Search results matching tag 'ITV'

Events dear boy, events

1704826 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:33:00 GMT

Finally. ITV has managed to fill one of its senior management roles after months of dithering and indecision.

The broadcaster has hardly covered itself in glory in the whole shambolic episode but at least it has now managed to find someone to fill its chairman position.

So what does Archie Norman bring to the role? Well, much like his newly-appointed oppo at Channel 4 he is familiar with the workings of government and lobbying - a crucial attribute with a likely new administration that has already placed its tanks on the BBC's lawn and has been accused of cosying up to the Murdoch empire.

But more importantly it was Norman who was responsible for overseeing the sale of Asda to US giant Wal Mart. Expect, in the mid-term, to see him trying to find a buyer for ITV in a similar vein. Which, I think, is a terrible shame.

I want to be a scriptwriter for The Bill

1704826 — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:13:00 GMT

For the first time in probably twenty years I watched The Bill on ITV last night. I'd actually pretty much forgotten that is existed but a story in yesterday's Mirror that said that its scriptwriters were looking to hire Caroline Quentin in a bid to boost flagging ratings reminded me of its existence.

It's now one-hour long, has a new more dramatic credits and is obviously quite expensive to produce. It's also not very good.

Once a home for graduates of EastEnders there was a woman in it who used to be in Hollyoaks. June Ackland's gone as has Reg Hollis and DC Carver and Burnside and the only face I remembered was PC Stamp who, judging by the fact that he hasn't been promoted, picked the wrong career.

The acting of Graham Cole who plays Stamp acting was wooden, perhaps reflecting that the show was originally going to be called Wooden Tops, and in a particularly painful scene he delivered a long and tortuous analogy of how the chair that he was trying to fix was similar to the problems that needed fixing on an estate that had been neglected by the police. It was so bad it was funny.

I thought that ITV had revamped The Bill to make it edgier and grittier. It looked like something from a school play. Anyway, as a fan of unintentionally really bad telly I'm hooked. Enjoy the weekend.

Sky News should show attempts to move the 70-stone fat man live on telly

1704826 — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:04:00 GMT

Rolling news services have changed television viewing for ever for news junkies like me. Rather than having to wait to get an evening fix delivered by an authoritative gentlemen speaking to a grateful nation, live news feeds are available all day long and we have Sky News to thank for pioneering this.

While they sometimes end up making news out of the trivial (Gately's funeral dare I say it....), there are occasions when the television footage they show is unmissable.

The NHS's decision to move the heaviest man in Britain, who eats three Chinese meals a night and claims incapacity benefit, from his home in Ipswich to a specialist unit where they'll attempt to cut through the blubber and reduce the size of his stomach is one such TV moment to savour.

Previous efforts, when he was a mere slip of a thing at 56 stone, involved a forklift truck and the removal of walls to prise the former postal worker out. On this occasion the use of a heavylift Chinook helicopter was considered but has now been ruled out in favour of a five ton ambulance. Quite how they get him into the ambulance is a different question.

With elements of ITV's You Bet, it's got the makings of a great live TV event and I'm sure that Change4Life would find sponsoring it would generate a more useful return on investment than sponsoring The Simpsons.

Don't phone, it's just for funds

1704826 — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 09:51:00 GMT

Just when broadcasters had hoped that the TV voting scandal was consigned to history along with Britannia High, Ofcom hits Channel TV with a £80,000 fine for breaching broadcasting rules in the British Comedy Awards.

Students of TV premium rate services may remember that in 2005 the People's Choice Award (voted for by members of the public by phone) went to ITV's Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway and that the prize was presented by Robbie Williams. It transpired, however, that BBC's The Catherine Tate Show had received the greatest number of votes.

The regulator was unable to conclude whether pressure from Williams' agent or that Channel TV, which is responsible for compliance, was leaned on by ITV to make Ant & Dec to make the swap. But all in all, it's not a very glorious moment for ITV.

I've long been of the opinion that only idiots take part in participation TV. Given the shambles that is taking place as ITV struggles to find itself a new chairman and new chief executive, why doesn't it through it open to the public vote?

They'd probably want someone from Diversity or Kate Humble. But the revenue generated might mean that they could afford to get Tony Ball. Pip pip.

Corine-p-m.gif

917682 — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:53:00 GMT

13 Corine Pouvreau-Miles, director of promotions, ITV global

ITV drops the Ball. Or he fails to make the Grade. So no new Dawn. Etc.

1704826 — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:03:00 GMT

There. I think that's all the TV management-related cliched headlines that are wheeled out with disappointing regularity.

Personally I'm sorry that Tony Ball won't be joining ITV. While the remuneration package that he reportedly was demanding looked eye-wateringly out of touch with the mood of Brown's austerity Britain, I'm all for rewarding success.

And Ball has proven that he has got the ability - and the fight in him - to deliver this in buckets.

Also, what's so wrong with knowing your worth? BSkyB paid him £10m over three years not to work for a rival so they obviously are aware - and scared - of his talents.

So the opportunity (and perhaps the final one) to breathe life back into ITV and return it to its righful place in the pantheon of successful worldwide media companies has now passed.

And where does that leave it? Possibly with some no-mark ex-retailer that they didn't want and whose only plan is selling it off to a foreign media conglomerate when the economy improves. In fact let's hope his name is in fact Mark (but not Thompson) to keep the headline writers happy.

ITV takes its eye off the Ball

1641923 — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:44:00 GMT

In a move that will shock the city and the media industry alike, ITV has announced Tony Ball is no longer in the running to be its next chief executive, after a failing to reach agreement over terms and conditions.

The eleventh hour collapse throws ITV into chaos and follows rumours of Ball demanding a £30m five-year package - some £10m more than the broadcaster was believed to be offering.

In an announcement to the city moments ago, the ITV Board confirmed it has "terminated its discussions with Tony Ball" after an exhaustive process of negotiation and discussion highlighted "a number of substantial differences, including a failure to finally agree contractual arrangements, together with a disagreement over the future chairmanship".

Today's news follows HMV chief, and one-time favourite for ITV's top job, Simon Fox ruling himself out of the running last month.

During the broadcaster's search for a new chief executive the role of former CEO and chairman Michael Grade has cast a long shadow over proceedings.

The failure to secure Ball as its new CEO, and with the absence of anyone else either internally or externally waiting in the wings, it now seems likely a new chairman will be in place at ITV in time to recruit its next chief executive.

Lies, damned lies and ITV's 'event TV'

1704826 — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:18:00 GMT

Naughty ITV but clever old Steve Hewlett.

In yesterday's Guardian, the former head of programming at Carlton TV asks whether ITV has been misleading advertisers.

After trawling through the Competition Commission's report on CRR - something that journalists used to do - he observed that ITV was telling two different stories on the power of 'event TV'.

He found that ITV had claimed to advertisers that 'event TV', of which it also said that it showed the majority of, created a greater degree of engagement with viewers and also with advertising content, thereby leading to a greater propensity to purchase.

However ITV told the Competition Commission that this research had flaws and that there was no uplift in sales or engagement in viewers. In fact it was apparently just for 'marketing purposes'. So that's alright then.

It's difficult not to conclude that either it has or it would tell any old tale to help it get rid of CRR. And if they've lied about this, can advertisers trust anything else that ITV tells them?

The death of the football pundit

673734 — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 09:10:00 GMT

I'm really enjoying ESPN's coverage of Italian "Serie A" football. Primarily because it's totally stripped down. Seemingly opting for the budget option, ESPN has no studio filled with pundits but goes straight into the action and then runs a bunch of ads for Bet 365 and trails at half-time to fill the space. Just one commentator to describe the action.

Saving cash on hiring James Richardson to sit in a studio with a bunch of ex footballers might seem a bit tight but it adds up to a refreshingly simple approach in these days of overblown football coverage. I rarely watch the pre match hype or the so-called half-time "analysis" from the so-called experts, opting instead for a half-time raid on the fridge or biscuit jar. I've watched the action and can tell what happened, I don't need some muppet encased in tight silver trousers reitering what the commentator has already said.

So maybe it's time for Sky and ITV to kill off all those inane pundits and half-time filler. Especially when, as with Kenny Dalglish on ITV, you can't understand a word they're saying.

Derren Brown can't make me stick to the sofa, so why should Tony Ball

1704826 — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 08:30:00 GMT

Ashamed to say that I tried to participate in Derren (sic) Brown's mind trick on Channel 4 on Friday night - an insight into my exciting weekend - and that like everyone else I've encountered, it failed.

Even more ashamed to say that I was disappointed so rewinded and tried again before deciding that there were more important things in life to aspire to, like watching the new series of the always excellent Peep Show, where JLB Credit has fallen victim to the economy.

ITV has similarly suffered and investors - as well as many ITV insiders - think that former Sky CEO Tony Ball is its great white hope. But then they also said the same of outgoing executive chairman Michael Grade who, while helping maintain audience share, put too much faith on his 'content-led' recovery thereby putting the broadcaster completely at the mercy of the advertising market when perhaps exploring some pay options might have been a wiser move.

Ball knows that the City wants him to run ITV and he's holding out for a distinctly 'greed is good' salary that is out of sync with the mood of the nation - reports suggest that he wants a package potentially worth £30m over five years.

Is this a realistic remuneration package? As a former Thames TV electrician in the highly unionised TV industry of the early 80s, Ball knows how to negotiate a crazy salary and get away with it. But if he delivers on turning around ITV and getting vewiers and advertisers to stick with the channel and make it a profitable and acquisitive business that it so richly deserves to be then I'd argue that he's worth it.