19-05-2022, 07:37 PM
I think that as much as people think there may be obvious reasons or easy fixes here, I’m not sure that’s the case.
I think it’s fair to say the following:
With these in mind, it’s difficult to pinpoint the issue. Is it that it’s on too niche a channel? To watch on Freeview you’d need to retune, which many won’t do regularly. That said, it’s had a lot of support from Murdoch’s other output. I think The News Desk would rate respectably if it was elsewhere, and you could almost imagine Piers’ show running late night on ITV.
As much a figure of fun Piers is, he is broadly popular (despite protests to the contrary, I think more people quietly like him than loudly dislike him) and he was praised for his holding of MPs to account in the early days of Covid.
Interesting talk about Piers getting a co-host. Would that make people tune in? I’m not sure. I suspect the interviewee the other day who called him something not very nice might have been a plant to generate some interest, and we might see a few more of those.
I’d maybe swap Piers with The News Desk. Bit more of a free run at 7pm as you’ve really only got The One Show and ITV News as real competition and they could capitalise on that. I certainly struggle to find much to watch between 7 and 9pm these days and I think Piers might be a better lead in to TND than vice versa. They could probably make the change pretty quietly too if they wanted to avoid anything looking like a climb down.
I think it’s fair to say the following:
- The News Desk is a really well made show
- Piers Morgan turned GMB around, built their audience, and gave it a high profile
- Talk TV’s evening schedule looks respectable in terms of on-screen pres and has well-known names presenting or featuring
With these in mind, it’s difficult to pinpoint the issue. Is it that it’s on too niche a channel? To watch on Freeview you’d need to retune, which many won’t do regularly. That said, it’s had a lot of support from Murdoch’s other output. I think The News Desk would rate respectably if it was elsewhere, and you could almost imagine Piers’ show running late night on ITV.
As much a figure of fun Piers is, he is broadly popular (despite protests to the contrary, I think more people quietly like him than loudly dislike him) and he was praised for his holding of MPs to account in the early days of Covid.
Interesting talk about Piers getting a co-host. Would that make people tune in? I’m not sure. I suspect the interviewee the other day who called him something not very nice might have been a plant to generate some interest, and we might see a few more of those.
I’d maybe swap Piers with The News Desk. Bit more of a free run at 7pm as you’ve really only got The One Show and ITV News as real competition and they could capitalise on that. I certainly struggle to find much to watch between 7 and 9pm these days and I think Piers might be a better lead in to TND than vice versa. They could probably make the change pretty quietly too if they wanted to avoid anything looking like a climb down.