It was announced today that ITV are planning to cut jobs and costs after it reported a loss of £2.7bn for 2008. The majority of this is due to the write-down in the value of it’s assets, and they are also blaming a drop in advertising revenue, but I’m sure there is a much deeper problem to all this…. ITV is crap.
I can honestly say that I never watch any of the ITV channels unless they is a local programme of interest or if there is some live sport on. This is my total viewing of ITV1, ITV2, ITV3, ITV4, and CiTV… yes there really are five ITV channels and what is there actually to broadcast on all of these? Gone are the times of the bloated 90s and early 00s when companies would expand beyond their needs just because they could, and now that the bubble has burst all the squandering and wasting of money is becoming public, just like in the banking market.
We live in a capitalist society and I accept that companies can grow, expand, push-the envelope, but with that and the risks associated, they have to understand that there will be a point when they stretch themselves too far, and it takes a ‘simple’ economic downturn to expose the weak foundations it was all build on.
Of course I feel for those that will lose their jobs, or communities affected by closures of businesses, we’re not just talking about ITV here, but there have to be failures and there always will be failures, but we should from these and restructure. ITV got too bloated, the quality of programmes got too diluted, and now it’s time to downsize and restructure.
ITV is the biggest commercial television network in the UK, broadcasting the most talked about television and making a major contribution to the UK’s culture, economy and communities.- www.itv.com/about
It shouldn’t be about ‘biggest’, ‘most’, ‘major’, it should be about doing your job properly. I know that ITV rely on advertising, where as the BBC of course get our licence fee money, but I am happy paying that due to the quality I get from the BBC. I can see that this going to start getting a little complicated and I’m not sure where I’m going now but at the end of the day ITV have to accept that they have to change, and hopefully they will use this opportunity to have a total rethink, cut the fat, and get back to “making a major contribution to the UK’s culture, economy and communities” and not just relying on cash-cows like X-factor to keep bailing them out.
ITV is pretty weak. With the advent of Sky+ and systems like it I tend to exclusively watch recorded content unless it’s live sport, and none of it is ever on ITV, rarely C4 either for that matter.
I am concerned about the “digital switchover” because the quality of television will be diluted yet further, as more “air space” will mean that basically any old shit can get on the air.
Nicely put Adem.
I think the media industry as a whole is getting a massive shake up, you only have to look at the way the newspaper market is being torn apart to see all of this. Things were changing already (not many people realise but ITV have been making job cuts and attempting to restructure for the last two years previous) but now thanks to this economic problem things are happening much faster.
The saddest thing is the fact that the reason why people loved ITV when it launched, the local content, is the area that is being dissolved first. Personally I think they need to do a Sega, cut back to the bone and become a production company and re-build there. This is incredibly drastic but with all the talk of new conglomerate companies being formed to directly be in competition with the Beeb and Sky it is obvious that ITV could serve them well as a specialist and not a provider of services. Granted this would have major repercussions but if there ever was a time to show that things should be allowed to change, to move to the online and allow young employes to make a difference, then this is the time.
Sam – and unemployed media man with big ideas
Tom – Ithink with Sky+ and other formats there will be a time when all content can be viewed On Demand and you can create your own TV schedule. I know there a things like this that exist already, but it will become commonplace.
Sam – Some big views there, and some of those ideas also crop up here. There is a big risk to becoming a provider and not a broadcaster especially when you consider the ITV brand and it’s viewer base, which although shrinking still retains a large amount of the viewing public.
Very true, my views are quite drastic at the moment!
I think ITV does still very much still have its place and in terms of broadcasting I think this is where Ofcom need to actually come up with some plausible plans and not constantly try to push Channel 4 into a situation it doesn’t want to be in. However my idea of cutting right back is I agree not going to happen as there would be huge gaps in the signal spectrum and services lost. Although a sad time in the media I think it is exciting as well as media as we know it is going to be changed forever post 2009. Fingers crossed this country re-cements its stature as one of the top media providers and developers. On that note though a number of great ideas have been quashed by the regulatory bodies in recent times which is meaning we are being left behind… eek! (These ideas would have helped ITV and other areas as well, so maybe the regulations need to be changed as well).
Wow lots of ideas! I’ll stop now…!