Archive for the ‘ITV’ Category

The presenting duo Ant and Dec say they are “delighted” to have signed a new golden handcuffs contract with ITV.

The exclusive contract is reportedly worth £20 million to the pair, representing a 10% cut in pay compared with last year. ITV declined to comment.

“We are delighted to sign with ITV for another two years,” said 33-year-old Anthony McPartlin.

Declan Donnelly, 34, added: “We’re particularly excited about the new media opportunities, which will allow us to make fresh and exciting content for online.”

The hosts of Britain’s Got Talent also revealed they will be presenting a new show, called Push the Button. The games show will pit two families against each other in a series of timed challenges, according to the trade magazine Broadcast, with each episode beginning with Ant and Dec surprising contestants in their own homes.

The duo, who rose to fame as teenage actors on the children’s soap Byker Grove, joined ITV in 1998 on the Saturday morning shows SM:TV Live and CD:UK. They have worked exclusively for the channel since 2000.

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Channel 4’s head of programming, Julian Bellamy, has warned of a “culture of compliance” in British television. He said that the industry was becoming less creative, and that there was “less surprise and variety” than there should be.

In particular, he criticised the BBC for being “increasingly conservative in its editorial decision making”.

“After a string of scandals about taste and decency, it seems to avoid disruptive, potentially controversial ideas like the plague,” Bellamy told an audience at the Royal Television Society last night. “Time and again producers tell me this. And I believe it.”

He added that the recent culture of restraint was an “unintended consequence of the BBC’s method of funding” and the unrivalled public scrutiny that came with it.

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Today’s digital switchover in North-West England has contributed to a massive rise in the number of dumped analogue TVs, environmental campaigners have said.

Figures from Cumbria County Council, which serves nearly half a million people, reveal a 70% rise in the number of TVs dumped in landfill in the region over the past year. This year, the council dealt with over 50,000 TVs, of which 30,000 could have been converted to digital with a simple set-top box costing as little as £20.

Devon County Council, which switched over to digital earlier in the year, saw the number of dumped televisions nearly double between April and September.

Around 7 million viewers in Cumbria, Manchester, Liverpool and the rest of the Granada TV region had their analogue signal for BBC2 turned off in the early hours of this morning.The permanent digital switchover of BBC1, ITV1, Channel 4 and Five will take place on 2nd December for all households served by the Winter Hill transmitter.

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The culture secretary Ben Bradshaw has warned that Britain’s cultural figureheads are “sleepwalking” into being ruled by a Conservative government that would threaten the BBC’s impartiality, as well as the production of controversial plays such as Enron.

Speaking to an audience of Labour Party members, Bradshaw said that Tory media policy pandered to the interests of Rupert Murdoch’s News International, and predicted that the traditional principle of keeping government and media “at arm’s length” could be abolished under a Conservative government.

“There are far too many people sleepwalking towards the next election, too many people thinking lazily it might have to be time for a change without realising you cannot have change to the Conservatives without negative consequences,” he said, adding that the Conservative leader David Cameron was keen to promote the commercial interests of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire.

During his address to the Labour Party pressure group Progress, Bradshaw claimed that the Conservatives’ pledge to “tear up the multi-annual charter and licence fee represented an unprecedented assault on the BBC’s independence that no previous government, not even Margaret Thatcher, had contemplated”.

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The BBC has announced it will tighten up the procedure for dealing with complaints about party election broadcasts, in anticipation of an outcry from viewers over airtime given to the British National Party ahead of next year’s general election.

New rules will require complainants to clearly state their objections and back them up with evidence. Previously, people who made complaints were not required to meet these requirements as part of a formal process.

Today the BBC Trust published a consultation paper on the proposed changes, which it expects to put into effect before the 2010 general election.

Following the huge furore provoked by the appearance of BNP leader Nick Griffin on Question Time, the BBC is expecting a large volume of complaints about the amount of air time given to BNP election broadcasts.

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X-Factor judge Simon Cowell has said he is “praying” that Irish twins John and Edward Grimes do not win the final of the talent contest.

“If they win, it will be a complete and utter disaster,” he said. “I’d probably sulk for about six months [and] get on a very fast plane out of the country.”

“I don’t dislike them as people - I just don’t think they are the act we were looking for,” added Cowell. The music mogul was speaking at a press conference on Thursday to announce his patronage of the Children’s Hospices UK charity.

There are currently nine acts still competing in the talent series, including the Irish double act, known by their fans as “Jedward”.

Cowell, who is responsible for mentoring over-25s during this year’s contest, has also levelled criticism at popular contestant and young mother Stacey Solomon.

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Alexandra Burke has denied claims that X-Factor contestants are urged to cry on the show in order to attract the audience’s sympathy.

However, the winner of last year’s contest said that she and her fellow singers were told by producers not to be too professional, according to The Evening Standard.

“Oh, no, no, no-one’s telling them to cry,” said Burke. “I mean, they do advise you not to be too professional. They say, whatever emotion you feel, just let it out.

“If you’re acting too professional, that will be your biggest downfall. It’s like, people on that stage are crying for their dreams.”

“All that anger or sadness or anxiety that you might feel in the week builds up, and builds up, and then it’s just that one moment on a Saturday night. On live TV. They do say, ‘Don’t repress it’. Otherwise you don’t look human,” she added.

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Peter Andre and Kate Thornton have been confirmed as guest presenters for this Friday’s episode of This Morning - a Halloween special featuring a children’s fashion show.

The popstar and Loose Women presenter will host ITV’s flagship daytime television show as regular hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby take a week-long half-term break.

Eamonn Holmes and fiancée Ruth Langsford will be presenting the show until Thursday.

“I am very honoured to be a guest host on This Morning [on] Friday. I cannot wait to get my teeth into this role, I love it at This Morning,” said Andre.

Sue Walton, head of daytime TV at ITV studios added: “This Morning’s 21st year is off to a great start and as Holly and Phillip take a well earned break, we’re delighted Eamonn and Ruth will be hosting - they have plenty in store along with Peter Andre and Kate Thornton, who pair up for some Friday fun to round up the holiday week.”

A show insider said: “Friday’s show is a good mix of paper reviews, fashion, real-life stories, cooking and music so Peter and Kate will have a busy day.

“Peter loves a challenge and loves presenting so nerves shouldn’t be a problem. If all goes well and they enjoy it, he and Kate could be guest hosts again in the future.”

Gordon Brown has indicated he is willing to take part in a series of television and radio debates ahead of the general election.

In a letter on the Labour Party website, the Prime Minister said he believed it was “important for the country” for leaders to take part in broadcast debates on a wide-range of themes.

Earlier this week the Conservative leader David Cameron accused Brown of “sitting on the fence” over the question of a live debate between political leaders.

The proposed television debate has attracted considerable media interest, with Sky News making a public push for one in a high-profile campaign.

David Cameron and the Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg have both expressed their willingness to take part in televised debates during the run up to the election, but until now the Prime Minister has declined to give any firm indication as to whether he would participate.

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Ofcom today fined Channel TV £80,000 for breaking broadcasting rules during the British Comedy Awards in 2004 and 2005.

Viewers were encouraged to continue voting on premium phone lines for the People’s Choice Award even after the winner had been announced.

Ofcom issued the fine for the early finalising of the People’s Choice Award in both 2004 and 2005 while viewers were still casting their votes, and for the over-riding of the viewers’ vote for the award and substituting a different winner for the award in 2005.

During its investigation the media regulator said it had been “frustrated” by the lack of co-operation from some members of the British Comedy Awards production team, who refused to elaborate on why the 2005 People’s Choice Award had been handed to Ant and Dec, when in fact Catherine Tate polled more votes, leaving Ofcom unable to “conclude definitively on the full circumstances surrounding the substitution of the winner”.

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