ITV airs new plan to recover ratings

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Exex take unprecedented step of publishing audience share targets

LONDON — The new management team at the ITV network unveiled Monday its manifesto to reverse the web’s ratings decline by a substantial rejuvenation of its programming.

Chief exec Richard Eyre and director of programs David Liddiment backed up their statement of intent by taking the unprecedented step of publishing their audience share targets for the next three years.

Under the three-year plan, Eyre and Liddiment are aiming for a 38% share of peaktime viewing in 1998, rising to 39% in 1999 and 40% in the year 2000.

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“No media company has ever published its performance targets before,” Eyre said. “I believe it is the most emphatic way of saying to our customers that we share a common interest in ITV’s performance. Our task is not about managing decline, but about re-energizing the giant.”

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When the duo were appointed last fall to run the ITV Network Center, they asked for 100 days’ grace to come up with a new strategy for the channel. The Jan. 12 presentation came exactly 100 days after Eyre took up his post.

ITV remains the U.K.’s most-watched channel, but its dominance has been eroded in the past couple of years by the growth of cable and satellite TV, the strength of Channel 4, the continuing resilience of the BBC and the launch of Channel 5.

Mounting criticism from advertisers that the web’s programming was becoming stale and outdated, and that it was failing to attract younger upscale viewers, led this summer to the departure of network director Marcus Plantin, and the appointment of a fresher, younger management team.

Liddiment said Monday that he is reviewing ITV’s programming “in its entirety, with no taboo areas.” “I am not about to take the baby out with the bath water, but equally I will not shirk difficult decisions,” he said.

He gave broad outlines of his strategy across a variety of program genres, although he warned that major changes would not take effect until 1999. He committed himself to more high-profile signings of younger talent in entertainment programs, while using latenight slots more actively as nursery slopes to develop stars of the future, particularly in comedy.

There will be more original telepics and miniseries to create “drama events,” alongside ITV’s existing strengths in longrunning drama series.

Factual programming will also be pushed to the fore, in an attempt to emulate the BBC’s recent ratings success with human-interest docs, known as “documentary soaps.” Major sporting events will also be restored to the heart of ITV’s schedule.

At the same time, ITV’s new marketing and commercial director John Hardie pledged to beef up the web’s marketing, promotional and advertising activities. But rather than seeking to promote the ITV brand as a whole, this effort will concentrate on stronger marketing for individual shows.

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