 1,000 jobs last year. It is struggling with a £2.6billion pension fund and debt burden.

Around half of all admin staff are expected to get the chop.

The heads of little-watched ITV3 and ITV4 are set to be made redundant, while telly boss Peter Fincham is expected to get a bigger job overseeing all channels and programme production.

Gerry Morrissey, head of union Bectu, threatened strikes. He called ITV staff “the most demoralised workforce in British television”.

ITV wants to sell off Friends Reunited website and its ITN stake.

Last week it was revealed that ITV had drawn up a plan to merge with Channel 4 and Channel Five.

[arista]

Leeds is not under threat.

The Most Jobs 450 - Go in Grays Inn Road London.

150 jobs go in Yorkshire.

On Every News Channel now.

Jeff Randall on Sky News at 7:30PM
talks to the ITV CEO Grade tonight.

It is a Cut Back
due to ITV mergers some years ago.

On Radio 5 Live
a ITV boss said they do not have Direct Debit
like the BBC have.
So cuts will help ITV keep going.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ing-drive.html

[Scarlett.]

So they aint gonna close down the Leeds studios then?

[Scarlett.]

* 600 jobs to go after ITV unveils £2.7bn loss
* Huge cut-backs in a bid to save £245million
* Sharpe, Heartbeat, The Royal, Wire In The Blood dumped
* This Morning could be taken off air over the summer
* Friends Reunited website will be sold off

ITV spending on prime-time dramas is to be slashed in the biggest cutbacks in the broadcaster's 54-year history.

Shows including Sharpe and Wire In The Blood have been dumped as it seeks to save £245million over the next three years.

The broadcaster has been crippled by a massive slump in advertising revenue and could even shelve its flagship This Morning show over the summer.

ITV's attempt to make savings were revealed as it announced a £2.7billion loss for last year and a fresh round of job cuts.

Some 600 posts, or 15 per cent of the workforce, will go.

Sean Bean as Sharpe

No comeback: Swashbuckling hero Sharpe, played by Sean Bean, will not be returning to ITV's schedule as it aims to make huge savings

Networking website Friends Reunited, which was bought for £120million in 2005, will be sold off as well as the online directory Scoot, and the shareholders' dividends have been suspended.

Programme budgets will be cut by £135million over the next two years, with drama production dropping from eight hours a week to seven.

Unions claim its drastic bid to cut costs will result in a main studio in Leeds being mothballed, with only Emmerdale made at the Yorkshire base.

It will lose 150 jobs as part of the latest cuts, with the rest mostly hitting employees in London.

One worker arriving at the Leeds studio today said: 'It's pretty gloomy in there but we'll have to wait and see what happens. No one has been told what jobs are going yet.'

Even long-standing shows such as The Bill will be affected but the cut-backs, with its slot moved from 8pm to 9pm and one less episode a week.
Fern Britton and Phillip Schofield

Rest? This Morning could go off air this summer instead of usual presenters Fern Britton and Phillip Schofield being replaced as normal

The changes mean the broadcaster's schedule will be dominated by 'feelgood' or reality entertainment, and are a total shift from chairman Michael Grade's vision of taking ITV upmarket.

He promised in September 2007 when he took over that he would give the company a 'major facelift' with fewer repeats and more long-running drama series.

Gerry Morrissey, general secretary of the broadcasting workers' union Bectu, said he was 'outraged' at the plans.

'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.'

The union claimed the moves would see one-off drama programmes planned from this autumn would now be shelved.

Cuts: The iconic ITV show Heartbeat has been axed after almost 20 years

Cuts: The iconic ITV show Heartbeat has been axed after almost 20 years

The Royal

Savings: Heartbeat spin-off The Royal, is also to be culled

ITV has struggled thanks to the collapse in advertising due to the recession but also because of increased competition, especially from the internet and digital channels.

It has been forced into a massive write-down in the value of its broadcasting and online businesses and breakfast division GMTV.

Even excluding their plunging value, the company's pre-tax profits for last year were almost half those in 2007 - down 41 per cent at £167million.

Media experts said the broadcaster was facing 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.'

The broadcaster predicts advertising revenue will be down 17 per cent in the first quarter of this year. It expects to outperform the total market in April, when revenue is forecast to be down 20 per cent.

It is seeking efficiency savings of £155 million this year, rising to £175 million in 2010 and £245 million in 2011
X Factor final

Dumbing down: The cutbacks will see ITV rely far more heavily on reality entertainment shows such as The X Factor and Britain's Got Talent

Mr Grade said the latest cuts were down to the 'short-term horrors' of the recession, which have seen advertising revenues fall off a cliff.

He said: 'The tough actions we are taking have to be seen against that backdrop. These are unprecedented and extremely difficult times. We have to be focused more on our core business.'

The current conditions in the advertising market were the 'most challenging' he had experienced in more than 30 years in UK broadcasting, he added.

But he insisted the cut-backs would ensure ITV was well placed once the economy picks up again.

'Even in these difficult times, we should not lose sight of the progress the business has made.

'We are continuing to deliver our advertisers mass audiences night after night and are holding our share of audience and of television advertising.'

The broadcaster was today refusing to give details of the drama series which will be affected by the cuts, but many have already been shelved.

Heartbeat and its spin-off The Royal have been axed and new series Wire in the Blood and a remake of A Passage to India dumped.

Sean Bean's swashbuckling hero Sharpe will also not return due to the expense of filming abroad. A new show had originally been slated for South America.

The schedule will focus instead on proven hits including Britain's Got Talent, The X-Factor, Coronation Street, Emmerdale and I'm a Celebrity.

Flagship daytime show This Morning could also be taken off air this summer to save money.

Traditionally hosts Phillip Schofield and Fern Britton take seven to eight weeks off during the period and are replaced by stand-ins.

But insiders have admitted to the extraordinary plans to take the programme off air during the quiet summer months.
ITV executive chairman Michael Grade

Tough job: ITV executive chairman Michael Grade

An ITV source said: 'We are looking everywhere to make savings. Daytime programming is going to take a hit.

'The summer period is traditionally very quiet – in the current climate it is perhaps not worth running This Morning when it is so quiet.’

It is understood the broadcaster will fill the two-hour slot between 10.30am and 12.30pm with repeats of classic drama.

The show has been on air since 1988, starting off in Liverpool with then-unknown presenters Richard Madeley and Judy Finnegan.

It moved to London in the late 1990s and became more focused on celebrity. Richard and Judy left in 2001.

Britton started guest-hosting on Fridays with John Leslie, who was replaced by Phillip Schofield in 2002 after which they became the main mosts.

Viewing figures reached a high of two million viewers daily but after Richard and Judy’s departure, they dipped to around one million.

Bosses have even proposed plans to the Government which could see ITV merge with Five and Channel 4.

There are also claims it could ditch a digital channel, either ITV4 or CiTV, and replaced it with a delayed broadcast of ITV1.

Meanwhile, ITV's pension deficit is growing by the year. It rose to £178million last year, up from £112million in 2007.

Its latest accounts reveal the board was paid almost £2.9million in 2008, including £100,000 for former HBOS chief and City adviser to the Government, Sir James Crosby, who worked for around 20 days as a non-executive director.

But executive director pay was frozen and there were no bonuses. Mr Grade was paid £934,000 last year but did not receive a bonus.

Today, he confirmed Heartbeat and The Royal were not being recommissioned but insisted 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.'

[arista]

Originally posted by Chewy
So they aint going to close down the Leeds studios then?

They Moth Ball it
and keep one section open for Local News.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009...itv-television



If times get better
they will open it up again.

[Scarlett.]

Im sure things will get better, ITV was bound to suffer during this as they make their own TV unlike most other channels

[arista]

Originally posted by Chewy
Im sure things will get better, ITV was bound to suffer during this as they make their own TV unlike most other channels

Thats one area that is changing
as other groups make shows cheaper.


There is talk that This Morning on ITV 1
will be taken off air in the summer.
That will Anger
Eamon of Sky News as he stands in
on that gig.

It will then return in Winter.


And New Episodes of the Royal and Heartbeat
are waiting to be shown over the next 2 years
then they end.

[Scarlett.]

Yeah, Wild at Heart should go IMO, the location filming for that must cost a bomb

[arista]

Originally posted by Chewy
Yeah, Wild at Heart should go IMO, the location filming for that must cost a bomb

But that is also Quality
in ITVHD on FreesatHD.


Maybe they will do a Live Big Brother type Daytime show
as that is cheap.
Just make sure they have lots of tasks.
Which Endemol/Ch4 do not do enough of.

[Scarlett.]

They should axe either ITV3 or ITV4

Move the JLC show to ITV1, also move some American drama's to the 9pm slots, such as Supernatural and Dexter

[arista]

Originally posted by Chewy
They should axe either ITV3 or ITV4

Move the JLC show to ITV1, also move some American drama's to the 9pm slots, such as Supernatural and Dexter

They are getting out of Drama
during this New Labour Depression

They said more Entertainment shows due.



No ITV3 and 4 show The Prisoner
and other good old ones
and Unlike BBC3 they are 24 hours, or near enough on.


The BBC should get rid of BBC3
as that is the same all repeats.
New shows do not need BBC3
chuck them on BBC2.

Then we would get a 2 pound refund
each month.

[Harry!]

Get rid of CITV. Horrid Henry is S**T!!!

[arista]

Originally posted by Posted
Get rid of CITV. Horrid Henry is S**T!!!

No they need that (CITV)for those that hate CBBC one armed
lady that scares some kids.

http://www.thisisbigbrother.com/foru...php?tid=108869

[Matt]

If ITV do axe a channel it should be ITV3. It's all mainly drama repeats - something which I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of on ITV1. They could get rid of Men and Motors as well.

[Scarlett.]

CiTV should replace the axed daytime shows on ITV, get ITV1 back to the old model of having kids daytime shows to riva CBBC

[Scarlett.]

Originally posted by Matt

I read somewhere that it is going.

If ITV do axe a channel it should be ITV3. It's all mainly drama repeats - something which I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of on ITV1. They could get rid of Men and Motors as well.

Yeah, the ITV3 shows could be moved over to ITV1 to fill the empty slots

and Wild at Heart needs to go really, its lost a lot of the original cast already, its good ITV have seen that...perhaps they could bring it back when ITV stablises itself again

[arista]

Originally posted by Chewy
CiTV should replace the axed daytime shows on ITV, get ITV1 back to the old model of having kids daytime shows to riva CBBC

No they are not going to do that.
The Funding changed when ads got changed.
End of Story.

[Callum]

Originally posted by Chewy
CiTV should replace the axed daytime shows on ITV, get ITV1 back to the old model of having kids daytime shows to riva CBBC

I agree, they used to have really good shows as well such as Bernad's Watch.

[arista]

Originally posted by Matt
If ITV do axe a channel it should be ITV3. It's all mainly drama repeats - something which I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of on ITV1. They could get rid of Men and Motors as well.

The only channel they may axe
is Men and Motors.


ITV3 repeats is wanted by many.

[Scarlett.]

Originally posted by arista

No they are not going to do that.
The Funding changed when ads got changed.
End of Story.

I think it could still be done though, I mean, whats currently in its slot? Midsomer Murders?

[arista]

Originally posted by Chewy

I think it could still be done though, I mean, whats currently in its slot? Midsomer Murders?

No do you not understand why they got it off
of ITV1
the ads for kids went under a new law
so the funding for ITV1 went overnight.

No way will it return to ITV1
as for what is on now
that changes soon as they are repeats.

[Scarlett.]

Ah I see.....its a shame its gone though

[Glenn.]

Its a shame I would of liked BGT to go, that way it leaves the path to BB Victory clear

[Fom]

This shows that reality television is very important for tv channels during these times... Channel 4 need to invest into BB this year. They need it. It is a cheap show!

[Tom]

Nooooooo they can't axe This Morning in the summer I won't let them :bawl ing: